I found this version of Psalm 139 (a favourite psalm of mine) and felt it was too good a paraphrase not to share!
When I find that I am loved, it is almost too much for me!
As I sit in the comfort of my thoughts
or stand to worship, my beloved knows me!
Each of my ways holds no secret to the one who created me.
My moods, my angst, my joys, my hopes, my dreams
are familiar to the one who always loved me.
My words, spoken softly, are heard,
as I close my eyes, I am surrounded from all sides
enclosed with an embrace of love,
touched, guided, by a creating hand, held steady.
What an immense knowledge, that overwhelms me so!
Where would I go, that your spirit would be absent?
How would I escape the thought of you?
My life ascends to the very heights of ambition,
you are there.
My life sinks to the depths of grief,
you are there too.
I hide from the gaze of others, seeking silence for my friend,
yet you are there, beyond the land and sea,
beyond all I will ever imagine,
you are there!
When I experience the darkness of doubt,
your light shines!
When I feel utterly alone, forlorn, lost,
you have already found me!
So tiny am I, compared to my Creator’s love!
Fr. Patrick Brennan © 2015
Another version, this time by Jim Cotter
Light of light,
you have searched me and known me.
You know where I am and where I go,
you see my thoughts from afar.
You discern my paths and my resting places,
you are acquainted with all my ways.
Not a word comes from my lips,
but you, Lord, have heard it already.
You are in front of me and behind me,
you have laid your hand upon my shoulder.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
so great that I cannot fathom it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Where shall I flee from your Presence?
If I climb to the heavens you are there:
if I descend to the depths, you are there also
The darkness is no darkness to you,
and the night as clear as day.
You have created every part of my being,
cell and tissue, blood and bone.
You have woven me in the womb of my mother;
I will praise you, so wonderfully am I made.
Awesome are your deeds,
and marvellous are your works!
How deep are your thoughts to me, O God,
how great is the sum of them.
Were I to count them they are more in number
than the grains of sand upon the sea-shore,
and still I would know nothing about you -
still you would hold me in the palm of your hand.
A Prayer.....
God, you know us better than we know ourselves.
You know our thoughts, our weaknesses, our motivations,
our sins. And you love us still.
Forgive us when we don’t believe such love is true or possible;
When we wonder how You could love us just as we are,
when we forget our intricate construction,
fearfully, wonderfully made, in Your image!
Remove from our minds every thought
which keeps us from you.
Break down the walls, push aside the pride,
and help us to trust anew. You know our hearts.
You love us still.
~ from "All Things New",
written by Susan A. Blain and Scott Ressman
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