GOD
IS HERE, I CANNOT HIDE!
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 omniscience
of 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 fearful 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 him with privacy.
There
is no doubt that our lives would be different if we lived in total awareness
that every action was visible to others. I know that my behavior is often
affected by the presence of watching human eyes. Therefore, my behavior should
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
completely 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 thinking.
David
not only makes us aware of the presence of God, but also makes it clear that He
is actively present. His hand will lead us and His right hand will hold us. Let
us not gloss over these encouraging and 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.
What
an amazing truth: when I am going through a hard time, God’s intention is for me to
become more dependent on Him and to become more aware of His presence, and
ultimately for Him to receive more glory, as our trust and peace in Him is
observed.
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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