There is no place where we can
hide,
no place where we can run,
and even the darkness of night cannot
provide privacy.
Psalm 139:1
O LORD, you have
searched me and known me!
David has dealt with the
scrutiny in his life by the all-knowing God. The omniscient God was cause for both
fear and amazement in the life of David. As the writer continues his song of
praise to the LORD, he speaks of one more very important attribute of God.
Psalm 139:7-12
Where shall I go
from your Spirit?
Or where
shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to
heaven, you are there!
If I make
my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings
of the morning
and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand
shall lead me,
and your
right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the
darkness shall cover me,
and the
light about me be night,”
even the darkness is
not dark to you;
the night
is bright as the day,
for
darkness is as light with you.
Not only does God know
everything, but He is also everywhere. The way David speaks of this attribute
of God suggests that he is reacting to God's omniscience. In other words, it
almost seems that although he is awed by the caring scrutiny of God, his
response is to want to hide.
But there is no place where he
can hide, no place where he can run, and even the darkness of night cannot
provide privacy.
There is no doubt that our
lives would be different if we lived in total awareness that every action was
totally visible to others. I know that all too often, my behavior is affected
by the presence of watching human eyes. Therefore, my life should certainly be
overwhelmingly affected by my awareness of the presence of God!
Every choice to sin proves
that I am not taking into account the truth that God is totally aware of what I
am doing. I might hide things from men, but nothing is hidden from God.
On the positive side, God’s
presence should give us an incredible sense of peace. To know that we are never
far from our heavenly Father should cause us to have such rest in Him, that fretting and worrying should
never be part of our life.
David not only makes us aware
of the presence of God, but also makes it clear that His is an active presence.
His hand will lead us and His right hand will hold us. Let us not gloss over
these amazing truths!
God is always there to lead
us. There is no place where He does not go before us, no place where we need to
fend for ourselves. He knows where we are, He is where we are, and He holds us
when we need to be held.
When I feel alone, my feelings
are wrong. If I feel abandoned, that is never true. When I feel crushed, God’s
hand is there to hold me. Paul knew very well that God would lead him into hard
times, so that he would become more aware of God’s presence and care, and
display to others his dependence upon that care, which then glorifies the Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
But we have this
treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and
not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
We might be far from every one
we know, but God is always near! We might feel that we are in a very dark
tunnel, but for God there is no darkness!
As we reflect on these truths,
two things should happen: The awareness of God’s presence should be a deterrent
to sin and it should be a deterrent to despair.
Again, the scrutiny of God is
amazing. Not only does He know everything about me, but He is also always close
to me.
May our decisions, attitudes,
actions, and reactions reflect our awareness of these attributes of God. We are
totally cared for!
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