Psalms 139–143

Psalms 139–143 WEB

^139:1LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. ²You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. ³You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether. ⁵You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. ⁶This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it. ⁷Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? ⁸If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! ⁹If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. ¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,” ¹²even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you. ¹³For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. ¹⁵My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them. ¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum! ¹⁸If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you. ¹⁹If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men! ²⁰For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. ²¹LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? ²²I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies. ²³Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. ²⁴See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

^140:1Deliver me, LORD, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men: ²those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war. ³They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah. ⁴LORD, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet. ⁵The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah. ⁶I said to the LORD, “You are my God.” Listen to the cry of my petitions, LORD. ⁷LORD, the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. ⁸LORD, don’t grant the desires of the wicked. Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah. ⁹As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. ¹⁰Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise. ¹¹An evil speaker won’t be established on the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him. ¹²I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy. ¹³Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name. The upright will dwell in your presence.

^141:1LORD, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you. ²Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice. ³Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. ⁴Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity. Don’t let me eat of their delicacies. ⁵Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds. ⁶Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken. ⁷“As when one plows and breaks up the earth, our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.” ⁸For my eyes are on you, LORD, the Lord. I take refuge in you. Don’t leave my soul destitute. ⁹Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity. ¹⁰Let the wicked fall together into their own nets while I pass by.

^142:1I cry with my voice to the LORD. With my voice, I ask the LORD for mercy. ²I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles. ³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me. ⁴Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul. ⁵I cried to you, LORD. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” ⁶Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. ⁷Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will be good to me.

^143:1Hear my prayer, LORD. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me. ²Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous. ³For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead. ⁴Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. ⁵I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands. ⁶I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah. ⁷Hurry to answer me, LORD. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit. ⁸Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. ⁹Deliver me, LORD, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me. ¹⁰Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. ¹¹Revive me, LORD, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. ¹²In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant.