139
For the music director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, you have examined me from the inside out—you know everything about me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know what I'm thinking even when I'm a long way away.
3 You observe where I go and when I rest. You're familiar with everything I do.
4 Lord, you even know what I'm going to say before I say it.
5 You're always there—behind me, in front of me, and all around me. You place your caring hand on me.
6 This amazing knowledge* God's knowledge of the psalmist. you have is far beyond me, way beyond my understanding!
7 Where can I go that you're not already there? Where can I run to escape your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I lie down in Sheol,† The place of the dead. look—you are there too!
9 If I were to fly away on wings of the dawn to the east; if I were to live on the far western shore of the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me, your right hand would support me.
11 If I asked the darkness to hide me, and light to become night around me,
12 Even darkness would not be dark for you, and the night would be bright as day, for darkness is like light to you.
13 You made me from the inside out,‡ Literally, “kidneys,” as representative of internal organs. shaping me in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you for making me in such an awesome and wonderful way. What you do is incredible—I realize this completely!
15 My growing body§ “My growing body,” literally, “my bones.” was not hidden from you as I was formed in secret, as I was intricately put together “in the depths of the earth.”* “In the depths of the earth”: this may relate to a belief that children were formed in the earth before entering the womb, or it may simply be a metaphor for the womb. In any case the point being made is that God observed the process that is hidden from human eyes.
16 You saw me as an embryo, and in your book all my days were written down—the days that were made for me before any of them existed.
17 God, your thoughts are so valuable† Or “challenging.” to me! Taken together, they can't be counted!
18 If I tried to count them, they would be more than every grain of sand. Yet when I awake‡ “Awake”: or “come to an end of counting.” I am still with you.
19 God, if you would only kill the wicked! Murderers,§ Literally, “men of blood.” get away from me!
20 When they speak of you they're being deceptively evil. Since they are your enemies, they call on you in vain.
21 Lord, don't I hate those who hate you? I despise those who rebel against you!
22 I hate them with absolute hatred—they have become my enemies!
23 Examine me carefully, God, so you can be sure of my true feelings. Check me out so you can know what I really think.
24 Please show me if I'm following any kind of idol, and lead me along the path of eternal life.
*139:6 God's knowledge of the psalmist.
†139:8 The place of the dead.
‡139:13 Literally, “kidneys,” as representative of internal organs.
§139:15 “My growing body,” literally, “my bones.”
*139:15 “In the depths of the earth”: this may relate to a belief that children were formed in the earth before entering the womb, or it may simply be a metaphor for the womb. In any case the point being made is that God observed the process that is hidden from human eyes.
†139:17 Or “challenging.”
‡139:18 “Awake”: or “come to an end of counting.”
§139:19 Literally, “men of blood.”