Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 139 - New King James Version (2024)

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139O 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.