If I reflect upon what truly comforts me in times of grief or suffering or affliction of any kind or the testing of my faith or whenever I might be afraid, it is knowing that God is with me that comforts me the most. Who doesn’t love Psalm 23:4 that says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for YOU ARE WITH ME; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”? However, for David here in Psalm 139, verses 7-12 seem to hint that there were times he wanted to get away from God. It seems from the previous verses, especially verse 6, that David was overwhelmed by God’s knowing him so thoroughly and intimately. He just couldn’t fathom its depth nor attain its height; it was too much for him so that he wanted to get out from under God’s scrutiny. But where could he go?
David laid out three scenarios of possibilities: 1) Going up to heaven (perhaps somewhere in the solar system, some far off star or planet or the moon) or going down to Sheol (the place of the dead) (8). 2) Or perhaps the vast expanse of earth’s realm from east to west or the depths of the sea (9). 3) Or maybe he could just hide in the dark somewhere (11). But no! What David found, and what I discover, too, is that “You are there” (8b), “even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (1). “Even the darkness is not dark to You” (12a).
Let’s face it: I cannot get away from God, and neither should I want to. The blessing in all of this is that God’s Spirit, who mediates God’s very presence (literally “face”) (7), is also God’s guiding and upholding hand (10). This is poetic language for God’s guidance & protection & support. Even darkness doesn’t prevent God’s presence from penetrating (12). That comforts me, too, to know that God doesn’t run away from the remnants of darkness & sin within me that wants to hide from God (like Adam & Eve). Like the Apostle Paul, I know very well that sin still dwells within me and nothing good dwells in my flesh (Romans 7:17, 18, 20). But God is not put off by that remaining sin and has chosen rather to make my very body a dwelling place for his Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). And not just me. Christ’s Church, the household of God, is even now “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). And that Church spans the globe of planet earth where God is filling and manifesting his awesome presence. Wherever God’s people are, God is, and that comforts me, too. So today I will walk in the reality of God being “there” – wherever I go and whatever I do.
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