Bible Society of South Africa

A New Beginning – Day 9

His Involvement – Praise Him!

Bible text(s)

7Where could I go to escape from you?

Where could I get away from your presence?

Psalms 139:7GNBOpen in Bible reader

God's Complete Knowledge and Care

1LORD, you have examined me and you know me.

2You know everything I do;

from far away you understand all my thoughts.

3You see me, whether I am working or resting;

you know all my actions.

4Even before I speak,

you already know what I will say.

Psalms 139:1-4GNBOpen in Bible reader

16you saw me before I was born.

The days allotted to me

had all been recorded in your book,

before any of them ever began.

Psalms 139:16GNBOpen in Bible reader

8If I went up to heaven, you would be there;

if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.

9If I flew away beyond the east

or lived in the farthest place in the west,

10you would be there to lead me,

you would be there to help me.

11I could ask the darkness to hide me

or the light round me to turn into night,

12but even darkness is not dark for you,

and the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

Psalms 139:8-12GNBOpen in Bible reader

10Everything that happens was already determined long ago, and we all know that you cannot argue with someone who is stronger than you are.

Ecclesiastes 6:10GNBOpen in Bible reader

David thinks out of the box and from a different perspective when he addresses God and asks him these two questions. He is not searching for answers; he knows the answer already: hiding, running away or fleeing from the presence of God is not an option. He knows everything and He is omnipresent!

This knowledge brings security to David, because he knows: nothing that crosses his path, and nowhere he goes, will happen without the knowledge and presence of God. David is deeply impressed by God’s knowledge of the smallest detail of a person’s life, even before it happens. He knows when we sit and when we rise, of our going out and lying down, our every thought and even our unspoken words. Yes, he sees right through us, he knows us through and through. Even before we were born every day of our lives was already written in his book (Psalm 139:1-4,16). He was there, is there and will always be there!

But more than that, he protects us, he surrounds us from all sides, whether east, west, heaven or hell. He takes our hand in his and leads us through his Spirit. Even darkness flees as he approaches because he is the Light (Psalm 139:8-12). Any attempt by people to hide their sins or to hide from him is pointless. He is present everywhere – on our wandering paths and in our darkness and eventually all will be exposed to the Light!

He made us and knows precisely how we think and reason and why we act in certain ways and so often do not submit to his authority. But it makes him no less involved in our lives, because his empathy, fuelled by love, prevents him from turning his back on us. As the author of Ecclesiastes so aptly describes our performance towards the Almighty, how much more does God not know who we are: Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known; no one can contend with someone who is stronger.” (Ecclesiastes 6:10).

He is present … also in our perceived greatness and wants to change us!

Bible Society of South Africav.4.18.14
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