The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.
3You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.
4Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.
5You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.
6This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
7Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,
10even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night” —
12even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you.
13For it was you who created my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. ,
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well.
15My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began.
17God, how precious your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with you.
19God, if only you would kill the wicked —
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me —
20who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely.
21Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,
and detest those who rebel against you?
22I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.
23Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
24See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.