Bible Reading: Psalm 139

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart     and know everything about me. ² You know when I sit down or stand up.     You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. ³ You see me when I travel     and when I rest at home.     You know everything I do. ⁴ You know what I am going to say     even before I say it, Lord. ⁵ You go before me and follow me.     You place your hand of blessing on my head. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,     too great for me to understand!

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!     I can never get away from your presence! ⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;     if I go down to the grave,^[a] you are there. ⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,     if I dwell by the farthest oceans, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,     and your strength will support me. ¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me     and the light around me to become night— ¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day.     Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body     and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!     Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. ¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,     as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.     Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out     before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God.     They cannot be numbered! ¹⁸ I can’t even count them;     they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up,     you are still with me!

¹⁹ O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!     Get out of my life, you murderers! ²⁰ They blaspheme you;     your enemies misuse your name. ²¹ O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?     Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? ²² Yes, I hate them with total hatred,     for your enemies are my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.