Psalm 139 for the digital age

 I was reading Psalm 139 and this version just sort of came to me.

Sharing it for fun and also in the hope that it encourages (and challenges) you that God is with you whenever you are online and not just in 'real' life. 

O Lord you have searched me and you know me  - 

even better than Google

You know when I scroll and when I pause,

You perceive my ‘like’s from afar.

You discern me finding new apps and using old ones

You are familiar with all my browsing history.

Before I’ve typed a comment, you know it completely O Lord.

You are like a firewall around me—

whether I’m on my phone or my computer.

You have laid your hand like a protecting antivirus on me.

Modern technology  is too complicated for me, 

too technical for me to attain.

Where can I go from your tracking device?

Where can I flee from your key logger?

If I go on an incognito browser, you are there

If I browse the dark web, you are there

If I use websites from the far side of the sea, 

using google translate to help me

Even there you will guide me,

Your right hand will be on mine on the mouse

If I go online in the middle of the night, 

when it is dark and no one sees me

Even that won’t stop you being right

there, seeing all I do.

For you created every part of me and each and every person

You have seen the creation of each part of the internet.

You know how it all got joined together 

right from the beginning when no one had heard of it.

I praise You for the skill and wisdom you gave us 

to create technology with so much potential for good.

But Your creations are far more complex and wonderful—

the web of nerve cells linking our whole body

Nothing is hidden from You—not how I work 

or how any device or machine works.

You foresaw all this happening 

and knew the full code of every program before anyone typed ‘Run’

How precious it is that You not only think about all these things, 

but that You also think about me.

Your thoughts outnumber the facts on the internet.

Whether I have wifi or not, I am always connected to You.

O Lord, stop these technologies being used for evil—

for crime, abuse and greed. 

Do not let wicked people succeed in their schemes.

Search my browsing history, know my app usage, 

test me and see my hidden purchases.

See if there is anything dishonouring to You

And lead me to use technology in ways that have eternal  benefit. 

Amen