Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You (Psalm 139:7-12).
Lord of the heavens and the earth, who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth (Psalm 113:5)? You are Sovereign over all creation: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; He puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him" (Psalm 33:6-8).
Lord, what a comfort it is to know that Your presence is everywhere! Many tend to think of Your presence with dread and discomfort, but You, Lord are a God of love, as well as a God of justice, a God of kindness and compassion, as well as a God of holiness.
Yes, "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3), and "from heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth—He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do" (Psalm 33:13-15). Yet You look with mercy on those who honor You: "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Thank You for Your tender, benevolent watchfulness over our lives! The psalmist reminds us that "[God] will not let [our] foot slip—He who watches over [us] will not slumber" (Psalm 121:3). How we rest in the reassurance that we cannot go to any space You do not occupy, near or far:
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 23:24)?
O Lord, we are grateful that You are with us in every place, in every circumstance. In our heights of achievement and success, You are there—You "who formed the mountains by Your power (Psalm 65:6). If we go up to the heavens literally and figuratively, You are there. In our lowest lows, You are there. When our "beds" are the depths of despair and hopelessness, loneliness and emptiness, You are there.
If we "rise on the wings of the dawn," You precede us. If we settle on the far side of the sea of trouble, or of grief or of pain, "even there Your hand will guide [us], Your right hand will hold [us] fast" (Psalm 139:10). You are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas...the God who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves… (Psalm 65:5,7)
If we try to hide under cloak of night, despairing that even the light around us is swallowed up in darkness, Your presence pierces the darkness with the shining light of truth, and of hope, and of healing. Thank You for Your Spirit, alongside us, bringing us peace, comfort, and the assurance that You "will never leave [us] or forsake [us]" (Deuteronomy 3:15; Hebrews 13:5).
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