"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend
to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the
wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And
the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as
bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You."
Psalm 139:7-12
Reflection:
Humans like
to believe and persuade themselves they can hide from anyone and anything.
Yet as Christians we know that there is no hiding from God. The God
that created everything. Exists both in the past, present and future.
And knows the ways of all things. Is the God that sees all and knows
all. For many that is a scary thing to ponder. Especially if that person
is not a believer and doesn't like to think of an all powerful omnipotent
being existing in all places. It mean they would have to face the fact
that their ever action would be seen and recognised. Even some Christians
have trouble with this.
But God is all
knowing and everywhere. This is why the Bible has many verses that depict
this. People build Churches as places to worship God. But also as a
sneaky way to try and contain God in a building Safe from things that
occur outside. Yet Acts 17:24 tells it like it is. Structures built
by human hands or ingenuity can not contain God. For God is greater
than anything we can devise or make. God created the very things we
use to make such buildings.
Than there's the
fool who says in their heart that God could not have seen or heard what
they had done or said. Using such flawed logic as to suggest God is
too far away. Or God is too busy with more important things. Yet in
Proverbs 15:3 we are told that the eyes of the Lord are in every place.
As He watches both the good and the bad. Yes he does see what people
think they do in darkness. He watches and waits for us each to repent
those things we should know better than to do. This all observing aspect
of God is further emphasised in Jeremiah 23:24. When the Lord asks if
a man can find a hiding place. Than explains that He God fills all spaces
and places with His very presence. God is so closely linked to all things
that He created he is deemed to be literally before all things and He
alone keeps them together as explained in Colossians 1:17.
The Psalmist reflects
on this all surrounding and omnipotent God in Psalm 139:7-12. The very
extremes and measures the Psalmist express he might go to be far from
God describes the failure to do so. For in each description of a possible
place or distance that he might go to get away from God, he remarks
that God is already there. The very words "Darkness and light are
alike to You" describe just how easily God can see al things. There
are no hidden places. No dark rooms. Nothing to block the sight of God
when it comes to Gods' being in all places and at all times vigilantly
watching all things.
We may try and
fool ourselves. But we really shouldn't. With God able to see not just
what we do but also the motives behind our actions; we need to adjust
our intentions. Working diligently to do those things we know will please
God and further His Gospel message as we seek to follow and emulate
His Son Jesus the Christ in our lives.
Prayer:
Heavenly
Father,
I recognise you in all things.
You have created all things.
You are in all things.
By you all things are alive.
May I never forget your presence.
May I live to please you.
Be a living light for others.
Act in ways that will reflect Christ.
Never shirking from my mission.
To share and spread the Gospel.
In your Sons
name I pray.
Amen