Psalms 139
139
You Know All About Me
For the Pure and Shining One
King David’s poetic song
1Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.
2You perceive every movement of my heart and soul,
and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind.
3-4You are so intimately aware of me, Lord.
You read my heart like an open book
and you know all the words I’m about to speak
before I even start a sentence!
You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.
5You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way,
and in kindness you follow behind me
to spare me from the harm of my past. # 139:5 Or “You hem me in [lit. “besiege me”] before and behind.” The implication is that God protects the psalmist from what may come in the future and what has happened in the past.
You have laid your hand on me!
6This is just too wonderful, deep, and incomprehensible!
Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength. # 139:6 As translated from the Septuagint. The Hebrew reads “too high to understand.”
7Where could I go from your Spirit?
Where could I run and hide from your face?
8If I go up to heaven, you’re there!
If I go down to the realm of the dead, you’re there too!
9If I fly with wings into the shining dawn, you’re there!
If I fly into the radiant sunset, # 139:9 Implied in the Hebrew, which reads “the remote parts of the sea” or “beyond the horizon to the west.” The sea is west of Israel. you’re there waiting!
10Wherever I go, your hand will guide me;
your strength will empower me.
11It’s impossible to disappear from you
or to ask the darkness to hide me,
for your presence is everywhere, bringing light into my night.
12There is no such thing as darkness with you.
The night, to you, is as bright as the day;
there’s no difference between the two.
13You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside
and my intricate outside,
and wove them all together in my mother’s womb. # 139:13 The Hebrew word for “knit” or “wove” can also be translated “covered” or “defended.” God places an eternal spirit inside the conceived child within the womb of a mother and covers that life, sends the child a guardian angel, and watches over him or her.
14I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex!
Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking.
It simply amazes me to think about it!
How thoroughly you know me, Lord!
15You even formed every bone in my body
when you created me in the secret place; # 139:15 The Hebrew text is literally “the depths of the earth.”
carefully, skillfully you shaped me # 139:15 Or “embroidered me.” from nothing to something.
16You saw who you created me to be before I became me! # 139:16 The Hebrew could be translated “as an embryo.”
Before I’d ever seen the light of day,
the number of days you planned for me
were already recorded in your book. # 139:16 See Ps. 69:28.
17-18Every single moment you are thinking of me!
How precious and wonderful to consider
that you cherish me constantly in your every thought!
O God, your desires toward me are more
than the grains of sand on every shore!
When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.
19O God, come and slay these bloodthirsty, murderous men!
For I cry out, “Depart from me, you wicked ones!”
20See how they blaspheme your sacred name
and lift up themselves against you, but all in vain!
21Lord, can’t you see how I despise those who despise you?
For I grieve when I see them rise up against you.
22I have nothing but complete hatred and disgust for them.
Your enemies shall be my enemies!
23God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.
Examine me through and through;
find out everything that may be hidden within me.
Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.
24See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,
and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way—
the path that brings me back to you.
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 139
139
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.#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.#2Kg 19:27; Is 66:18; Mt 9:4
3You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.#Jb 14:16; 31:4
4Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.#Heb 4:13
5You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.#Jb 9:33; Ps 125:2
6This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.#Jb 42:3; Rm 11:33
7Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?#Jr 23:24
8If I go up to heaven, you are there;#Am 9:2–4
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.#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.#Ps 23:2–3
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”#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.#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.#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 wonderful#139:14 Hb obscure
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well.#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.#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.#Jb 14:5
17God, how precious#139:17 Or difficult your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;#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.#Ps 3:5
19God, if only you would kill the wicked —
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me#Ps 5:6; 6:8; Is 11:4 —
20who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely.#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.#Ps 26:5; 31:16
23Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.#Jb 31:6; Ps 26:2
24See if there is any offensive#139:24 Or idolatrous way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.#Ps 16:11
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