BIRCHWOOD CHURCH
A reformed church rooted in the good news of Jesus Christ
and living to the glory of God in Charlottetown, PEI
Psalm 139 (a)
1 O LORD, you have examined me,
you know me through and through.
2 My sitting, rising—all my thoughts
afar are known to you.
3 My going out and lying down
are plain before your view.
4 Before I speak a word, O LORD,
it is well known to you.
5 You hem me in—behind, before;
you lay on me your hand.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful,
too high to understand.
7 Where can I from your Spirit flee
or from your presence go?
8 If to the heavens, you are there,
or in the depths below.
9 If I should take the wings of dawn
and dwell beyond the sea,
10 There also you would be my guide,
your right hand holding me.
11 If I should say, “Surely the dark
will hide me from your sight,
When all the light surrounding me
becomes as dark as night”—
12 Yet even darkness is not dark
to you in any way;
For darkness is as light to you,
the night will shine like day.
13 For you, O LORD, created me;
you wove me on your loom.
My inmost being you have formed
within my mother’s womb.
14 Because I’m wonderfully made,
with awe your praise I tell;
Your workmanship is marvellous,
and this I know full well.
15 When in the secret place my frame
was made before my birth,
You saw my body yet unformed
within the depths of earth.
16 And all the days that I should live,
which you ordained for me,
Were written in your book, O LORD,
before they came to be.
17 O God, how precious are your thoughts!
I scan them from afar;
And as I seek to grasp them all,
how numberless they are!
18 Were I to count them, they would be
more than the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am with you,
still safe within your hand.
19 May God destroy all wicked men!
Away, you men of blood!
20 Your foes, with evil in their hearts,
misuse your name, O God.
21 Do I not hate all those, O LORD,
who your great name oppose?
22 I cannot but abhor them all;
I count them as my foes.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
my anxious thoughts survey.
24 Show me what gives offence to you,
and lead me in your way.
Lyrics from 'Sing Psalms'. Copyright Free Church of Scotland
Psalm 139 (b)
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1 LORD, you have searched my life and know my heart;
You search me and you know me through and through.
2 You know me when I sit and when I rise,
and from afar my thoughts are known to you.
3 You see my going out and lying down,
and you have perfect knowledge of my ways.
4 Before I speak a word, you know it, LORD,
For nothing can be hidden from your gaze.
5 Behind before, you hem me in, O LORD,
And you have laid on me your mighty hand.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
Too high to grasp, to great to understand.
7 Where from your Spirit can I go and hide?
And from your presence, LORD, where can I fly?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
And in the lowest depths, if there I lie.
9 If I take flight upon the wings of dawn
And if I settle far beyond the sea,
10 There also you will guide me with your hand
And still your right hand will keep hold of me.
11 If I should say, "The dark will cover me
And light around me be as dark as night,"
12 Yet even darkness is not dark to you -
The night is as the day, the darkness light.
13 For you created me and gave me life;
Within my mother's womb you fashioned me.
14 I'm fearfully and wonderfully made;
I praise you as your mighty works I see.
15 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.
Lyrics from 'Sing Psalms'. Copyright Free Church of Scotland