Domine probasti

1 O Lord, thou hast me try'd and known,
my sitting down dost know,
My rising up and thoughts far off
thou understand'st also.

2 My path, yea, and my bed likewise
thou art about always:
And by familiar custom art
acquainted with my ways.

3 No word is in my tongue, O Lord,
that is not known to thee;
Thou hast beset me round about,
and laid thy hand on me.

4 Such knowledge is too wonderful,
and past my skill to gain;
It is so high, that I unto
the same cannot attain.

5 From thy all-seeing spirit then,
Lord, whither should I go?
Or whither shall I fly away
from thy presence also?

6 For if to heaven I climb up,
lo, thou art present there;
In hell if I lie down below,
even there thou dost appear,

7 Yea, let me take the morning wings,
and let me go and dwell
Even in the very utmost parts
where flowing sea doth swell.

8 Yet certainly there also shall
thy hand me lead and guide:
And thy right-hand shall hold me fast,
and make me to abide.

9 Or if I say, the darkness shall
shroud me quite from thy sight:
Ev'n then the night that is most dark
about me shall be light.

10 The darkness hideth not from thee,
but night doth shine as day;
To thee the darkness and the light,
are both alike alway.

The Second Part.

11 For thou possessed hast my reins,
and thou did'st cover me,
Within my mother's womb, when I
was there enclos'd by thee.

12 Thee will I praise; made fearfully
and wondrously I am:
Thy works are marvelous, right well
my soul doth know the same.

13 My bones they are not hid from thee,
altho' in secret place
I have been made, and in the earth
beneath I shaped was.

14 When I was formless, then thy eye
saw me; for in thy book
Were all my members written, and
nought after fashion took.

15 The thoughts therefore of thee, O God,
how dear are they to me:
And of them all how very great
the endless numbers be?

16 If I should count them, lo, their sum
more than the sand they be;
And whensoever I awake,
I present am with thee.

17 The wicked and ungodly thou
most certainly wilt slay:
Therefore now, all ye bloody men,
depart from me away.

18 These are the men, O Lord, who speak
most wickedly of thee:
And take thy Name in vain, because
thy enemies they be.

19 Hate I not them that hate thee, Lord,
and that in earnest wise?
Am I not grieved with all those
that up against thee rise?

20 I hate them with a perfect hate,
even as my utter foes:
Try me, O Lord, and know my heart,
my thoughts prove and disclose.

21 Consider, Lord, if wickedness
in me there any be:
And in thy way, O God, my guide,
for ever lead thou me.

Source: The Whole Book of Psalms #CXXXIX