Psalm 139:7-12

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

As we have seen we not only have an omniscience, all knowing God, but an omnipresence God that is everywhere. David describes a God who not only knows us but is also with us, and because God is everywhere David states that we can never escape from Him. Which begs the question why would we ever want to escape God’s presence? This may seem like a foolish thing to want and do but there have been those who have tried. I believe that most of the time our reason for running from God is to try and hide our sin from Him. This was the case with Adam and Eve, where in Genesis 3:8 it says that after they had sinned, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” They believed that they could hide from the presence of their Creator using His creation. That is what sin does to us, it makes us want to escape God’s presence. The holiness of God strikes fear into our sinful hearts making us want to hide from Him. The irony is that the one we try to hide from is the only one who can heal our hurting hearts. As St. Augustine said, “The only way to flee from God is to flee to him.” Only through God can we find relief from the punishment that our sin brings. Only by running to Him can we find forgiveness and freedom from the guilt and servitude of sin. Not only did Adam and Eve try to hide from God but so did Jonah. When God called him to go and confornt the wickedness of Ninevah Jonah rebelled and tried to run and hide from God. Jonah 1: 3 says, “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.” He went in the exactly opposite direction believing that he could run from God’s presence. How foolish to think that God wasn’t in Tarshish, but are we any different? How do we respond when God calls us to do a difficult thing or go to a difficult place, do we obey or object? Do we try to run from God and hide from Him? As a young boy I knew God’s call on my life, to proclaim His Word and preach, but like Jonah I refused and ran. But as hard as I ran I never outran God because He is free from the limitations of space, He is holy present everywhere, all at the same time. His presence fills heaven and earth, meaning that He is present everywhere at the same instance. It’s not that He is scattered everywhere with little bits of Him here and there, rather He is fully present in every place. This is also the same truth that the prophet Jeremiah taught in Jeremiah 23:23-24. “’Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ’Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t out run God and there came a point where I repentance of my running and returned to God’s call on my life. Now while God is fully present everywhere this does not mean that God is to be identified with His creation. That is a false pagan philosophy called pantheism, which teaches that God and His creation are one and that God is merely an impersonal force, or at best the forces of laws of nature. It’s what is behind the philosophy of Stephen Spielbergs Star Wars, and the famous line “May the Force be with you.” But this idea that the Creator and the creation are one is not based in truth, God does not become the trees, the flowers, the sky, or the rocks. He is not some impersonal force out there; He is both preset and personal. He is separate and distinct from His creation, both transcendent above His creation and yet present in every part of His creation. It is this truth revealed in His Word that leads us into a right relationship with a present and personal God. As we answer the question: Where can I go from your presence? Where can I flee from your Spirit? We discover the answer is nowhere, because God is present everywhere, that is the truth of God’s omnipresence. No matter where you are God is present with you and to help us understand the truth about God’s presence, David follows it up with several specific illustrations of God’s presence. He does this using a series of 3 couplets, the first being:

• The Highest and the Lowest (v. 8)

Verse 8 states: “If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.” Which at first may seem a little confusing but what David is using here is the highest and lowest extremes to illustrate God’s omnipresence. If we would scale the highest mountain, Mount Everest at 29,029 feet, we would not out climb God. Now let’s face it most of us are never going to climb Everest, but we might find ourselves on a plane flying at 35,000 feet, yet even there God is present. Even if we joined NASA and left our atmosphere and headed out into space God would be there. You see no matter how high you go God is there. On the flip side if we go as low as we can, God is there also. The word grave here is the word Sheol which is used in a number of ways in the Old Testament. Sometimes it can mean hades, sometimes it refers to the grave, while other times it means the heart of the earth. Davis is saying no matter how low you go on this earth, God is there. When it comes to God’s presence in our lives there is a poem that perfectly illustrates this truth:

“He was just a little lad. And on this fine Sunday he was wondering home from Sunday School and doddling along the way. He scuffed his shoes into the grass. And found a caterpillar. He found a fluffy milkweed pod, and blew out all the filler. A bird’s nest in a tree, o’er head so wisely placed on high was just another wonder that caught his watchful eye. A neighbor watched his zigzag course and hailed him from the lawn. Asked where he’d been that day and what was going on. ’Oh, I’ve been to Sunday School.’ He carefully turned a sod and found a snail beneath it. ’I’ve learned a lot about God.’ ’Hmmm, a very fine way,’ the neighbor said, ’for a boy to spend his time. But if you’ll tell me where God is though, I’ll give you a brand new dime.’ Quick as a flash his answer came, nor were his accents faint. ’I’ll give you a dollar mister, if you tell me where God ain’t!’”

No matter where you are today or what you are going through you have a Father who is not far away, He is right there with you. God did not make His creation and then leave us alone, you are loved and wanted. So if you are running from God stop running and return to a relationship. If you feel like God is a million miles away remember He is present even in your problems. So where in your life are you running from Him instead of resting in the relationship?

Psalm 139:1-6

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

Not only does God know what we do, what we think and what we say but He also:

1. Knows What We Need (v. 5)

Verse 5 says “You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.” This actually introduces us to what we will be looking at in the next blog, God’s omnipresence. Not only do we have an omniscience, all knowing God, but an omnipresence, all present God. As David describes God’s presence he uses imagery from war. David knew all about strategic battle plans, and how to both advance as well as protect his forces not only from frontal attack but also ambushes that could come from behind. One of the greatest dangers to an army was to get outflanked. What David was saying is that we have a God whose presence is so powerful that we are always protected. We cannot outrun God because He is in front of us and even if we fall back he will still be there. His pervasive presence and His complete knowledge of us serve as protective forces in our lives. But notice this is not just God’s presence at a distance, it is both powerful and personal, for it says: “You place your hand of blessing on my head.” To lay your hand on someone in the Old Testament meant to bestow your blessing on them, to show that they were under your powerful hand of protection. It is God’s powerful hand that keeps us from harm. This phrase reveals that God is not just here but that he is here with us, that He knows what we need and is ready to bless and benefit us. God knows not just our physical needs but also our emotional needs, He knows when we are overwhelmed with grief, and our hearts are heavy and hurting. He doesn’t just provide protection He also provides comfort and compassion. God knows our pain and He provides the grace to get us through. In life’s lonely moments he comforts us with companionship. No matter where you are, what you are doing, or what circumstances you are confronted with your all-seeing, all-knowing Heavenly Father is aware of it and He brings to bear His helping hand of strength, protection and comfort. Its here that we see David’s response to God’s revelation, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”  As David ponders the truth that God knows him completely, he is blown away. He can’t even begin to comprehend the depth of God’s personal knowledge of his every action, his every thought, his every move, his every word, and of his every need. Like David we too as we try to grasp the greatness of God’s knowledge will become overwhelmed. Wonder and worship are the proper responses to the glorious attributes of God. Amazement should lead us to awe, and awe should draw us to adoration. This was Paul’s response in Romans 11:33-36: “Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Are you amazed by the Almighty? When was the last time you stood in awe filled wonder, and worshiped Him for who He is? So let me ask you this question, “Do you know why you are here today?” This is one of the greatest questions of the human heart. It’s the question our souls seek to answer because buried deep inside this question there are at least three desires of the heart:  Am I Planned? Am I Known? Am I Wanted? Deep down inside we all want to know that we matter. To the question of am I planned, we want to know are we children of chance, or a child of choice? Is our existence incidental or intentional, are we a mistake left to live in the margins of life, or “made to order” and given a special place? As we grapple to answer this question we often return to what was communicated to us by our parents, which for many can leave unspoken doubts and damage within our souls. As we come to the question of am I known, we long for people not just to greet us but to get us. Yet there are many who feel forgotten, not only unwanted but misunderstood and unknown. One of the greatest longings in life is to be wanted, so in our interactions with others we regularly as analyze and evaluated the question, “Am I wanted”? At the heart of this question what we are voicing is the question of value, even if we are planned and known are we really wanted? If we are to call God our heavenly Father, then these are the first and perhaps most formative questions for us to consider. Because as we think of our human father, one of the most fundamental failures is that of a father for whom their relationship with their child was not intentional, but incidental. A father who doesn’t know their child and doesn’t want their child. The truth is anyone can make a baby, but you must choose to have a child. A real father is more than a biological parent, and yet there are some of us that have not realized deeply enough that quality in God’s relationship with us. We know something of Him as a cause and contributor, but not of his conscious choice for our existence. Do you realize just how far adrift our perceptions of His involvement can be? Many of us view God as a distant deity and yet the truth is he has designed, known, and destined us. David recognized that by God’s choice, his life had been created and planned. This is a profound truth that is revealed over and over in scripture. Jeremiah 1:5 says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Isaiah 49:1,5 “Before I was born the LORD called me…he who formed me in the womb to be his servant…” In Galatians 1:15-16 Paul said, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles…” The Word reveals that there is nothing incidental about our lives, your existence is 100% intentional. God has been involved with your very existence in a personal way long before you or anyone else was even aware of it. You are one of a kind, both original and ordained to be. Yet even among those who know they have been consciously and carefully created there are times when we mess up and then wonder if we are still wanted. Many of us operate our lives toward being needed because we’ve doubted our potential to be freely and forever wanted. But God freely and forever wants you, that is why he created you and came for you in Christ. His plan is that we would no longer walk as orphans in doubt, but as children, desired and destined. If you’ve known doubt more than design, if you’ve found it difficult to recognize that you were planned, that you are known, and that you’re wanted I encourage you to study the scripture and see that more deeply and definitely than any parent or father has determined, God’s fatherhood has determined your existence. Where in your life are you letting the need to be wanted rule and run your life? Do you turn to Facebook or to the Father to find and fill the deep desires of your heart? Today I want to challenge you to start looking for acceptance approval and affirmation from the Almighty.