Psalm 139

New King James Version

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, ^(A)You have searched me and known me.
²^(B)You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You ^(C)understand my thought afar off.
³^(D)You ^[a]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, ^(E)You know it altogether.
⁵You have ^[b]hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶^(F)Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷^(G)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸^(H)If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
^(I)If I make my bed in ^[c]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 ^[d]fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹²Indeed, ^(J)the darkness ^[e]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 ^[f]covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I will praise You, for ^[g]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵^(K)My ^[h]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^(L)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 ^(M)slay the wicked, O God!
^(N)Depart from me, therefore, you ^[i]bloodthirsty men.
²⁰For they ^(O)speak against You wickedly;
^[j]Your enemies take Your name in vain.
²¹^(P)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 ^[k]perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

²³^(Q)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 ^(R)lead me in the way everlasting.

Footnotes

Psalm 139:3 Lit. winnow
Psalm 139:5 enclosed
Psalm 139:8 Or Sheol
Psalm 139:11 Vg., Symmachus cover
Psalm 139:12 Lit. is not dark
Psalm 139:13 wove
Psalm 139:14 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. You are fearfully wonderful
Psalm 139:15 Lit. bones were
Psalm 139:19 Lit. men of bloodshed
Psalm 139:20 LXX, Vg. They take Your cities in vain
Psalm 139:22 complete

Psalm 13-16

New King James Version

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
^(A)How long will You hide Your face from me?
²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
^(B)Enlighten my eyes,
^(C)Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph^(D)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The ^(E)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

²^(F)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³^(G)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ^(H)do not call on the Lord?
⁵There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his ^(I)refuge.

⁷^(J)Oh,^[a] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
^(K)When the Lord brings back ^[b]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

15 Lord, ^(L)who may ^[c]abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the ^(M)truth in his heart;
³He who ^(N)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
^(O)Nor does he ^[d]take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴^(P)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who ^(Q)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things ^(R)shall never be moved.

The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory

A ^(S)Michtam of David.

16 Preserve^[e] me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

²O my soul, you have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord,
^(T)My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
³As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in ^(U)whom is all my delight.”

⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of ^(V)blood I will not offer,
^(W)Nor take up their names on my lips.

⁵O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You ^[f]maintain my lot.
⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My ^[g]heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
⁸^(X)I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will ^[h]rest in hope.
¹⁰^(Y)For You will not leave my soul in ^[i]Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to ^[j]see corruption.
¹¹You will show me the ^(Z)path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.