Two-part series from Psalm 139
“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 [a] hell, behold, You are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8).
Rather than expressing a desire to get away from God, David is here declaring the magnificent power that God has in contrast to mankind. Our all-knowing and all- powerful God is everywhere.
To emphasize this power, David presents the extremes of the universe from the purest and holiest place where he could find God to the most unlikely and worst place he can think of. “Hell” here is “Sheol,” which could have a range of meanings from the center of the earth to the resting place of the dead.
Even Jonah could not escape the ever-watchful eye of the Almighty as he sought refuge and secrecy in the belly of the big fish—God was there.
David’s message is quite clear: God sees us regardless of our futile attempts to hide from Him, even when we depart from His instruction and from His protection and venture into the mire of sin—we cannot hide from Him. It behooves us, then, to take our refuge under His loving arms and make it our life’s goal to live as close to Him as we can.
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