“7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Psalm 139:7-12
After describing God’s intimate and thorough knowledge of him, David felt surrounded and controlled by God (139:1-6) and sought to flee from God’s presence (139:7). When someone knows us so well, we can also feel threatened and insecure because we fear that he or she will reject us. So we try to get away from them. But we are reminded in this Psalm that there is nowhere we can go to escape God’s presence.
Even if I go vertically to the highest (“heaven”) or lowest place (“hell”) in the universe, God is still there (139:8). Though I travel horizontally at the speed of light from the east (“take the wings of the morning”) to the far side of the Mediterranean Sea in the west (“the uttermost parts of the sea”), even there God “shall lead me” with His left hand and lovingly “hold me” with His “right hand” (139:9-10). Even though God knows everything about us – our actions, thoughts, motives, and speech – He still loves us and accepts us unconditionally, and He wants to guide us. He always offers a helping hand to us no matter how we have responded to Him in the past. Instead of running from God we can run to Him and enjoy Him!
We cannot hide from God in the dark for “the darkness and the light are both alike to” Him since He is all knowing and present everywhere (139:11-12).
Prayer: Lord God, I can be such a goof ball at times thinking I can escape Your presence by staying busy or traveling fast for great distances. What is even more absurd, is thinking that Your complete knowledge of me will be used against me instead of expressing Your love and acceptance of me. Thank You for comforting me today with the image of Your gentle and loving guidance. With Your left hand You gently lead me and with Your right hand You lovingly hold me. Instead of running from You, I want to run to You and soak up Your grace. You are a good good Father who knows me and loves me far beyond what any human being ever could. You are so so good. All glory to You my Daddy in heaven! In Jesus’ name. Amen.