Psalm
139 Wednesday Evening 4
Yahweh, examine me, * and
know me yourself!
You know my sitting and my standing; * you discern my thoughts
from a distance.
My departure and my arrival you survey, * and all my travels
superintend.
The word is not even off my tongue, * yet, Yahweh, you
know it all.
Behind and before you hedge me in, * and you lay your palms
on me.
Too overpowering for me is your knowledge, * too towering, I
cannot master it.
Where can I go from your spirit? * Oh where from your face
can I flee?
If I climb the heavens, you are there! * If I make Sheol
my bed, you are here!
Should I raise my wings in the East, * to settle in the
west of the sea,
even there you would lower your left hand on me, * and would
seize me with your right hand.
Then I realized, even in the Dark he observes me, * and in
the Night daylight is all around me.
Even the Dark is not very dark for you, * since the Night
shines for you like the day, * the Dark like light.
Yes, you created my inmost self, * have sheltered me
from the womb of my mother.
I praise you, Most High, * because you are awesome.
I fall in adoration before you, * so dreadful in your
deeds.
My soul itself you have known
of old; * my bones were never hidden from you,
since I was nipped off in the Secret Place, * kneaded in
the depths of the underworld.
Your eyes saw my life stages; * on your scroll all of them
were inscribed.
My days were shaped * when I was not yet seen by them.
But for me, how weighty are your thoughts, * God, how powerful
their essence!
could I count them ) more numerous than sand! * May I rise and
ever be with you!
Oh that you would slay the wicked, God! * men of idols, go
away from me!
They look at every fetish * and lift their eyes to
stupidities on a rack.
Yes, those who hate you, Yahweh, I hate, * and those who
challenge you I detest.
With perfect hatred I hate them; * they are my enemies.
Examine me, God, and know my
heart; * test me, and know my cares.
Then see if an idol has held
sway over me, * and lead me into the eternal kingdom.