---
title: "Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 5"
author: "John Calvin"
translator: "James Anderson"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 149 of 159
url: https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-the-psalms-volume-5/149/
cite: "John Calvin, tr. James Anderson, Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 5, section 149. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-the-psalms-volume-5/149/"
---

# Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 5

*John Calvin, tr. James Anderson*

Calvin on the Psalms, volume 5 of 5.

## 149. Psalm 139

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-the-psalms-volume-5/149/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/john-calvin-commentary-on-the-psalms-volume-5/149/#p-N

[¶0] To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David

[¶1] 1 O Jehovah! thou hast searched me and known me

[¶2] 2 Thou hast known my down sitting and my uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.

[¶3] 3 My path and my lying down thou besiegest, And with all my ways thou art acquainted.

[¶4] 4 For there is not a word in my tongue [But] lo! O God! thou knowest it altogether.

[¶5] 5 Behind and before thou hast shut me up, And hast laid upon me thy hand.

[¶6] 6 Wonderful is thy knowledge above me; It is high, I cannot attain to it.

[¶7] 7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? And whither from thy time shall I flee?

[¶8] 8 If I ascend up into the heavens, there thou art; If I lie down in the sepulcher, behold! thou [art there.]

[¶9] 9 Should I take the wings of the morning, That I may dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

[¶10] 10 Even there thy hand shall lead me, And hold me shall thy right hand.

[¶11] 11 If I should say: “At least the darkness shall cover me; ” “And the night shall be light for me;“

[¶12] 12 Even the darkness shall not hide from the And the night as the day shall shine, And the darkness as the light.

[¶13] 13 For thou hast possessed my reins; Thou hast covered me in the womb of my mother.

[¶14] 14 I will celebrate thee; for I have been fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvelous are thy works, And my soul shall know them full well.

[¶15] 15 Not hidden is my strength from thee, Which thou hast made in secret: I was woven together in the lowest parts of the earth.

[¶16] 16 My shapelessness see did thine eyes; In thy book all shall be written; They were formed in many days, And there was not one of them.

[¶17] 17 And towards me how precious are thy thoughts, O God! How great are the sums of them!

[¶18] 18 If I should count them; above the sand they shall be multiplied: I am awakened, and still I am with thee.

[¶19] 19 If thou shalt slay, O God! the wicked, Then ye men of bloods depart from me.

[¶20] 20 Who have spoken of thee wickedly: Taken thy name falsely have thy adversaries.

[¶21] 21 Thy haters, O Jehovah! shall not I hate? And with those that rise up against thee shall I not strive?

[¶22] 22 With perfect hatred I have hated them, As my enemies I have held them.

[¶23] 23 Search me, O God! and know my heart: Examine me and know my thoughts.

[¶24] 24 And know whether the way of wickedness be in me, And lead me in the way of this life.