Psalm 139
You Have Searched Me and Known Me
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
O LORD, You have searched me
and known me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
You understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down;
You are aware of all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, O LORD.
5 You hem me in behind and before;
You have laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle by the farthest sea,
10 even there Your hand will guide me;
Your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light become night around me”—
12 even the darkness is not dark to You,
but the night shines like the day,
for darkness is as light to You.
13 For You formed my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise You,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvelous are Your works,
and I know this very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was woven together
in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all my days were written in Your book
and ordained for me
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God,
how vast is their sum!
18 If I were to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
and when I awake,
I am still with You.
19 O God, that You would slay the wicked—
away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
20 who speak of You deceitfully;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD,
and detest those who rise against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them as my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the way everlasting.
Note
- 13 Hebrew my kidneys
- 17 Or How amazing are Your thoughts concerning me
- 20 Hebrew Your enemies take in vain or Your enemies bear up in vain; LXX Your enemies take Your cities in vain
About this passage
Psalm 139 is a psalm of David about being completely known. It begins with God searching and knowing the speaker, including sitting and rising, thoughts and words, and goes on to ask where one could flee from God's presence, whether to heaven, the depths or the far side of the sea.
The central section speaks of the speaker being knit together in the womb, fearfully and wonderfully made. It has been important in Christian and Jewish reflection on human dignity and in debates on life and personhood, where people draw different conclusions.
The last verses shift abruptly to a prayer against the wicked, which some readers find hard, followed by an invitation: search me, God, and know my heart. Most interpreters read the psalm as a prayer of intimacy and honesty rather than fear, and note its poetic, not scientific, language.
- God knows us
- Presence everywhere
- Created by God
- Honest prayer
Questions
Who wrote Psalm 139?
The heading attributes it to David, and tradition accepts this. Some scholars think its vocabulary suggests a later date, so authorship is debated, but it is long read as a personal prayer of David.
What does fearfully and wonderfully made mean?
It says the speaker's body and life are the careful work of God, deserving awe. Readers take it as a statement about human dignity and gratitude, not a medical description.
Why does Psalm 139 end with a prayer against the wicked?
Verses 19 to 22 express strong anger at those who oppose God. Interpreters say this is typical psalm honesty, and the psalm then returns to self-examination, which many see as turning the focus back on the speaker.