LORD, you have searched my life and know my heart;

LORD, you have searched my life and know my heart; You search me and you know me through and through. You know me when I sit and when I rise, And from afar my thoughts are known to you.

You see my going out and lying down, And you have perfect knowledge of my ways. Before I speak a word, you know it, LORD, For nothing can be hidden from your gaze.

Behind, before, you hem me in, O LORD, And you have laid on me your mighty hand. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, Too high to grasp, too great to understand.

Where from your Spirit can I go and hide? And from your presence, LORD, where can I fly? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; And in the lowest depths, if there I lie.

If I take flight upon the wings of dawn And if I settle far beyond the sea, There also you will guide me with your hand And still your right hand will keep hold of me.

If I should say, “The dark will cover me And light around me be as dark as night,” Yet even darkness is not dark to you— The night is as the day, the darkness light.

For you created me and gave me life; Within my mother’s womb you fashioned me. I’m fearfully and wonderfully made; I praise you as your mighty works I see.

My frame could not be hidden from your sight, When I was made within the secret place. When I was woven in the depths of earth, My unformed body was before your face.

Your eyes beheld me in my unborn state, And all the days that you ordained for me Were written in the book that you had made Before a single day had come to be.

How precious are your thoughts to me, O God! Their sum is vast and far beyond my view— To count them is like counting grains of sand. When I awake from sleep, I’m still with you.

If only you would slay the wicked, LORD! Away from me, you men of violence! They speak of you with evil in their hearts; Your foes misuse your name with insolence.

Do I not hate all those who hate you, LORD? Those who rise up against you I abhor; Such wicked men I count my enemies And on their heads all my contempt I pour.

Examine me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts, I pray. Search out in me what causes you offence, And lead me in the everlasting way.