2. You know when I sit and when I rise;
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.

 3. You discern my going out and my lying down;
       you are familiar with all my ways.

 4. Before a word is on my tongue
       you know it completely, O LORD.

 5. You hem me in—behind and before;
       you have laid your hand upon me.

 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
       too lofty for me to attain.

 7. Where can I go from your Spirit?
       Where can I flee from your presence?

 8. If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
       if I make my bed in the depths,  (Hell is she'ol  - Hebrew, the underworld, hence, from the heights to the depts. God is there) you are there.

 9. If I rise on the wings of the dawn (morning) (east),
       if I settle on the far side of the sea (west),

(Morning is poetic for east, and uttermost parts is the west; so, from the east to the west, God is there.)

 10. even there your hand will guide me,
       your right hand will hold me fast.

 11. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
       and the light become night around me,"

 12. even the darkness will not be dark to you;
       the night will shine like the day,
       for darkness is as light to you.

 13. For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.

 14. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.

 15. My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, (Earth is a metaphor for the womb, which is secret or hidden from view, dark and mysterious.)

 16. your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

(Substance...unformed is language used for clay not yet formed into a pot, or a skein of thread to yet unrolled and woven. Here it a applied to the fetus of a human life.

 17. How precious to (or concerning) me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!

 18. Were I to count them,
       they would outnumber the grains of sand.
       When I awake,
       I am still with you.

 19. If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
       Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

 20. They speak of you with evil intent;
       your adversaries misuse your name.

 21. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
       and abhor those who rise up against you?

 22. I have nothing but hatred for them;
       I count them my enemies.

An understanding of life includes the awareness of evil men in the population of God's creation who spoil its beauty.)

 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

 24. See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

David's previous statements are softened somewhat by his recognition that wickedness may be lurking in the recesses of his heart as well. Self-judgment is better than vengeance.)

We must be consoled in the truth that God is always and everywhere present.  We must also be assured that if you continue in Him, the Lord will most certainly fulfill His purpose for you.

God wants us to take Him at His Word and to take His Word at its face value. The truth therein is available through no other source. We must receive and believe them to benefit from them.

BACK TO DAILY DEVOTON LINKS

Back To Monthly Links of Daily Devotions

The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength

Laughter Is Good For The Soul