To hear it: Secrets of Psalm 139

 

Lord, You have searched me and you know me.

You till and sift the soil of my soul,

And peer into the innermost secrets of my heart.

You know the raw me, and you still love me.

 

You know when I sit down and when I stand up;

You perceive my thoughts from afar

You know my thoughts before they occur to me;

You’ve known them from antiquity.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

You are intimately familiar with all my ways.

 

You see me rise in the morning and lay my head down at night

Throughout my day, even if I leave your path,

You will never leave mine

For where I am, you are.

You are closer than my skin for I am in You and You in me.

 

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

Before I utter a sound, you’ve already heard it.

 

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

You surround every inch of all that’s me.

You go before me with grace and behind me with mercy.

You guide me toward your heart and you redeem my past.

 

Such knowledge is wonderfully incomprehensible!

It’s too lofty for me to attain;

Too massive to wrap my mind around.

 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens and into the very birthplace of the stars, you are there;

If I make my bed in the utter depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, and settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast

And will never ever let go.

 

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

If a deep darkness of despair, fear and loneliness swallows my light,

Even that darkness will not be dark to you;

The night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you,

And it flees from your holy light.

 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb –

Weaving soul and spirit, bone and muscle, according to your perfect design for me

You sparked the beating of my heart and I am Your image bearer.

 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

 

My frame was not hidden from you

When I was made in the secret place,

When I was woven together in the depths of the womb.

Your eyes saw my unformed body when I was a microscopic ball of cells.

 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

You picked the day of my conception and You picked the day of my death

You are Sovereign over all the days between whether many or few.

 

How priceless are your thoughts toward me God! How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— On the shores of all the Seas and the deserts of all the continents.

 

You sing over me as I sleep;

When I awake, I am still with you and will always be with You

For you purchased me with your blood, and I belong to You.

 

If only You would slay the wicked and destroy evil in the world.

But search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.

See if there is anything in me that offends You and degrades Your sacrifice.

Search out any idol I value more than You and place above You.

Wash away all my inquity, cleanse me from my sin and purge every idol.

 

I surrender all I am – my heart and mind and body to You – I am Yours.

Be Lord of my thoughts, my desires, my life.

Lead me along the everlasting path, and, in your grace,

Give me more faith to trust You and follow You in obedience.