Logo - Feel The Words
BSB

Psalms Chapter 139 (BSB)

minutes - words.
Psalms 139
Tap a verse to highlight it

1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

10 even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

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

12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

18 If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

19 O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Psalm 139 about?
It's a meditation on God's complete knowledge of the psalmist: "O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me" (v.1), extending to his inescapable presence everywhere, even heaven or "hell" (v.8).
What does verse 14 mean by "fearfully and wonderfully made"?
V.14 praises God, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works," for his craftsmanship in forming the psalmist "in secret... in the lowest parts of the earth" (v.15).
How does the psalm end?
Verses 23-24 close with an invitation for God to examine the psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart... and lead me in the way everlasting." Compare Psalms 26:2.

Today's Verse

And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovah delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.

1-samuel 26:23 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

The psalmist marvels at being "fearfully and wonderfully made" and formed "in the lowest parts of the earth," then closes by asking God to search his heart, a request paralleled in Psalms 26:2. See the Psalms overview or continue to Psalms 140.