Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, you have (A)searched me and known me!
2 You (B)know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you (C)discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, (D)you know it altogether.
5 You (E)hem me in, behind and before,
and (F)lay your hand upon me.
6 (G)Such knowledge is (H)too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 (I)Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where (J)shall I flee from your presence?
8 (K)If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
(L)If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall (M)lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, (N)“Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 (O)even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you (P)formed my inward parts;
you (Q)knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
(R)Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 (S)My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in (T)the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your (U)book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your (V)thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 (W)If I would count them, they are more than (X)the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would (Y)slay the wicked, O God!
O (Z)men of blood, (AA)depart from me!
20 They (AB)speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies (AC)take your name in vain.[b]
21 (AD)Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not (AE)loathe those who (AF)rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
(AG)Try me and know my thoughts![c]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and (AH)lead me in (AI)the way everlasting![d]
Footnotes
- Psalm 139:14 Or for I am fearfully set apart
- Psalm 139:20 Hebrew lacks your name
- Psalm 139:23 Or cares
- Psalm 139:24 Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16)
Cross references
- Psalm 139:1 : Jer. 12:3; See Ps. 7:9; 17:3; 44:21
- Psalm 139:2 : 2 Kgs. 19:27; Lam. 3:63
- Psalm 139:2 : [Job 14:16; 31:4; Matt. 9:4; John 2:24, 25]
- Psalm 139:4 : Heb. 4:13
- Psalm 139:5 : Job 19:8
- Psalm 139:5 : Job 9:33
- Psalm 139:6 : Rom. 11:33
- Psalm 139:6 : Job 42:3
- Psalm 139:7 : [Jer. 23:24]
- Psalm 139:7 : Jonah 1:3
- Psalm 139:8 : [Amos 9:2]
- Psalm 139:8 : [Job 26:6]
- Psalm 139:10 : ver. 24; Ps. 23:3
- Psalm 139:11 : [Job 22:14]
- Psalm 139:12 : Job 34:22; [Dan. 2:22]
- Psalm 139:13 : Deut. 32:6
- Psalm 139:13 : [Job 10:11]
- Psalm 139:14 : See Ps. 72:18
- Psalm 139:15 : [Job 10:8-10; Eccles. 11:5]
- Psalm 139:15 : Ps. 63:9
- Psalm 139:16 : Ps. 56:8
- Psalm 139:17 : Ps. 92:5
- Psalm 139:18 : Ps. 40:5
- Psalm 139:18 : Gen. 22:17
- Psalm 139:19 : Isa. 11:4; [Ps. 9:17]
- Psalm 139:19 : Ps. 5:6
- Psalm 139:19 : See Ps. 6:8
- Psalm 139:20 : [Jude 15]
- Psalm 139:20 : Ex. 20:7
- Psalm 139:21 : See Ps. 26:5
- Psalm 139:21 : Ps. 119:158
- Psalm 139:21 : Ps. 59:1
- Psalm 139:23 : Ps. 26:2
- Psalm 139:24 : ver. 10
- Psalm 139:24 : [Jer. 6:16; 18:15]