Behold the power of God in the Psalms!

The future proves the past.

Psalm 139:

The Inescapable God

A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!

2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;

thou discernest my thoughts from afar.

3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,

and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou dost beset me behind and before,

and layest thy hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there thy hand shall lead me,

and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to thee,

the night is bright as the day;

for darkness is as light with thee.

13 For thou didst form my inward parts,

thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.

Wonderful are thy works!

Thou knowest me right well;

15 my frame was not hidden from thee,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

16 Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;

in thy 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 thy thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

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

When I awake, I am still with thee.

19 O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,

and that men of blood would depart from me,

20 men who maliciously defy thee,

who lift themselves up against thee for evil!

21 Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?

And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect 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 wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

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Behold the power of God in the Psalms!

The future proves the past.

Psalm 51:

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;

according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

and done that which is evil in thy sight,

so that thou art justified in thy sentence

and blameless in thy judgment.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Fill me with joy and gladness;

let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence,

and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,

and sinners will return to thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

thou God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips,

and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

16 For thou hast no delight in sacrifice;

were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.

17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,

19 then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on thy altar.