Psalms 139:1-24 (NLT)
1 For the choir director: A psalm of David. 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, 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, 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.
This God, who has chosen relationship above the price He paid to obtain it, is so far beyond our frame of reference. Though He is uncompromisingly holy, He is also merciful, understanding, and continually available to every heart He desires to draw near to and inhabit. He does not judge and reject as people so often do. Instead, He continually pursues restoration, strengthening, and empowerment for those who have lived under the rule and influence of other gods.
How precious this understanding becomes in the development and growth of the great treasure of knowing Him. His passion is always fellowship. He knows completely that those elements of our humanity that can be difficult and troublesome are more than mendable in His presence. His investment in us has been extreme, accompanied by extensive and detailed plans for every moment of our lives. His purpose is immense, and our experience of it is limited only by our proximity to Him.
What an extraordinary expression of intimacy this is with a Being we cannot see with physical eyes or hear with physical ears. The declarations that give us glimpses into His tenacious and persistent love bring sight and sound to a reality the physical senses could never produce. As His overwhelming understanding of us and His continual engagement with us are proclaimed, our hearts are enabled to respond—to engage with and reflect the reality of this credible Creator who loves us beyond our comprehension.