God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.² You know my sitting down and my rising up;You understand my thought afar off.³ You comprehend 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, O Lord, You know it altogether.⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,And laid Your hand upon me.⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence?⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in hell, behold, 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 lead me,And Your right hand shall hold me.¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall^[a] on me,”Even the night shall be light about me;¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,But the night shines as the day;The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;You covered me in my mother’s womb.¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;^[b]Marvelous are Your works,And that my soul knows very well.¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,When I was made in secret,And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.And in Your book they all were written,The days fashioned for me,When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!How great is the sum of them!¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹ Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.²⁰ For they speak against You wickedly;Your enemies take Your name in vain.^[c]21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?²² I hate them with perfect hatred;I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;Try me, and know my anxieties;²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,And lead me in the way everlasting.