“O Lord, thou hast me search'd and known”


 
Scottish Metrical Psalm 139 verses 1 to 12 (4 stanzas)

(1)

O Lord, thou hast me search'd and known.
    Thou know'st my sitting down,
And rising up; yea, all my thoughts
    afar to thee are known.
My footsteps, and my lying down,
    thou compassed always;
Thou also most entirely art
    acquaint with all my ways.

(2)

For in my tongue, before I speak,
    not any word can be,
But altogether, Lo, O Lord,
    it is well known to thee.
Behind, before, thou has beset,
    and laid on me thine hand.
Such knowledge is too strange for me,
    too high to understand.

(3)

From thy Sp'rit whither shall I go?
    or from thy presence fly?
Ascend I heav'n lo, thou art there;
    there, if in hell I lie.
Take I the morning wings, and dwell
    in utmost parts of sea;
Ev'n there, Lord, shall thy hand me lead,
    thy right hand hold shall me.

(4)

If I do say that darkness shall
    me cover from thy sight,
Then surely shall the very night
    about me be as light.
Yea, darkness hideth not from thee,
    but night doth shine as day:
To thee the darkness and the light
    are both alike alway.