TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
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.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Gracious God and Heavenly Father,
You are omniscient. You know everything. You know us inside out. What we do every day, even the normal, unremarkable things we do like getting up in the morning. You know our very thoughts. You know how often we sin, before we even know what we are doing. You are not a far-off god, but you know us and love us and want us to know you and be always in your presence. You care for us and protect us and have a plan for us.
When we confess and you forgive us, you transform our deeds, our thoughts, our very lives. Father, you are omnipresent. We cannot find a single place where you are not. Before the creation of time you determined your chosen people. You created us from tiny cells that grew in our mothers’ womb. You have been with us and watched over us every day of our lives and you know how long we will live on this earth. Knowing this is wonderful and makes us long to be closer to you.
Father, it grieves us when we see your enemies who hate you and mock you and want to dishonour you. Help us to share the gospel. Open more hearts to your loving salvation. Search our hearts, LORD. Help us to see what you see so that we may do less of what displeases you and more of what brings you glory. Lead us in the way everlasting!
In Christ’s name. AMEN