God is
Omnipresent
Psalm 139:7-18
139:7 “Where can I go from Thy Spirit?”: Some feel that David’s initial reaction to God’s omniscience (all knowing) is a desire to escape from such penetrating knowledge. This does not sound like David, the one who spent his life a servant of God. Rather as some commentators propose – David is meditating on God’s omniscience, noting that the reason why God sees everything and knows everything is that He is everywhere to see and know it. There is a fact that we need to take comfort in as did David – God will always be wherever we go. Try as we may, we can not escape the eye of God. David is not dreading or fearing the presence of God – It should give great comfort to have a knowledge of the presence of God.
139:8-10 Hypothetical examples of where David might try to escape are given here. God commands His whole creation; there is no corner in which He is absent, either in life or in death. The word “Hell - Sheol”, would be the Old Testament word for Hades. This describes the torment side of eternity – God is there. In His judicial capacity, God is also present in Hell. ***Fact*** Many people do not realize that even Hell is ruled by God, not the devil – All things are in subjection and in accordance with God and His design. (Revelation 20:10).
139:9 “If I take the wings of the morning (dawn)”: Probably this means to flash from east to west as fast as the dawn’s early light streaks from horizon to horizon. Would that help? Even if it were possible, it would not enable us to escape God, for when we get to that far distant horizon, we find that God is already there before us. If David were to fly at the speed of light from the east across the sky to the west, he still could not escape from the presence of God.
139:10 In this verse we find David expressing his appreciation that God’s long arm is always with him. Geography cannot separate us from God! Sometimes people think, “If we could just leave this planet and journey to a distant place, (another solar system, or travel back or ahead in time – just get away from everything). People make the mistake of thinking they can get away from God for a short period of time and at that time do not want to be accountable to God in that period of time or space. But man is always accountable to God everywhere and anywhere, for God is not bound by space or time.
*** Note *** Jonah tried to run from God. There is no escape from God – Jonah was even in the presence of God while in the belly of the fish.
***Thought*** A person with a heart that is true to God should never want to be separated of apart – God is the only hope we have.
139:11-12 Both
darkness and light are the same to God, darkness does not limit or hinder His
presence or knowledge. He made both light
and dark(Genesis 1:4-5); He commands them. There is no escape from God in the
darkness. ***This is a wonderful verse
to share with our children at night when they are afraid of the dark. However it is important to note that people
often try to operate under the cover of darkness to hide their actions. Job
24:15 “The eye of the adulterer waits
for the twilight”.
139:13 God
knows everything about us – God created us. He understands and knows how we
think and work. God did not just create
man in general, He is the Creator of every specific individual. God knows us and forms us when in the
mother’s womb. The word “formed - weave”
carries the idea of being “woven or fashioned together”, like a cloth on a
loom. This includes far more than simply
the internal organs of a person, it would include much more – things such
things as conscience, mind, heart or soul (Genesis
*** Note *** These verses plainly teach the individuality of a child while is still in the mother’s womb. No one can read these verses thoughtfully today without considering their obvious meaning on the present-day problem of abortion. The chief issue in discussions about abortion concerns the identity of the fetus. The great question of society is - when is the fetus really a person? God has made it very plain and indisputable that He recognizes the individual while forming in the mother’s womb. The world can debate and argue scientific and moral issues till the cows come home. God’s word is still true and the standard by which all should live and by which all will be judged. David maid it clear “God formed his inward parts and knew him while He was in the womb.”
139:14 Anyone
who has studied the human body can not help but reach the conclusion of “we are wonderfully made.” It is amazing that a person could come up
with such a theory as evolution when we think about the intricacies of
life. Such a faithless and mindless
claim shows a true measure of contempt for the Lord and His creation. All of God’s works are wonderful (Genesis
139:15 -16 The word “frame” probably refers to his body. The expression “lowest parts / depths of the earth” is a form of speech meaning the deepest concealment, such as the hiddenness of the womb. The terms “skillfully wrought / intricately wrought”, suggests the complex patterns and colors of the weaver or embroiderer. In fact the expression “skillfully wrought” means “embroidered”, like a colorful piece of cloth. Again, we seen the presence of God in the formation of the person before birth and a statement that shows God’s knowledge and concern for children in the mother’s womb. “My unformed substance” –
“The days that were intended (ordained) for me”: This does not mean that David’s life was predestined or written in stone, because David did sin and obviously God did not plan that event (2 Samuel 11). However does operate thru providence and thus God does set in motion things that will take place as we do, or do not do, His will. This is a powerful statement to the fact that God is always in control and ever present to do His will.
139:17-18 In these two verses David reflects on the abundance of God’s thoughts toward him. Such a powerful God actually thinks about me! Such a God actually cares about me! We can not help but be impressed with the care of God for His creation, especially for His desire and care for man (you and me)! John3:16 describes the depth and concern and love of God for man. God did not merely create us and then let us go, God is always thinking about you and me!
*** Thought *** Every moment God is looking at me, every moment God is hoping that I will do what is right, in every given situation God is pulling for me – His desire is for me – wow! God’s thoughts concerning me far outnumber even the individual grains of sand on the seashore. Even when David wakes up after a nap or a night’s sleep, God is still watching over him. He may have lost consciousness of God in sleep, but God never lost consciousness of him. When you remember that God thinks about you every moment – He is committed to you – is that thought precious to you – does it bring comfort and peace?
Jeremiah 23:23-24 --“Am
I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and
not a God afar off? Can anyone hide
himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord.”
1Kings
God
is not restricted to one place at a time.
God can be both near and far off at the same time. Near to some, like Jeremiah, eternally
distant from others who have separated themselves from the truth..
Applications
In the Old Testament, the Syrians called the God of Israel, the God of the hills as though His presence and power were limited there, and not in the valleys (1 Kings 20:23); and their own gods in the valleys, but powerless in the mountains. They considered each god to have his own territory and domain, and their presence in one place but not another. Some thought that God was confined to heaven, and therefore sacrificed upon the highest mountains, because they thought that God could hear them better in such a place. Today some believe that it is useless to attempt worship outside of a designated building or place of worship. They are looking at the physical not the spiritual. ***Fact*** A person does not need to find a special place in order to worship or pray. God is not somehow more present in one place than in another (Matthew 18:20 - John 4:23-24). As Christians, we can be assured that we have God’s full attention and full care wherever we might be, even if far from home. Space (distance) might separate us from friends and loved ones and familiar places, God is not limited or constrained by space or time. On the contrary, everything is dependent upon God. If we are far away from home, in a distant land, far away from family at college, traveling all alone, or serving in the military in a war torn country, we are no further away from God and His protection (Hebrews 13:5-6).
*** I like this quote – I do not know where it originated --“To a Christian, everywhere and everyplace is home, because God is there. Thus Christians never truly suffer or die alone.”
People who are rebelling against God and as such feel uncomfortable in a church service tend to forget that God fills all places. God is fully aware of what is happening in the most irreligious and sinful settings, as well as what is happening in a church service. It seems that some people act as if God stops at the door of the church building and is unable to enter the sinful places some choose to enter – God sees and knows all!!!
God has unlimited jurisdiction. He does not need a visa, passport or permission to extradite the sinner (Amos 9:2-4 “Though they dig into Sheol, from there will My hand take them; and though they ascend to heaven, from there will I bring them down…And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the serpent and it will bite them”). Even in captivity, far removed from the Promised Land, God would continue to punish them (9:4
God is also near to every person who has ever lived, “though He is not far from each one us; for in Him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:27-28). Geography does not hinder a person from finding God, for God is everywhere on the planet and has the ability to get the gospel to anyone who wants it.
“You preserve man and beast” (Psalm 36:6); “Are not two
sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not
one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matthew