Lord, you know and study me

Lord, you know and study me
and, Lord, you read my mind.
Lord, you know me through and through,
you watch me all the time.
Close behind me, close in front,
you shield me with your hand.
Such knowledge is beyond me, Lord;
I cannot understand.

2. Lord, you know before I speak
the words that I will say.
Lord, you know before I move
each detail of my way.
I cannot escape you, Lord;
your Spirit’s everywhere;
though heaven-bound or deep in death,
your presence will be there.

3. Even though I flee from you
across the raging sea,
you will still be guiding there,
your right hand holding me.
Dark will never cover me
nor daylight turn to night;
the dark is never dark to you
and night becomes your light.

4. While inside my mother’s womb
you fashioned every part,
wrote the diary of my days
before they had their start.
For these things I thank you, Lord:
the mysteries I see,
the wonder, Lord, of all your works,
the wonder, Lord, of me.

5. Lord, how hard to grasp your thoughts,
how hard to understand!
I could no more count them, Lord,
than I could count the sand.
Search me, God, and know my heart
and probe me through and through
and turn me from all evil ways,
and lead me, Lord, to you.
BASED ON PSALM 139

© in this version 2009 Praise Trust
Gillian Simpson