“Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight?”
-Psalm 139:7 (The MSG)
Nowhere, is the conclusion that King David, author of this psalm, comes to. There is nowhere that one can run from God’s Spirit.
David continues by saying:
“If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute— you’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!” It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.”
-Psalm 139:7-12 (The MSG)
This truth was hammered into my heart at a very young age. I don’t think I ever questioned whether or not God was with me. Yes, there were times that I was far from God but He never left me.
I know that God is always with me now and was always there for me in the past. How else would I explain where I am today? He has had his hand on my life from the beginning.
And this is the same conclusion that David comes to in the next verses:
“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”
-Psalm 139:13-16 (The MSG)
I think about all the ways that I have tried to run from God, to go on my own path, yet He never stopped pursuing.
It’s ironic that the more I ran from Him, the closer I got to Him. As the psalm says that no matter where we think we can go to hide from God, God would find us in a minute because He is already there waiting!
Which makes me think, “Can we actually outrun God?”
No, we cannot outrun God. He knows where we are going. He is always watching over us to keep us safe. I think about some of the bad decisions I made in the past and the terrible consequences that should have come from them but nothing did and the only explanation I can find is that God was watching over me.
So why run from God in the first place?
There is nowhere we can go to get away from Him.
Why hide our pain, hurts, and who we are from Him?
He created us so He knows EVERYTHING about us.
So what option do you have left? The same one that David chooses at the end of this psalm:
“Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.”
Psalm 139:23-24 (The MSG)
This is a scary prayer to offer up to God. It is completely transparent and humble before God but isn’t this how we should live life? Yes! It’s here that we find true freedom. Instead of running from God, we rest in Him. Instead of hiding all of our sin and mistakes, we present them before Him because we know:
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”
-Ephesians 1:7
Stop running from God. Bare your soul before Him so He can guide you on the path that leads to true freedom which is found in Christ Alone.
“I think about some of the bad decisions I made in the past and the terrible consequences that should have come from them but nothing did and the only explanation I can find is that God was watching over me.”
Spot on, good post!