Psalms 139 (DBY)

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Chapter Text

139:1 {To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known [me].

139:2 *Thou* knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off;

139:3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways;

139:4 For there is not yet a word on my tongue, [but] lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.

139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me.

139:6 O knowledge too wonderful for me! it is high, I cannot [attain] unto it.

139:7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither flee from thy presence?

139:8 If I ascend up into the heavens thou art there; or if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou [art there];

139:9 [If] I take the wings of the dawn [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

139:11 And if I say, Surely darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night;

139:12 Even darkness hideth not from thee, and the night shineth as the day: the darkness is as the light.

139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins; thou didst cover me in my mother's womb.

139:14 I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well.

139:15 My bones were not hidden from thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth.

139:16 Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all [my members] were written; [during many] days were they fashioned, when [as yet] there was none of them.

139:17 But how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

139:18 [If] I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.

139:19 Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God! And ye men of blood, depart from me.

139:20 For they speak of thee wickedly, they take [thy name] in vain, thine enemies.

139:21 Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? and do not I loathe them that rise up against thee?

139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I account them mine enemies.

139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts;

139:24 And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "light", "darkness", "chief", "musician", "psalm", "david", and "jehovah". It is saying that the contrast between light and darkness marks a real divide in how people respond to God's work.

The local DBY text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "Spirit" and "light" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "light" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.