Psalms Chapter 139
Psalm 139 (138)

God everywhere, in all, knows all. A prayer filled with admiration of God’s wisdom: “Everything is ex posed and open to the eyes of him to whom we are accountable” (Heb 4:13).

1 O Lord, you know me:
you have scrutinized me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
beforehand you discern my thoughts.

3 You observe my activities and times of rest;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is formed in my mouth,
you know what it is all about, O Lord.

5 From front to back you hedge me round,
shielding me with your protecting hand.

6 Your knowledge leaves me astounded,
it is too high for me to reach.

7 Where else could I go from your Spirit?
Where could I flee from your presence?

8 You are there if I ascend the heavens;
you are there if I descend to the depths.

9 If I ride on the wings of the dawn
and settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall guide me
and your right hand shall hold me safely.

11 Shall I say, “Let darkness hide me,
I prefer the night as my light?”

12 But darkness for you is not dark
and night for you shines as the day.

13 It was you who formed my inmost part
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I thank you for these wonders you have done,
and my heart praises you for your marvelous deeds.

15 Even my bones were known to you
when I was being formed in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw the course of my days;
they were all recorded in your book
before any of them came to be.

17 How difficult it is to grasp your thoughts, O God!
Their number cannot be counted.

18 If I tried to do so, they would outnumber the sands;
I am never finished with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
and drive away from me the violent!

20 They rebel falseheartedly,
your foes blaspheme your name.

21 I hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and loathe those who defy you.

22 I hate them deeply,
they have become my foes.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my thoughts.

24 See if my steps are going astray,
and lead me in your eternal way.

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Comments Psalms, Chapter 139

There is a way of contemplating the presence of the all-powerful God which crushes us. There is another way which fills us with assurance. The Bible cannot contemplate this unfathomable mystery of God without immediately coming back to the struggles of the real world: its God has a passion for justice, and the faithful person cannot be satisfied with half-measures or compromise with evil. This accounts for the declaration which shocks some but we can guess its inspiration which is always valid: “I detest them, they are my enemies.” It is actually a hatred of evil.