Psalm 139

[minoanmiss]

(I apologize for the translation)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.[b]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts![c]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting![d]

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I posted this because my parents dedicated this to me (as if they could) when I was born and write "Psalm 139" on many of their communications, including the glitteriffic card I opened today.

Needless to say I have mixed feelings about this.

[amaebi]

No wonder.

:(

[baranduin]

Good grief.

[cjsmith]

Yowza. :(

[hitchhiker]

:O

[aphrodite_mine]

Is a gagging noise an acceptable response here? :D

[bikergeek]

Yup. So is the poop emoji. (I am on a desktop computer ATM so it's regrettably not available.)

[cmcmck]

'kin 'ell! :o(

[cjsmith]

Oof. squick.

[gingicat]

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/2013/11/18/the-power-of-being-seen/

[minoanmiss]

Thank you. A lot. :)

[acelightning73]

That kind of theology is why I actively and freely renounced Christianity (and Mosaic Monotheism) more than forty years ago.

[asakiyume]

Having not had your parents, I really love this psalm... but even loving it, I recognize it has a kind of no-escape feeling to it if you maybe just crave a bit of PRIVACY now and then.

"Gosh, God! Let me take up the wings of the morning in PEACE now and then, how about???"

MYOFB

[annonynous]

My reaction to the first six lines is succinct. I'll thank you to Mind Your Own ... Business, please. Now go away and never come back.

Ann O.

[lemonsharks]

In translation, in a fundamentalist/evangelical context, there is this vibe I get. I get this peculiar particular vibe. A vibe undeniable. This vibe:

https://youtu.be/rGWF3ZsZPYs

[anna_wing]

The line about the wings of the morning is gorgeous, but otherwise it does read like a manifesto for a particularly enthusiastic surveillance state, or a large social media company.

[acelightning73]

"And even if it all goes wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but 'Hallelujah'"