Chapter 138

Lord, I lie open to thy scrutiny; thou knowest me,

knowest when sit down and when I rise up again, canst read my thoughts from far away.

Walk I or sleep I, thou canst tell; no movement of mine but thou art watching it.

Before ever the words are framed on my lips, all my thought is known to thee;

rearguard and vanguard, thou dost compass me about, thy hand still laid upon me.

Such wisdom as thine is far beyond my reach, no thought of mine can attain it.

Where can I go, then, to take refuge from thy spirit, to hide from thy view?

If I should climb up to heaven, thou art there; if I sink down to the world beneath, thou art present still.

If I could wing my way eastwards, or find a dwelling beyond the western sea,

still would I find thee beckoning to me, thy right hand upholding me.

Or perhaps I would think to bury myself in darkness; night should surround me, friendlier than day;

but no, darkness is no hiding-place from thee, with thee the night shines clear as day itself; light and dark are one.

Author, thou, of my inmost being, didst thou not form me in my mother’s womb?

I praise thee for my wondrous fashioning, for all the wonders of thy creation. Of my soul thou hast full knowledge,

and this mortal frame had no mysteries for thee, who didst contrive it in secret, devise its pattern, there in the dark recesses of the earth.

All my acts thy eyes have seen, all are set down already in thy record; my days were numbered before ever they came to be.

A riddle, O my God, thy dealings with me, so vast their scope!

As well count the sand, as try to fathom them; and, were that skill mine, thy own being still confronts me.

O God, wouldst thou but make an end of the wicked! Murderers, keep your distance from me!

Treacherously they rebel against thee, faithlessly set thee at defiance.

Lord, do I not hate the men who hate thee, am I not sick at heart over their rebellion?

Surpassing hatred I bear them, count them my sworn enemies.

Scrutinize me, O God, as thou wilt, and read my heart; put me to the test, and examine my restless thoughts.

See if on any false paths my heart is set, and thyself lead me in the ways of old.