God is There

"Hubble Snaps a Splendid Planetary Nebula"
Image Courtesy of NASA and  STScI under Contract NAS5-03127

Scripture

Psalm 139:1-18

¹   O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

²   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
          you discern my thoughts from far away.
³   You search out my path and my lying down,
          and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴   Even before a word is on my tongue,
          O LORD, you know it completely.
⁵   You hem me in, behind and before,
          and lay your hand upon me.
⁶   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
          it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷   Where can I go from your spirit?
          Or where can I flee from your presence?

⁸   If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
          if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹   If I take the wings of the morning
          and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰  even there your hand shall lead me,
          and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
          and the light around me become night,”
¹²  even the darkness is not dark to you;
          the night is as bright as the day,
          for darkness is as light to you.

¹³  For it was you who formed my inward parts;
          you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
          Wonderful are your works;
     that I know very well.
¹⁵       My frame was not hidden from you,
     when I was being made in secret,
          intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶  Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
     In your book were written
          all the days that were formed for me,
          when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷  How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
          How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸  I try to count them — they are more than the sand;
          I come to the end — I am still with you.

Devotion

Has life ever gotten so bad that it seems like not even God can help you?  Perhaps your sins and mistakes have led you to such a terrible place that you fear that God will not follow you there.  Perhaps the struggles you face are so painful that it seems like nothing can penetrate the night that envelops your soul.  If any of this feels familiar, then Psalm 139 is the psalm for you.

Psalm 139 is written as a speech made to God.  Hebrew Bible scholar James L. Mays explains that the speaker describes "human existence in all its dimensions in terms of God's knowledge, essence, and power [and] reflects an understanding of the human as enclosed in divine reality" (139). The psalmist reminds us that God was there to form each of us into the beings we are, knows everything we think and do, and remains present wherever we are.  Nothing can ever separate us from God.

God's presence is easy to believe in when life is going well, but it's harder to feel during times of pain and strife.  Even then, though, the psalmist knows that God is still there. When the speaker flees to the ends of the earth, they discover that God has traveled with them.  When their life seems shrouded in the darkest depths of night, God can still see them as clearly as if it was the middle of the day.  From birth to death, from beginning to end, God is always there.  No matter how bad things may seem, they can trust that God will guide and protect them from now through eternity.

Because we are human, God's constant presence is too wonderful for us to fully understand. This beautiful psalm of trust wouldn't have been written if life always went well and people always felt God's presence with them.  No, it was written for the hard times...for the moments when people struggle with doubt, distrust, and despair.  Those are the moments when we need a reminder that no matter what may happen, God remains with us. 

 It's natural for us to have moments that we are all alone...that our situation or actions are too awful for God to want any part of them.   It's in those moments that we can take comfort in Psalm 139.  Whatever mistakes we make--however far we run from those who love us--God goes with us.  No matter how dire our lives become, God is there to offer us help.  When it seems like all hope is lost and we lie in pits of despair, God places a comforting hand upon us.  And before we can even give voice to what we need, God knows our thoughts and promises to never let us go.  We are never alone.

These are hard and often overwhelming times.  If you are struggling right now, I urge you to spend some time reflecting on the promise found in Psalm 139.  Think back to some of the important moments in your life--the good times and the bad, the lazy days and the ones full of frantic energy.  As those times come to mind, look for the presence of God n them.  That same God who was there with you then is here to help you now and will remain with you all of the days of your life.  When you come to the end of your earthly existence, God will still be there.  And whatever awaits us in the great beyond, you can be assured that God will be the one who welcomes you to our eternal home.

Prayer

Thank you, God, for knowing our innermost souls and staying with us throughout all our days.  Help us place our trust in you as you continue to comfort, inspire, guide, and protect us.  May we find hope in the knowledge that even when we flee to the furthest edges of the sea or make our home in the pits of despair, you are there.  Amen.