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The Book of Psalms

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- Chapter 139 -

You have searched me and known me

1
Unto the end. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have examined me, and you have known me.
2
You have known my sitting down and my rising up again.
3
You have understood my thoughts from afar. My path and my fate, you have investigated.(a)
4
And you have foreseen all my ways. For there is no word in my tongue.(b) (c)
5
Behold, O Lord, you have known all things: the newest and the very old. You have formed me, and you have placed your hand over me.(d)
6
Your knowledge has become a wonder to me. It has been reinforced, and I am not able to prevail against it.
7
Where will I go from your Spirit? And where will I flee from your face?
8
If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I descend into Hell, you are near.
9
If I assume my feathers in early morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea,
10
even there, your hand will lead me forth, and your right hand will hold me.
11
And I said: Perhaps darkness will overwhelm me, and the night will be my illumination, to my delight.
12
But darkness will not be impenetrable to you, and night will illuminate like the day: for just as its darkness is, so also is its light.
13
For you have possessed my temperament. You have supported me from the womb of my mother.
14
I will confess to you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well.
15
My bone, which you have made in secret, has not been hidden from you, and my substance is in accord with the lower parts of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw my imperfection, and all this shall be written in your book. Days will be formed, and no one shall be in them.
17
But to me, O God, your friends have been greatly honored. Their first ruler has been exceedingly strengthened.(e)
18
I will number them, and they will be more numerous than the sand. I rose up, and I am still with you.
19
O God, if only you would cut down sinners. You men of blood: depart from me.
20
For you say in thought: They will accept your cities in vain.(f)
21
Have I not hated those who hated you, Lord, and wasted away because of your enemies?
22
I have hated them with a perfect hatred, and they have become enemies to me.(g)
23
Examine me, O God, and know my heart. Question me, and know my paths.
24
And see if there might be in me the way of iniquity, and lead me in the way of eternity.

Footnotes

(a)138:3 The word ‘funiculum’ literally means ‘line’ or ‘cord,’ but it is often used to refer to an ancient type of casting lots, but which used a string and which was usually concerned with the outcome of future events (i.e. one’s fate).(Conte)
(b)138:4 In other words, there are no words that I can speak that God does not already know.(Conte)
(c)138:4 There is no speech, etc:Viz., unknown to you: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to you.(Challoner)
(d)138:5 Although ‘novissima’ means ‘the last,’ but it also means ‘the newest.’ The newest addition to a line of people will be the last in line.(Conte)
(e)138:17 The first ruler of God’s friends can be understood to refer to the Pope.(Conte)
(f)138:20 Because you say in thought, etc:Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.(Challoner)
(g)138:22 I have hated them:Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God’s commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God.(Challoner)

You have searched me and known me

1
LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.
2
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4
For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether.
5
You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
6
This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
7
Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
8
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol,(a) behold, you are there!
9
If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10
even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
11
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,”
12
even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
13
For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
15
My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
17
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
18
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
19
If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20
For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
21
LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
22
I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
23
Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
24
See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

Footnotes

(a)139:8 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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