If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; i.e. "if I were to ascend up into heaven, if I could do so, thou wouldst still be there—I should not find myself where thou wert not; no, nor even if I went down to hell (Sheol), should I escape thee—thou wouldst be there also." If I make my bed in hell means, "if I go down and take my rest in hell"—the place of departed spirits. Behold, thou art there; literally, behold, thou!
If I take the wings of the morning. If I were to speed across the earth on the wings of the dawn, and, having done so, were then to dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea—the extreme west, where the sun sots—even there shall thy hand lead me. In that distant region I should still find thy guiding hand. And thy right hand shall hold me. Thy strong right hand would uphold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. If I think to escape thee by plunging into darkness, and say to myself, "Surely the darkness shall screen me, and night take the place of light about me," so that I cannot be seen, even then my object is not accomplished; even the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day. Thy essential light penetrates every dark place, and makes the deepest gloom as radiant as the brightest sunshine. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee; literally, as the darkness, so the light; but the paraphrase of the Authorized Version gives the true sense.