and Ps. 139 and Ps. 104.
The Hound from Heaven
There
can be little doubt that Francis Thompson (1859-1907) was inspired by the words
of Psalm 139 when composing The Hound of Heaven. This will be evident from the
opening lines:
I
fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I
fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I
fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of
my own mind; and the mist of tears
I
hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Omniscience & Omnipresence
The theme of Ps. 139 is
God’s omniscience and omnipresence. The
psalmist recognizes God as present everywhere, One who is not only
all-powerful, but also all-knowing, One who has formed man from the womb, and
One whose presence man cannot escape.5
Ps.139 Compared to Psalm 104
This Psalm has often been
admired for the grandeur of its sentiments, the elevation of its style, as well
as the variety and beauty of its imagery. Bishop Lowth, in his 29th Prelection,
classes it amongst the Hebrew idyls, as next to the 104th, in respect both to
the conduct of the poem, and the beauty of the style. "If it be
excelled," says he, "(as perhaps it is) by the former in the plan,
disposition, and arrangement of the matter, it is not in the least inferior in
the dignity and elegance of its sentiments, images, and figures."
"Amongst its other excellencies," says Bishop Mant, "it is for
nothing more admirable than for the exquisite skill with which it descants on
the perfections of the Deity.
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Douay-Rheims Bible
You Have Searched Me and Know Me
1Lord, thou hast
proved me, and known me:
2thou hast know my
sitting down, and my rising up.
3Thou hast understood
my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
4And thou hast
foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
5Behold, O Lord, thou
hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and
hast laid thy hand upon me.
6Thy knowledge is
become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
7Whither shall I go
from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
8If I ascend into
heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.
9If I take my wings
early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10Even there also
shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
11And I said: Perhaps
darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
12But darkness shall
not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day: the darkness thereof,
and the light thereof are alike to thee.
13For thou hast
possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.
14I will praise thee,
for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul
knoweth right well.
15My bone is not
hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the
lower parts of the earth.
16Thy eyes did see my
imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed,
and no one in them.
17But to me thy
friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is
exceedingly strengthened.
18I will number them,
and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with
thee.
19If thou wilt kill
the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:
20Because you say in
thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.
21Have I not hated
them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pine away because of thy enemies?
22I have hated them
with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.
23Prove me, O God,
and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
24And see if there be
in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
Douay-Rheims
Bible
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1 (138-1) pro victoria David
canticum Domine investigasti me et cognovisti
2 (138-2) tu cognovisti
sessionem meam et surrectionem meam
3 (138-3) intellexisti malum
meum de longe semitam meam et accubitionem meam eventilasti
4 (138-4) et omnes vias meas intellexisti quia non est eloquium in
lingua mea
5 (138-5) ecce Domine nosti omnia retrorsum et ante formasti me et
posuisti super me manum tuam
6 (138-6) super me est scientia et excelsior est non potero ad eam
7 (138-7) quo ibo ab spiritu tuo et quo a facie tua fugiam
8 (138-8) si ascendero in caelum ibi es tu si iacuero in inferno
ades
9 (138-9) si sumpsero pinnas diluculo habitavero in novissimo
maris
10 (138-10) etiam ibi manus tua deducet me et tenebit me dextera
tua
11 (138-11) si dixero forte tenebrae operient me nox quoque lux
erit circa me
12 (138-12) nec tenebrae habent tenebras apud te et nox quasi dies
lucet similes sunt tenebrae et lux
13 (138-13) quoniam tu possedisti renes meos orsusque es me in
utero matris meae
14 (138-14) confitebor tibi quoniam terribiliter magnificasti me
mirabilia opera tua et anima mea novit nimis
15 (138-15) non sunt operta ossa mea a te quibus factus sum in
abscondito imaginatus sum in novissimis terrae
16 (138-16) informem adhuc me viderunt oculi tui et in libro tuo
omnes scribentur dies formatae sunt et non est una in eis
17 (138-17) mihi autem quam honorabiles facti sunt amici tui Deus
quam fortes pauperes eorum
18 (138-18) dinumerabo eos et harena plures erunt evigilavi et
adhuc sum tecum
19 (138-19) si occideris Deus impium viri sanguinum declinate a me
20 (138-20) qui contradicent tibi scelerate elati sunt frustra
adversarii tui
21 (138-21) nonne odientes te Domine odivi et contra adversarios
tuos distabui
22 (138-22) perfecto odio oderam illos inimici facti sunt mihi
23 (138-23) scrutare me Deus et cognosce cor meum proba me et scito
cogitationes meas
24 (138-24) et vide si via idoli in me est et deduc me in via
aeterna
Latin: Biblia Sacra Vulgata
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12ὅτι σκότος οὐ σκοτισθήσεται ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ νὺξ ὡς ἡμέρα φωτισθήσεται ὡς τὸ σκότος αὐτῆς οὕτως καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτῆς
15οὐκ ἐκρύβη τὸ ὀστοῦν μου ἀπὸ σοῦ ὃ ἐποίησας ἐν κρυφῇ καὶ ἡ ὑπόστασίς μου ἐν τοῖς κατωτάτοις τῆς γῆς
16τὸ ἀκατέργαστόν
μου εἴδοσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί
σου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον σου πάντες γραφήσονται ἡμέρας πλασθήσονται καὶ οὐθεὶς ἐν αὐτοῖς
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