Psalms
Chapter 139
1
1 For the leader. A psalm of David. O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
2
2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
3
My travels and my rest you mark; 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 beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
7
Where can I hide 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, you are there too.
9
3 If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,
10
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
11
4 If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --
12
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
13
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
14
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
15
5 my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
17
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
18
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
19
If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
20
Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
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 concerns.
24
6 See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.
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Footnotes

1 [Psalm 139] A hymnic meditation on God's omnipresence and omniscience. The psalmist is keenly aware of God's all-knowing gaze (Psalm 139:1-6), of God's presence in every part of the universe (Psalm 139:7-12), and of God's control over the psalmist's very self (Psalm 139:13-16). Summing up Psalm 139:1-16, 17-18 express wonder. There is only one place hostile to God's rule--wicked people. The psalmist prays to be removed from their company (Psalm 139:19-24).

2 [2] When I sit and stand: in all my physical movement.

3 [9] Fly with the wings of dawn: go to the extremities of the east. Beyond the sea: uttermost bounds of the west; the sea is the Mediterranean.

4 [11] Night shall be my light: night to me is what day is to others.

5 [15] The depths of the earth: figurative language for the womb, stressing the hidden and mysterious operations that occur there.

6 [24] My way . . . the ancient paths: the manner of living of our ancestors, who were faithful to God's will. Cf Jeremiah 6:16.


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