A Liturgy for the People of God for Psalm 139.

Reading of Psalm 139.

Psalm 139

1  O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

3  You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

5  You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16  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.

17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

20  They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

21  Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

Behold, the Word of God.

A Liturgy for the People of God for Psalm 139.

Oh Lord, you have searched us and known us.

You know our sitting down and our rising up.

You know our every thought and intent.

You know every word we would speak even before we know them.

Oh Lord, you surround us.

When we look behind, you are there.

When we look ahead, you are there.

When we look above, you are there.

When we look below, you are there.

This knowledge is too wonderful for us.

It is too high for us to reach.

There is nowhere we can go where you are not there.

Your presence inhabits all of creation.

Were we in heaven, you are there.

Were we in Sheol, you are there.

Were we to flee on the waves of light, you are there.

Were we to sink to the hidden depths, you are there.

In all, your hand will lead us.

You hold us close in your right hand.

In darkness, we are not covered.

For you bring darkness to light.

This knowledge is too wonderful for us.

It is too high for us to reach.

You knit us together in our mother’s womb.

You formed our innermost being, as children yet unborn.

You are the reason we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You wrote all our days in your book before time began.

How precious are your thoughts, oh God!

In the womb, you are there.

In the tomb, you are there.

In the forming of children, you are there.

In the waking hours, you are there.

This knowledge is too wonderful for us.

It is too high for us to reach.

We cry out to you for justice, oh Lord.

Often we feel surrounded by the wicked and bloodthirsty.

We hear many crying out against you.

We cannot pass a day without hearing your holy name taken in vain.

And yet, we are often silent.

Often we approve of what you hate.

Let us hate what you hate.

Let us love what you love.

Let us loathe what you loathe.

Let us praise what you praise.

This knowledge is too wonderful for us.

It is too high for us to reach.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts.

Reveal to us our sin, that we may confess it.

Try us and know our thoughts.

Take us by the hand and lead us in the way of righteousness.

Forgive us, and lead us Lord.

Hear the cry of your people.

We cry out in the name of Jesus.

Amen.