Aa
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, you have searched me and known me.139:1 Ps 17:3; 44:21; Jr 12:3
2You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.139:2 2Kg 19:27; Is 66:18; Mt 9:4
3You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.139:3 Jb 14:16; 31:4
4Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.139:4 Heb 4:13
5You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.139:5 Jb 9:33; Ps 125:2
6This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.139:6 Jb 42:3; Rm 11:33

7Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?139:7 Jr 23:24
8If I go up to heaven, you are there;139:8 Am 9:2–4
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.139:8 Jb 26:6; Is 14:11
9If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,139:9 Lit the end of the sea
10even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.139:9–10 Ps 23:2–3
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”139:11 Jb 22:13–14 —
12even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you.139:12 Jb 34:22; Dn 2:22

13For it was you who created my inward parts;139:13 Lit my kidneys
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.139:13 Jb 10:11; Ps 119:73
14I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.139:14 DSS, some LXX mss, Syr, Jer read because you are remarkable and wonderful139:14 Hb obscure
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well.139:14 Ps 40:5
15My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.139:15 Jb 10:8–10; Ps 63:9; Ec 11:5
16Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began.139:16 Jb 14:5

17God, how precious139:17 Or difficult your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;139:17–18 Ps 40:5; 92:5
when I wake up,139:18 Some Hb mss read I come to an end I am still with you.139:18 Ps 3:5

19God, if only you would kill the wicked —
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me139:19 Ps 5:6; 6:8; Is 11:4 —
20who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely.139:20 Ex 20:7; Jd 15
21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,
and detest those who rebel against you?
22I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.139:21–22 Ps 26:5; 31:16

23Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.139:23 Jb 31:6; Ps 26:2
24See if there is any offensive139:24 Or idolatrous way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.139:24 Ps 16:11