> [[psalm-138|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-140|Next →]] --- # Psalm 139 ## The All-knowing and Ever-present God 1 For the leader. A psalm of David. ### I LORD, you have probed me, you know me: 2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 You sift through my travels and my rest; with all my ways you are familiar. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all. 5 Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, far too lofty for me to reach. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? 8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are. 9 If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, 10 Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light”— 12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one. ### II 13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. 15 My bones are not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be. ### III 17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands; when I complete them, still you are with me. 19 When you would destroy the wicked, O God, the bloodthirsty depart from me! 20 Your foes who conspire a plot against you are exalted in vain. ### IV 21 Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe? 22 With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own. 23 Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my thoughts. 24 See if there is a wicked path in me; lead me along an ancient path. \* (Psalm 139) A hymnic meditation on God’s omnipresence and omniscience. The psalmist is keenly aware of God’s all-knowing gaze ([Ps 139:1] – [6]), of God’s presence in every part of the universe ([Ps 139:7] – [12]), and of God’s control over the psalmist’s very self ([Ps 139:13] – [16]). Summing up [Ps 139:1] – [16], [17] – [18] express wonder. There is only one place hostile to God’s rule—wicked people. The psalmist prays to be removed from their company ([Ps 139:19] – [24]). \* (139:2) When I sit and stand: in all my physical movement. \* (139:9) Take the wings of dawn: go to the extremities of the east. Beyond the sea: uttermost bounds of the west; the sea is the Mediterranean. \* (139:11) Night shall be my light: night to me is what day is to others. \* (139:15) The depths of the earth: figurative language for the womb, stressing the hidden and mysterious operations that occur there. \* (139:24) Lead me along an ancient path: the manner of living of our ancestors, who were faithful to God’s will, cf. [Jer 6:16]. a. (139:2) [[2-kings-19|2 Kgs 19]]:27; [Jb 12:3]. b. (139:6) [Ps 131:1]. c. (139:8) [Jb 23:8] – [9]; [Jer 23:23] – [24]. d. (139:12) [Jb 12:22]. e. (139:13) ([[wisdom-07|Wis 7]]:1]; [Eccl 11:5]; [Jb 1:21]. f. (139:16) [Mal 3:16]. g. (139:18) [Jb 11:7]. h. (139:19) [Jb 21:14]. i. (139:21) [Ps 119:158]. j. (139:23) ([[psalm-17|Ps 17]]:3]; [26:2]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[psalm-138|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-140|Next →]]