Psalm 139

For the choir director. Of David. A psalm.

1Yahweh, you have examined me, and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I stand; from far off you discern what I am thinking.

3You sift through my going and my lying down; every one of my ways is known to you.

4Even before a word reaches my tongue, Yahweh, you know every bit of it.

5Behind and in front you have closed me in, and you have set your hand on me.

6This knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too lofty, beyond my reach.

7Where could I go to get away from your Spirit? Where could I run from your presence?

8If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I spread my bed in Sheol, there you are!

9If I take up the wings of the dawn and make my home at the farthest edge of the sea,

10there too your hand will lead me, and your right hand will grasp me.

11If I say, “Darkness is sure to overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,”

12even darkness is not dark to you; the night gives light just as the day does, and to you darkness and light are alike.

13For you brought my inner being into existence; you wove me together in my mother’s womb.

14I thank you, because I have been made in awe-inspiring and wonderful ways. Your works are marvelous, and my soul is deeply aware of it.

15My bones were not concealed from you when I was being made in secret, embroidered with skill in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my embryo; in your book they were all recorded, the days fashioned for me, each one of them.

17How precious your thoughts are to me, God! How immense is their total!

18If I counted them, they would be more plentiful than sand. I wake up, and I am still with you.

19God, if only you would put the wicked to death! You who shed blood, depart from me!

20They speak of you with scheming minds; your enemies use your name for worthless ends.

21Do I not hate the ones who hate you, Yahweh? Am I not disgusted with those who rise up against you?

22My hatred for them is total; they have become enemies to me.

23Examine me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my restless thoughts.

24See whether there is any way in me that brings pain, and guide me in the everlasting way.