God's Complete Knowledge and Care
1Lord, you have examined me and you know me.
2You know everything I do;
from far away you understand all my thoughts.
3You see me, whether I am working or resting;
you know all my actions.
4Even before I speak,
you already know what I will say.
5You are all around me on every side;
you protect me with your power.
6Your knowledge of me is too deep;
it is beyond my understanding.
7Where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
8If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.
9If I flew away beyond the east
or lived in the farthest place in the west,
10you would be there to lead me,
you would be there to help me.
11I could ask the darkness to hide me
or the light around me to turn into night,
12but even darkness is not dark for you,
and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother's womb.
14I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.
15When my bones were being formed,
carefully put together in my mother's womb,
when I was growing there in secret,
you knew that I was there—
16you saw me before I was born.
The days allotted to me
had all been recorded in your book,
before any of them ever began.
17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts;
how many of them there are!
18If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
19O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked!
How I wish violent people would leave me alone!
20They say wicked things about you;
they speak evil things against your name.
21O Lord, how I hate those who hate you!
How I despise those who rebel against you!
22I hate them with a total hatred;
I regard them as my enemies.
23Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.