Psalm 139:7-18

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

7 x Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where y shall I flee from your presence?
8 z If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
a If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall b lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, c "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
12 d even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you e formed my inward parts;
you f knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 1
g Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 h My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in i the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your j book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your k thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 l If I would count them, they are more than m the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:24
    Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
  2. Cross References
    Jonah 1:3
    But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
  3. Cross References
    Amos 9:2
    If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
  4. Cross References
    Job 26:6
    Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 139:24
    And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
    Psalms 23:3
    He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
  6. Cross References
    Job 22:14
    Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.
  7. Cross References
    Job 34:22
    There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.
    Daniel 2:22
    He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:6
    Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?
  9. Cross References
    Job 10:11
    You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 72:18
    Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
  11. Cross References
    Job 10:8 - 10
    Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether.
    Ecclesiastes 11:5
    As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 63:9
    But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 56:8
    You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 92:5
    How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 40:5
    You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
  16. Cross References
    Genesis 22:17
    I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.