In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from Psalm 139 entitled “Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me.”  I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.

Magnificence

O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,

Thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou measurest my going about and my lying down,

And art acquainted with all my ways.

—Psalm 139

Lord, I have tried to escape you.

I have sought solace in wine, but you were the wine.

I have sought solace in bread, but you were the bread.

I have sought solace in sleep, and you met me in my dreams.

I have sought solace in silence and found only you.

Every word I write has been found in your presence.

Every wish I’ve made has had an answer in you.

In darkness I greet you.

I greet you by the light of the sun.

You know where I’m going.

You know where I’ve been.

You are with me wherever I am.

Every cell of my body manifests according to your design.

I cannot hide from you anything I’ve done.

My secrets are not secret from you.

You alone judge, and you judge not.

There is no reason for me to be ashamed.

In your eyes, I am a lamb who has gone astray,

a lamb waiting to be led back to the fold.

In your eyes, I am a chick recently fledged.

In your eyes, I am a newborn child.

You watch my every breath and heartbeat.

You hold me in your arms and breathe

the breath into me, pump my tiny heart.

To you I am so small and so magnificent.

To you I am matter and infinite being.

To you, I am you, only small in consciousness.

Your consciousness I cannot comprehend,

the sum of all that was, that is, that will be,

every thought that has ever been thought,

every feeling that has ever been felt.

O how I long to know you as you know me!

O how I long to experience our deep communion!

I cannot escape you, but our oneness escapes me.

Lord, I have tried to escape you.

I have sought you outside myself and found only you.

Now, I seek within and find magnificence.