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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Psalms 139: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 139
139
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!
2Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;
thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
3Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before a word is on my tongue,
lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5Thou dost beset me behind and before,
and layest thy hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain it.
7Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
9If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10even there thy hand shall lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
11If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12even the darkness is not dark to thee,
the night is bright as the day;
for darkness is as light with thee.
13For thou didst form my inward parts,
thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.
14I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.#139.14 Cn Compare Gk Syr Jerome: Heb fearful things I am wonderful
Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well;
15my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
16Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
When I awake, I am still with thee.#139.18 Or were I to come to the end I would still be with thee
19O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,
and that men of blood would depart from me,
20men who maliciously defy thee,
who lift themselves up against thee for evil!#139.20 Cn: Heb uncertain
21Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?
And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?
22I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24And see if there be any wicked#139.24 Heb hurtful way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!#139.24 Or the ancient way. Compare Jer 6.16
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