Psalms 139-141

1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

3You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

4Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

5You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

8If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

10even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

12even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

13For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

15My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

17How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

18If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

19O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

20who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

22I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.

23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

24See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

1Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,

2who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.

3They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah

4Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.

5The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah

6I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.

7O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You shield my head in the day of battle.

8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah

9May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

10May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again.

11May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.

12I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.

13Surely the righteous will praise Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.

1I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You.

2May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

3Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

4Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing or take part in works of wickedness with men who do iniquity; let me not feast on their delicacies.

5Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.

6When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

7As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

8But my eyes are fixed on You, O GOD the Lord. In You I seek refuge; do not leave my soul defenseless.

9Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the lures of evildoers.

10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.