Thankful For God’s Presence

Text: Psalm 139:7-12

Introduction

From the dawn of creation, we learn from God’s wisdom that it is not good for any human to spend their days in loneliness.

When God completed his work of creation, there was not a moment when any created life form (especially man) experienced loneliness.

There was never the slightest thought of being alone. Everyone had their companion as God created everyone to have and felt the intiment presence of God.

Man’s sin CHANGED EVERYTHING!

Humanity went from enjoying God’s presence to hiding from God, doubting God’s presence, running from God, accusing God of not being present…even living as if He is not present.

Q — Do any of those thoughts fit in your life’s history? One of them might even fit in your present.

The Psalmist brings us back to the amazing ability of God’s presence. The words we have just read come from a heart that has not been impacted by a lecture regarding God’s presence, but by personal interaction with God throughout His life.

So, how should we view God’s presence and why should we be thankful for it?

1) Death is no escape from God

Verses 7-8

Jeremiah 23:24 “24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.”

Please remember, God is a Spirit! It is foolish to think you can flee from His presence.

Now, David was not wishing to flee from God. He desired nothing more than to be near Him.

It is like he is saying, “If I am ever foolish to think I can remove myself from your presence or free from my obedience to You…I need to return to reality!”

A. God is found in Heaven

Heaven is a large place!

Of course, we expect to meet Him in heaven. When John describes the celestial city he tells us of the gates of pearl and the streets of gold, the walls of jasper and the foundations agleam with precious stones, of the tree of life and the crystal stream. He tells us of the absence of night. He says there will be no sin in heaven, no suffering, no tears. There will be no need of a temple. But he keeps the best until last. The final bliss of that glorious place is this: “They shall see His face!” Jesus will be there. God the Father will be there, God the Holy Spirit will be there, Jesus the Son of the living God, our beloved Savior, will be there. John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 89–150: An Expository Commentary, vol. 2, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2012), Ps 139:7–8.

B. God is found beyond the grave

“hell” (sheol = the abode of the dead)

David is speaking more of the earthen grave than of the place of judgement.

No matter how far you are buried beneath the earths surface, God is there!

Listen, God knows every tunnel of every ant and mole!

Lets consider the possibility that David is speaking of the place of the damned…

The only way by which God would be present there, would be in His power and justice.

God’s wrath is the eternal fire that will be burning.

God’s power will be securing them there for eternity.

Revelation 14:10 “10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:”

Some people think that suicide is a great solution to solve their problems.

However, it simply ushers you right into eternity where you stand face-to-face with God.

God’s presence is found on both sides of the grave!

If you are looking for an escape, it is not found in death!

If you take your life while in your lust, drunkeness, or reprehensible attitude, those same dispositions will find you there when you must embrace eternity! — Revelation 22:11 “11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”

Illustration: Someone who is incarcerated will not find his nature changed due to being behind bars. Rather, he/she can no longer impact law-abiding citizens. Those passion that got them there, will remain, but there is no way of satisfying them.

God will be found there when you enter the grave only as a judge!

This truth should launch you into the direction of entering into a right relationship with God.

2) Distance Does Not Hide Us From God

Verses 9-10

How comforting are those two verses?!

This encourages me in my prayer life!

As your pastor, I want to be there every time in every circumstance. However, I physically can’t always be there. THERE IS ONE WHO CAN!

There is no place on planet earth where my Heavenly Father is not with me, teaching me, leading me, loving me, embracing me, comforting me, providing for me, blessings me, healing me, etc…

Missionaries — This very truth is exactly why Christians throughout the centuries have surrendered to spread the gospel to the most remote boundaries on planet earth.

True story: Sir John Franklin, who lost his life looking for the Northwest Passage, found it so. He wanted to blaze a trail through the snow-clad polar regions to the Pacific. In 1845 he led one of the best-equipped expeditions ever to enter the Arctic. None of the team ever came back. Years later Sir Francis McClintock discovered what remained of the expedition, including a collection of books and bones. Among the books was Franklin’s copy of John Todd’s Students’ Manual, turned down at a particular page as though the dead explorer’s finger were pointing to the place. On that turned-down page, almost the last page in the book, is to be found this dialogue:

“Are you not afraid to die?”

“No!”

“No? Why, does the uncertainty of another state give you no concern?”

“Because God has said to me: Fear not; when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.…”

That was it. In the frozen north Sir John Franklin knew the abiding presence of God. A monument was erected to the memory of this navigator of the north. Lord Tennyson wrote its inscription:

Not here!

The White North has thy bones,

And thou, Heroic Sailor Soul

Art passing on thy happier voyage now

Toward no earthly Pole.

John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 89–150: An Expository Commentary, vol. 2, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2012), Ps 139:9–10.

Notice David’s use of the word “hold” — Literally means “to snatch.”

Jonah is a good example of this.

Jonah 1:3 “3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

Lot is a good example of this.

Genesis 19:15–17 “15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”

3) Darkness Does Not Hide You From God’s Presence

Verses 11-12

Job 34:22 “22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”

Daniel 2:22 “22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, And the light dwelleth with him.”

1 John 1:5 “5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Darkness might hide you really well from man, but it will never hide you away from God!

Let us not forget, God made both the “light” and the “darkness.”

Genesis 1:4–5 “4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Once we are known by God we cannot flee His presence. He is everywhere, and He will personally pursue us, wherever we go. We will run into Him at every turn. We cannot escape Him in the darkness, even the darkness of our own souls. He is a jealous lover, and His love will not be denied. Donald Williams and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Psalms 73–150, vol. 14, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989), 472.

Conclusion

Believer — Romans 8:35–39 “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Unbeliever — There is no mask, disguise, dark corner, depth of the earth that can hide you from God’s future judgement! While the God of justice is inescapable, He is the God who does not want you to flee from His grace! Running from His wrath will never work. But, running to Jesus delivers you from the wrath to come.

Listen…there is one place Jesus will not be found…the tomb!

Acts 17:27–28 “27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”