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Humanities LibreTexts

7.24: Psalm 139, excerpt

  • Page ID
    303467
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    Psalm 139, excerpt

    Domine probasti me

    For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

    You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.

    You know when I sit and when I rise;

    You read my thoughts from afar.

    You discern my work and my rest;

    You know all my ways.

    Before a word is on my tongue,

    You know it completely, Lord.

    You hem me in behind and before;

    You have laid Your hand upon me.

    Such knowledge is beyond me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

    Where could I go from your Spirit?

    Where could I flee from your Face?

    If I’d ascend to the heavens, You’d be there;

    if I’d descend to the Abyss, You’d be there.

    If I’d rise on wings to the dawn,

    if I’d settle on the far side of the sea,

    even there Your hand would guide me,

    Your right hand would hold me fast.

    If I’d say, “Surely darkness will hide me,

    and light become night around me,”

    even darkness would not be dark to You;

    night would shine like day,

    for darkness is as light to You.

    For You fashioned my inmost being;

    You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

    I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    Your works are wonderful,

    I know full well.

    My frame was not hidden from You when I was being made in secret,

    skillfully weaved deep in the earth.

    Your eyes saw me as an embryo;

    all the days ordained for me were written in Your scroll,

    planned before any came to be.

    How precious to me, God, are Your thoughts,

    how vast their sum!

    If I were to count them,

    they’d outnumber the grains of sand.

    When I wake, I am still with You.

    If only You, God, would slay the wicked;

    if only men of blood would leave me alone—

    men who speak maliciously against You,

    make themselves Your enemies

    and take Your name in vain.

    Do I not hate, Lord, those who hate You?

    Do not I loathe those who rise against You?

    I hate them with utmost hate;

    I count Your enemies my own.

    Search me, God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

    See if there be an idolatrous way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

    Dearest Lord Jesus, when You descended victoriously to the dead You brought light and immortality to light; when You ascended to the heavens You received power to reign, King of kings and Lord of lords forever. Enable us to trust that You know us completely, even if our knowledgeof You is weak, too lofty to attain but by Your grace; or You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.


    7.24: Psalm 139, excerpt is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by and translated by Patrick James Bayens.

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