For the choir director. A Psalm of David. ¹ O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar. ³ You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all. ⁵ You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it. ⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,” ¹² Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You. ¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; ¹⁶ Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them. ¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸ If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You. ¹⁹ O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. ²⁰ For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain. ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? ²² I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies. ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts; ²⁴ And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.