Sunday, October 2, 2016

O God, You Search Me and You Know Me

All my thoughts lie open to your gaze.
When I walk or lie down you are before me:
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.

You know my resting and my rising.
You discern my purpose from afar,
And with love everlasting you besiege me:
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.

Before a word is on my tongue, Lord,
You have known its meaning through and through.
You are with me beyond my understanding:
God of my present, my past and future, too.

Although your spirit is upon me,
Still I search for shelter from your light.
There is nowhere on earth I can escape you:
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight.

For you created me and shaped me,
Gave me life within my mother's womb.
For the wonder of who I am, I praise you:
Safe in your hands, all creation is made new.

-  Bernadette Farrell

3 comments:

  1. I was just quoting Psalm 139 this afternoon, to some friends whose daughter is in rebellion and in a "dark place" - the part that reads, "If I make my bed in hell, you are there." God's love fills the earth, whether or not we feel it or believe it at the moment.

    As this line says, "And with love everlasting you besiege me:
    In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are." Since you said you sang it at Mass I looked it up on YouTube to hear the tune. It's wonderful to have a melody to sing now to these verses that were sung from the beginning!

    ReplyDelete