Psalms 139

 Psalm 139

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Psalm 139[a]

The All-knowing and Ever-present God

1 For the leader. A psalm of David.

I

Lord, you have probed me, you know me:
2     you know when I sit and stand;[b]
    you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You sift through my travels and my rest;
    with all my ways you are familiar.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    Lord, you know it all.
5 Behind and before you encircle me
    and rest your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    far too lofty for me to reach.

7 Where can I go from your spirit?
    From your presence, where can I flee?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
    if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.
9 If I take the wings of dawn[c]
    and dwell beyond the sea,
10 Even there your hand guides me,
    your right hand holds me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me,
    and night shall be my light”[d]—
12 Darkness is not dark for you,
    and night shines as the day.
    Darkness and light are but one.

II

13 You formed my inmost being;
    you knit me in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
    wonderful are your works!
    My very self you know.
15 My bones are not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
    fashioned in the depths of the earth.[e]
16 Your eyes saw me unformed;
    in your book all are written down;
    my days were shaped, before one came to be.

III

17 How precious to me are your designs, O God;
    how vast the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands;
    when I complete them, still you are with me.
19 When you would destroy the wicked, O God,
    the bloodthirsty depart from me!
20 Your foes who conspire a plot against you
    are exalted in vain.

IV

21 Do I not hate, Lord, those who hate you?
    Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
22 With fierce hatred I hate them,
    enemies I count as my own.

23 Probe me, God, know my heart;
    try me, know my thoughts.
24 See if there is a wicked path in me;
    lead me along an ancient path.[f]