A night like this is like no other night. There is a beauty in it that is scarcely real.”
–Louis L’Amour (Taggart)
“I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.”
–Isaiah 42:16 (NKJV)
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“You can’t get away from Him!” That’s the truth of Psalm 139. Unbelievers, atheists and agnostics, scoffers, and downright sinners can never get away from God. He is always there. Christian, hold on to that truth! He is the God who is there, and He is there all the time! John Arrowsmith relates a story, “A heathen philosopher once asked, ‘Where is God?’ The Christian answered, ‘Let me first ask you, where is He not?'”
7 — Where can I do 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 You 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. (NKJV)
We should be overwhelmed, as was David, that God is always there with us. I came across this story: Eight years after Columbus discovered America, an English sea captain showed a map to King Henry VII. The map revealed all the unexplored territories of the world. Over some of these territories were the words “Here be dragons,” “Here be demons,” etc. But if King David drew up such a map, over the unexplored territories on his map would be the words, “Here be God.” (William J. Petersen) A pioneer missionary to New Zealand, Bishop Selwyn, wrote upon arriving, “All visible things are new and strange, but the things that are unseen remain the same.” (Petersen) See, Selwyn understood that God is there.
How far is God from you? He’s right at your fingertips. He’s in front of your eyes, and if you listen He’s whispering at your ear. There is no physical place on earth to run and hide from God. There is no place in the spiritual realm where you can escape. I used to wonder about verse 8. “If I make my bed in hell (Sheol) God is there.” David was emphasizing that God’s presence extended even to the place of the dead. But think for a moment–God’s wrath is there. We read in Hebrews, “our God is a consuming fire.” (12:29) Phillips translates it, “God is a burning fire.” He is there, even in the midst of the underworld. He is in the darkness, and think on that; if He enters the darkness it is no longer dark. Think of that, even the darkness is not dark to God.
We are ever in His presence, oh what a glorious thought. Perhaps it would do us good instead of fretting about tomorrow and the weeks ahead, we should write on our calendar: Here be God. For He is there!
“I know not where his islands lift
Their fronded palms in air,
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond his love and care.”
–John Greenleaf Whittier