Psalm 139—You Walk Beside Me On the Hidden Homeward Way

"For even the darkness is as light to you."

Rendition of Psalm 139

Lord, you know me completely.
You know when I remain and when I rise to go.
You see my purposes from any distance.
When I go astray, you scatter me,
Only to walk beside me 
On the hidden homeward way.
Before I open my mouth to speak
You know each of my words.
Your nearness encloses me, behind and before.
Your hand is on me.
Your wisdom utterly surpasses me.
It is too high, too much.

Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I run from your face?
If I climb to the heavens, you are there.
If I build a bed for myself in the grave, you are there.
If I fly east on dawn wings,
If I make a home at the farthest reach of the western sea,
Even there your hand holds me
In a grasp that does not slip.
At times, I know the gaping darkness
Will have its way with me at last,
And the lights around me 
Will dim to nothing one by one.
But even then a high light dazzles,
For even the darkness is as light to you.

You claimed my most solemn self
When you wove me in the womb.
I flung my thanks to you in fear and awe,
For you worked wonders all about me.
If anything I know is true, it is that.
This lattice of flesh was not hidden from you
When you fashioned me in secret,
When you wove my dappled form
In the deep earth.
You saw me when I was only clay.
You wrote my days as a story you made
Before one of them began.

How precious are your thoughts for me, God!
They are as prized as gold, 
But outnumber the sand itself.
Even if I knew them, I could not count them.
When I sleep, you mind me.
When I awake, I am still with you.

But if only you would fold back upon the wicked,
The very evil they hope in!
If only you would turn aside
Those who seek to batter me down.
If only you would silence those who lay traps
And build evil plans with words.
Do I not hate those who hate you?
Am I not grieved when people rise against you?
My hate for these enemies
Has grown to its uttermost limit.

But search me, God, and know my heart.
Test me and know my anxious, divided thoughts.
If I walk the way of strife and pain,
Like the very people who oppose you, 
Lead me again in the way everlasting.

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Catching up with the Darking Psalter

If you are new to the Darkling Psalter, it is a project to create renditions of the Psalms (artistic rewordings based on the original Hebrew) and original poems to pair with each one.

Psalms with poems: 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19, 22, 29, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 46, 51, 53, 65, 73, 74, 84, 86, 88, 90, 107, 121, 123, 130, 131, 137, 142, 147.

Psalms only: 3, 23