Study Desk

O LORD, you have ^(C1)searched me thoroughly and have known me.

You ^(C1)know when I sit down and when I rise up my entire life, everything I do; You ^(C2)understand my thought from afar. ^(VR1)

You ^(C1)scrutinize my path and my lying down, And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Even before there is a word on my tongue still unspoken, Behold, O LORD, You ^(C1)know it all. ^(VR1)

You have ^(C1)enclosed me behind and before, And You have ^(C2)placed Your hand upon me.

Such infinite ^(C1)knowledge is ^(C2)too wonderful for me; It is too high above me, I cannot reach it.

^(C1)Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

^(C1)If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, ^(C2)You are there. ^(VR1)

If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will ^(C1)lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me.

If I say, "Surely the ^(C1)darkness will cover me, And the night will be the only light around me,"

Even the ^(C1)darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You, But the night shines as bright as the day; ^(C2)Darkness and light are alike to You. ^(VR1)

For You ^(C1)formed my innermost parts; You ^(C2)knit me together in my mother's womb.

I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ^(C1)Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

My ^(C1)frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed as if embroidered with many colors in the ^(C2)depths of the earth.

Your ^(C1)eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in ^(C2)Your book were all written The ^(C3)days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them even taking shape.

How precious also are Your ^(C1)thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! ^(VR1)

If I could count them, they would ^(C1)outnumber the sand. When ^(C2)I awake, I am still with You.

^(F1)O that You would ^(C1)kill the wicked, O God; ^(C2)Go away from me, therefore, ^(C3)men of bloodshed. ^(VR1)

For they ^(C1)speak against You wickedly, Your enemies ^(C2)take Your name in vain. ^(VR1)

Do I not ^(C1)hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not ^(C2)loathe those who rise up against You?

I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.

^(C1)Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart; ^(C2)Test me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there is any ^(C1)wicked or hurtful way in me, And ^(C2)lead me in the ^(C3)everlasting way.