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
PSALM 139
To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off; 3Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways; 4For there is not yet a word on my tongue, but lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. 5Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me. 6O knowledge too wonderful for me! it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither flee from thy presence? 8If I ascend up into the heavens thou art there; or if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there; 9If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11And if I say, Surely darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night; 12Even darkness hideth not from thee, and the night shineth as the day: the darkness is as the light. 13For thou hast possessed my reins; thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. 14I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My bones were not hidden from thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. 16Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all my members were written; during many days were they fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17But how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O ·God#GodHebrew: El how great is the sum of them! 18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee. 19Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O +God#GodHebrew: Eloah And ye men of blood, depart from me. 20For they speak of thee wickedly, they take thy name in vain, thine enemies. 21Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? and do not I loathe them that rise up against thee? 22I hate them with perfect hatred; I account them mine enemies. 23Search me, O ·God#GodHebrew: El and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts; 24And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.