Add parallel Print Page Options

God Knows Everything

For the director of music. A song of David.

139 Lord, you have examined me.
    You know all about me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up.
    You know my thoughts before I think them.
You know where I go and where I lie down.
    You know well everything I do.
Lord, even before I say a word,
    you already know what I am going to say.
You are all around me—in front and in back.
    You have put your hand on me.
Your knowledge is amazing to me.
    It is more than I can understand.

Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
    Where can I run from you?
If I go up to the skies, you are there.
    If I lie down where the dead are, you are there.
If I rise with the sun in the east,
    and settle in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you would guide me.
    With your right hand you would hold me.

11 I could say, “The darkness will hide me.
    The light around me will turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
    The night is as light as the day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made my whole being.
    You formed me in my mother’s body.
14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
    What you have done is wonderful.
    I know this very well.
15 You saw my bones being formed
    as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there,
16     you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
    were written in your book
    before I was one day old.

17 God, your thoughts are precious to me.
    They are so many!
18 If I could count them,
    they would be more than all the grains of sand.
When I wake up,
    I am still with you.

19 God, I wish you would kill the wicked!
    Get away from me, you murderers!
20 These men say evil things about you.
    Your enemies use your name thoughtlessly.
21 Lord, I hate those who hate you.
    I hate those who rise up against you.
22 I feel only hate for them.
    They are my enemies.

23 God, examine me and know my heart.
    Test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any bad thing in me.
    Lead me in the way you set long ago.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

You have searched me,(A) Lord,
    and you know(B) me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;(C)
    you perceive my thoughts(D) from afar.
You discern my going out(E) and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.(F)
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.(G)
You hem me in(H) behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,(I)
    too lofty(J) for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee(K) from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens,(L) you are there;
    if I make my bed(M) in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,(N)
    your right hand(O) will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark(P) to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;(Q)
    you knit me together(R) in my mother’s womb.(S)
14 I praise you(T) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,(U)
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made(V) in the secret place,
    when I was woven together(W) in the depths of the earth.(X)
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained(Y) for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a](Z) God!(AA)
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,(AB)
    they would outnumber the grains of sand(AC)
    when I awake,(AD) I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!(AE)
    Away from me,(AF) you who are bloodthirsty!(AG)
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries(AH) misuse your name.(AI)
21 Do I not hate those(AJ) who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor(AK) those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.(AL)
23 Search me,(AM) God, and know my heart;(AN)
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way(AO) in me,
    and lead me(AP) in the way everlasting.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me