1 For the leader. A psalm of David:
ADONAI, you have probed me, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand
up, you discern my inclinations from afar,
3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
4 that before I speak even a word,
ADONAI, you know all about it already.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and
in front and laid your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond
me, far too high for me to reach.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are
there; if I lie down in Sh'ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the
dawn and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Let darkness
surround me, let the light around me be night,"
12 even darkness like this is not too
dark for you; rather, night is as clear as day, darkness and light are the
same.
13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely
made, wonderfully; your works are wonders -I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the
earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts! How
many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than
grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with you.
19 God, if only you would kill off the
wicked! Men of blood, get away from me!
20 They invoke your name for their
crafty schemes; yes, your enemies misuse it.
21 ADONAI, how I hate those who hate
you! I feel such disgust with those who defy you!
22 I hate them with unlimited hatred!
They have become my enemies too.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is in me any hurtful
way, and lead me along the eternal way.
