Psalm 139 Project Vs. 20

Verse 20

For they speak against Thee wickedly,

And Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.

Complete Jewish Bible - They invoke Your name for their crafty schemes; Yes, Your enemies misuse it.

Easy-To-Read Version - Those who say bad things about You. Your enemies use Your name falsely.

The Message - All the men and women who belittle You, God, infatuated with cheap god-imitations.

I was lost.

I was lost

Then Someone found me.

Someone thinks 

Of me

Intended me

Sees me

Knows me

Created a world around me

Made me feel

Like I belonged.

That I was

Special

On purpose

Loved

By intention.

That Someone 

Who met me

Found me

Turned the world

Upside down

To become 

My intention

That Someone

Deserves more

Than curses and arrogance

In my presence.

That Someone

Is loved and breathed

In the quiet moments;

And in the thunderous

Adventures

I speak His name.

That Someone

Is mocked and ignored

Taunted and abused

His name

Uttered in disregard

By those who don't understand.

That Someone 

Stands so strong

On my behalf

I cannot help but feel

Ripped off

That those who

Don't even know 

That Someone

Are talking trash

About 

That Someone

Who has made me

His Grand Important Thing.

That Someone

Is

Everything.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 19

Verse 19

O that Thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God;

Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

The Message – And please God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers – out of here! –

Today’s New International Version – If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

When I was little

I used to fall asleep

With a picture in my mind of

Good and evil

In a swordfight

Over my head.

They would be fighting

For control.

I would fall asleep

Whispering

‘You guys fight it out’.

Today

It is not a

Fall asleep fairytale.

Today

I want to be good

I have intentions

To prevail

To win the battle

In private

I sharpen my sword

With all the good

I can muster.

And then it comes.

It can be

The person who rattles me.

Or

The loneliness that haunts

Or

The shadows that taunt.

Evil is sharpening

Its sword

For that fight

With my good.

The reality is

Sometimes all of those

Good intentions

Win.

Sometimes evil

Trips me up

With a touché.

It would be so much

Easier

If the wickedness

Was done away with

If I never had to

Engage

In the battle at all.

It would be so great

If everything I intended

To be strong enough

To accomplish

Could be conquered

And there’s the rub

No battle means –

No choice.

No intentions means –

No good works.

The fight for me

Is valiant

The effort is

Monumental

Scars abound.

If only You

Could just

Do away with the wicked.

So much easier.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 18

Verse 18

If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with Thee.

Amplified Bible – If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

Complete Jewish Bible – If I count them, there are more than grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with You.

You know that feeling you get

When you stand at the ocean

You’re looking out

And it seems to go on forever.

Same feeling when you

Stand atop the tallest building

And gaze at the horizon

Stretched before you

Going on perpetually.

It’s that same impact of

The million man march

Where a sea of bodies

Seems endless.

And again when the telescope

Is strong enough

To take your sight

To worlds and galaxies

That seems never-ending.

To attempt the measuring

Or the counting

Of these

Seems relentless.

To count the infinite

Number of the grains of sand

Is a ferocious task

Uncompromising

In its tenacity.

Same holds true

To try and determine

The absolute

Completion

Of His thoughts towards you.

Fixed upon you

Infinitely

Uncompromising

In

Their

Tenacity.

His thoughts towards you.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 17

Verse 17

How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Complete Jewish Bible – God, how I prize Your thoughts! How many of them there are!

Contemporary English Version – Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine.

The Message – Your thoughts – how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them!

The thoughts of the Almighty

Priceless,

Unthinkable for me.

Like a work of art

That brings millions

To its doors,

To stand and admire

At a distance,

To study and examine

At arms’ length.

To get closer than that

Would be

Too much for us to take.

They are like the magnificence

Of the rarest work

By a master

No one can replicate.

Many will attempt

The mimic

But not succeed,

Precisely because

We did not create

The thoughts.

We cannot understand them.

The ultimate beauty

Of the plan

Conceived by

The ultimate

Master.

I stand just behind

The roped off section

Soaking in the

Absolute

Opulence

Of the very thoughts of

The Almighty.

So moved that

This masterpiece

I stand in awe of

Is

The sum of

The thoughts of the Almighty

Towards

Me.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 16

Verse 16

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; 
and in Thy book they were all written
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there was not one of them.

Complete Jewish Bible – Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in Your book all my days were written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.

What have Your eyes seen?

     Rape?

          Hunger?

              Torture?

What have Your eyes seen?

      Famine?

          Drought?

                Terror?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Orphans?

          Widows?

               Thieves?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Teachers?

          Prophets?

               Kings?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Toddlers?

          Graduates?

               Preachers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Climbers?

          Diggers?

               Flyers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Pray-ers?

          Players?

               Try-ers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Life?

          Death?

               Survival?

What have Your eyes seen?
     Beginners?
          Creators?
               Achievers?


What have Your eyes seen?

     Past?

          Future?

               Present?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Nightmares?

          Dreams?

               Reality?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Beginnings?

          Endings?

               Middles?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Substance?

          Unseen?

               Unformed?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Days?

          Life?

               Mine?

In Your book, please keep writing down everything You see.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 15

Verse 15

My frame was not hidden from Thee,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.

From the time of conception

To the time of discovery

Only You knew that I existed.

Those eternal, fleeting moments

Where I existed

Known only to One

There was no guesswork,

No surprises.

Just the same skill

That created heavens

            And roses….

                         And beaches….

                                            And horses….

Also made me.

Between conception

And discovery

My existence -

Not hidden,

No surprises.

Known.

And made.

The  mysteries that held

The promise of new life

Was for You alone to know,

And for me to shine.

In the land between conception

And discovery

You made

Me.

Perfectly.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 14

Verse 14

I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are Thy works

And my soul know this very well.

The Amplified Bible - I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth. Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.

Complete Jewish Bible - I thank You because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; Your works are wonders - I know this very well.

Easy-To-Read Version - I praise You because You made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was!

I was made by intention

You intended

Me

Exactly how I came 

The when's

     And where's

          And why's

All part of

Your Grand Intention

The thing that puzzles

And makes me

Speechless

Is the Intention

Of me - 

Intertwined -

With the Grand Design

Exactly how I came

With the when's

     And where's 

          And why's

The Grand Intention

Included

Me

On purpose

From the inside out

The capabilities

The warmth

The smiles

The tears

The strength

The heart

Intentionally

Designed

To be woven into

And throughout

The Grand Design

My soul knows this

Very well

Me

     And You

And

     The Grand Intention.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 13

Verse 13

For Thou didst form my inward parts;

Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.

The Message – Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb.

Contemporary English Version – You are the one who put me together inside my mother’s body.

Complete Jewish Bible – For You fashioned my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

In the beginning

Nothing was forgotten

Nothing left out

Knitted together on purpose

Woven in specific detail

Nothing forgotten

No defective parts

Everything on purpose

The smile

The legs

The lungs

Exactly how they were supposed to be

No mistakes

And nothing forgotten

Weaving and designing

On purpose

The eyes

The heart

The toenails

Nothing missing

Parts askew are not a mistake

Unraveling the complicated bits

Takes time

The hands

The mouth

The spine

Knitted on purpose

No mistaken identities

No wrong hosts

The geography

Of beginnings is

On purpose

Never unforeseen

What lies ahead

The bones

The nose

The ears

Shapen from the inside out

On purpose

Nothing forgotten

No part defective to the purpose

Weaving and knitting

The design

Is never flawed

Nor is the designer

Weaving and forming

The sight

The voice

The heart

The more complicated the design

The more purposeful

The shape

The form

The meaning

From the beginning.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 12

Verse 12

Even the darkness is not dark to Thee,

And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to Thee.

The Message – It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to You; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to You.

Amplified Bible – Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Contemporary English Version – But You see in the dark because daylight and dark are all the same to You.

i am afraid of the dark

all the unseen things

makes me afraid

i play music

and rock on my bed

i think of pleasant things

keep a light on.

i do not trust

what i cannot see

my mind plays tricks

friends with my fear

whispers things

that are not real

to capture my heart

in dread’s grip.

i do not like the dark

where i must

feel blindly for the things

that will hurt me.

i am afraid of the dark

irony

the very thing i hate the most

the darkness

the shadows

are actually nothing to You.

darkness to me

lightness to You.

dark and light

they have no distinction to You.

they are the same

there is no darkness

no shadows

no blindness

i am not You

You see no dark

and yet

You hum music in my ear

You rock me on my bed

You give pleasant thoughts

for me to think

You are the Light

to banish

all the whispers

i am still afraid of the dark

but more comforted

by You who has no shadow.

Unseen Light.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 11

Verse 11

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night”

The Message – Then I said to myself, “Oh He even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!”

Easy-To-Read – Suppose I wanted to hide from you and said, “Surely the darkness will hide me. The day will change to night and cover me.”

New Living Translation – I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night.

From the beginning

We wanted to hide.

Right from the start

We shrunk from Him.

We begged the darkness

To cover us,

To make it impossible

For Him to find us.

If only we could make it

Until there was no light,

So no one would see.

If we could only hide

In the shadows,

He would walk right by

Oblivious to us,

And what we’ve done

Or not done.

He wouldn’t see the truth

About our motives.

We could pull the shade

Around us

And our need.

Right from the beginning

Of time

We hold our breath.

Waiting and hoping

That the blackness

Of the night

Overwhelms us,

So we can hide

Our hurt.

And His

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 10

Verse 10

Even there Thy hand will lead me

And Thy right hand will lay hold of me

Easy-To-Read – Even there You will take my hand and lead me. Your strong right hand will protect me.
The Message – You’d find me in a minute – You’re already there waiting!

Even there

It doesn’t matter where
Because

Even there

Every place I can think of
And every place I can dream of
And every place I have yet to even conceive of
It doesn’t matter where
Because

Even there

Wherever I find myself
Wherever that is

Even there

It is Your hand
Your hand
That leads and holds me
Guides and protects me

Even there

Already waiting to find me

Even there

No matter its name
Again
Your hand
On my shoulder
In my hand
Leading

Even there

Even when it’s breathtaking
Even when it’s not

Even there

It’s your hand -
Your hand
On me

No matter where

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 9

Verse 9

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea…

The Message -  If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizons
Complete Jewish Bible -  If I fly away with the wings of the dawn and land beyond the sea


What if I could fly on the wings of dawn?
What if I could find the farthest place,
The places no one else even dreams about?




What if I could soar and fly and glide
Over the expanses and the mountaintops,
Over the valleys and the oceans and the seas?




What if I could find a place no one has ever been,
Where neither human foot nor country’s flag has flown?
What then?




What if I could make my home in the sea,
In the deepest, most mysterious places,
Where life is lived like nowhere else?




What if, like Atlantis, my home would dwell
Among the great sea creatures and awesome beauty
That no man has seen?




What then?

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 8

Verse 8

If I ascend to heaven, Thou are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold Thou art there.

Contemporary English Version – If I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there.

God’s Word Translation – If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there.

To imagine Heaven

Glorious, lovely

Easy

‘Heaven on earth’

‘A little slice of heaven’

Easy to imagine

Harder to obtain

Most of us live somewhere

In between

Between ugly and glorious

Easy to believe

You are in the glorious places

But in the world of the dead?

You?

When I must make my bed

In hell?

Some of us know hell

Some of us have lived, slept and eaten

In Sheol.

It’s that isolating place

That strips us of

Pride

Of dignity

Filling us with shame

With disgrace

With guilt

Like when we find ourselves

In a straight jacket

Devoid of emotion

Like when we’ve called in

Every last favour

And must now sleep on the ground

Like when solitary

Demands no contact

Making isolation our only friend

Like when we run

And opiates leave us

Brain-dead and lost

Like when we are like cattle

To be bought and sold

Huddled for warmth with other nameless ones

Like when, through no fault of ours

Disease has demanded

More of our body than should be given

Like when we are forced

Held captive, violated

By a manipulation wrongly labeled love

Like when we pass

The name of our child

Across to the stone-cutter

Like when our lives

Have taken too many turns

For us to remember where to find hope

That is where You are.

With me.

In heaven.

With me

In hell.

And with me

Everywhere

In between.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 7

Verse 7

Where can I go from Thy Spirit?

Or where can I flee from They Presence?

Easy-to-Read Version – Your Spirit is everywhere I go. I cannot escape Your Presence.

Good News Translation – Where could I go to escape from You? Where could I get away from Your Presence?

The Message – Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? To be out of Your sight?

You see me ….

                    At the guidance office            At the supermarket        At the confessional    

                                                                      At the office       At the bar          At the restaurant         

                                                        

                                                                                                    At the new spot to blaze 

                            At the dance              In the dark           At the movies         At the sex store         Online       

                                                                                                  In the closet         In the pulpit    

                                                                                                                    In the hospital


                           In the psych ward           During chemo           During sex              During forced sex         

                                             In the fight         In the bookstore            At the hairdresser    

                                     At the magazine stand             When someone must toilet me


                              In Rehab          In the alley        At the book club           In the hotel room        

                                                                                                                      In the car            In prison

                                                             At the shooting gallery           In the police car              At the Shelter      

                                                    At the food bank              At the cemetery


                         At the DMV        In the shower        At the Welfare Office       On the road  

                                                         In the pew       Far from home


                          In another country        At seating clinic        At the specialist office      

                                                      While swimming             In the jungle


                       At the prosthetic fitting           In the bedroom         At the mall           In bed       

                                                                       On a date        

                                       In class             At work              At the gym                 In exams        

                                                                                   At the cottage                 Smoking up        

                                                                                                                                               At church

Everywhere I go

Your Spirit goes with me

There is nowhere I can run away to

That Your Presence

Isn’t there with me.

Everywhere.