Psalm 138-140

New King James Version

The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful

A Psalm of David.

138 I will praise You with my whole heart;
^(A)Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
²^(B)I will worship ^(C)toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have ^(D)magnified Your word above all Your name.
³In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴^(E)All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
⁵Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶^(F)Though the Lord is on high,
Yet ^(G)He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.

⁷^(H)Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸^(I)The Lord will ^[a]perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
^(J)Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, ^(K)You have searched me and known me.
²^(L)You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You ^(M)understand my thought afar off.
³^(N)You ^[b]comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, ^(O)You know it altogether.
⁵You have ^[c]hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶^(P)Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷^(Q)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸^(R)If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
^(S)If I make my bed in ^[d]hell, behold, You are there.
⁹If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall ^[e]fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹²Indeed, ^(T)the darkness ^[f]shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³For You formed my inward parts;
You ^[g]covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I will praise You, for ^[h]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵^(U)My ^[i]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶Your 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^(V)How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

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

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

Prayer for Deliverance from Evil Men

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

140 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
Preserve me from violent men,
²Who plan evil things in their hearts;
^(AC)They continually gather together for war.
³They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;
The ^(AD)poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

⁴^(AE)Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men,
Who have purposed to make my steps stumble.
⁵The proud have hidden a ^(AF)snare for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set traps for me. Selah

⁶I said to the Lord: “You are my God;
Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.
⁷O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have ^[m]covered my head in the day of battle.
⁸Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
Do not further his wicked scheme,
^(AG)Lest they be exalted. Selah

⁹“As for the head of those who surround me,
Let the evil of their lips cover them;
¹⁰^(AH)Let burning coals fall upon them;
Let them be cast into the fire,
Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
¹¹Let not a slanderer be established in the earth;
Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

¹²I know that the Lord will ^(AI)maintain
The cause of the afflicted,
And justice for the poor.
¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name;
The upright shall dwell in Your presence.