Psa 139:9 | KingComments | STEP | Having described the omniscience of God in an impressive way, David speaks in these verses in an equally impressive way of the omnipresence of God. It is impossible to go anywhere where God’s Spirit could not reach me, or to go anywhere where I am no longer in God’s presence ( ; ). The prophet Jonah tried, but he failed ( ). When David speaks of where he can go “from Your Spirit” and “flee from Your presence” he does not mean to say that he wants to. He wants to make it even more clear that God, Who is Spirit ( ), knows everything and is present everywhere. It is impossible for man to hide from Him. There is no place in creation where He is not, because He created everything. The question is not: Where is God, but: Where is God not? He is not part of His universe, He is not a component of it, but rules over it with perfect knowledge of every detail in it. Imagine, says David, that I ascended to heaven ( ; cf. ). Then I would meet You there, for You dwell there. Now if I descended to the deepest place in creation, Sheol, the realm of the dead, then I will meet You there also, for there You are as well. In the height and in the depth, I cannot escape You. Now if I tried it in the breadth or in the length ( ). Let me “take the wings of the dawn” and “dwell in the remotest part of the sea”. That is, he moves at the speed of sunrise, changing darkness into light – close to the equator this is very fast – and goes to dwell in the remotest place on earth. The possibilities David mentions for escaping God are at the same moment answered by himself: it is simply impossible to go anywhere where God is not. David comes to a comforting conclusion through his questions, and that is that God’s hand leads him everywhere ( ). And he discovers – not only that God does not let go of him, but – that God’s right hand lays hold of him. The section of makes it clear that the LORD uses His omnipresence to guide us ( ) and illuminate us with His presence ( ). Then, if distance offers no way to escape God, it may be possible to be swallowed up by darkness, and that even the light around him would be night ( ). But then what happens? Then, because of God’s presence with him, the night turns into the light around him (cf. ). He comes into the full light. Where God comes, it automatically becomes light, because God is light. Darkness makes things dark for us. This is also true spiritually. Many things in our life are “dark” to us; we don’t understand them. For God, it is not so. It makes no difference to Him whether it is night or day, or whether there is darkness or light ( ). Everything is light to Him. Day and night, light and darkness, it is all created by Him and therefore nothing is hidden from Him.

‏ Psalms 139:9

God, the Omnipresent

Having described the omniscience of God in an impressive way, David speaks in these verses in an equally impressive way of the omnipresence of God. It is impossible to go anywhere where God’s Spirit could not reach me, or to go anywhere where I am no longer in God’s presence (Psa 139:7; Jer 23:24). The prophet Jonah tried, but he failed (Jona 1:1-17).

When David speaks of where he can go “from Your Spirit” and “flee from Your presence” he does not mean to say that he wants to. He wants to make it even more clear that God, Who is Spirit (Jn 4:24), knows everything and is present everywhere. It is impossible for man to hide from Him. There is no place in creation where He is not, because He created everything. The question is not: Where is God, but: Where is God not? He is not part of His universe, He is not a component of it, but rules over it with perfect knowledge of every detail in it.

Imagine, says David, that I ascended to heaven (Psa 139:8; cf. Amos 9:1-2). Then I would meet You there, for You dwell there. Now if I descended to the deepest place in creation, Sheol, the realm of the dead, then I will meet You there also, for there You are as well.

In the height and in the depth, I cannot escape You. Now if I tried it in the breadth or in the length (Psa 139:9). Let me “take the wings of the dawn” and “dwell in the remotest part of the sea”. That is, he moves at the speed of sunrise, changing darkness into light – close to the equator this is very fast – and goes to dwell in the remotest place on earth.

The possibilities David mentions for escaping God are at the same moment answered by himself: it is simply impossible to go anywhere where God is not. David comes to a comforting conclusion through his questions, and that is that God’s hand leads him everywhere (Psa 139:10). And he discovers – not only that God does not let go of him, but – that God’s right hand lays hold of him. The section of Psa 139:7-12 makes it clear that the LORD uses His omnipresence to guide us (Psa 139:10) and illuminate us with His presence (Psa 139:11-12).

Then, if distance offers no way to escape God, it may be possible to be swallowed up by darkness, and that even the light around him would be night (Psa 139:11). But then what happens? Then, because of God’s presence with him, the night turns into the light around him (cf. Acts 12:7a). He comes into the full light. Where God comes, it automatically becomes light, because God is light.

Darkness makes things dark for us. This is also true spiritually. Many things in our life are “dark” to us; we don’t understand them. For God, it is not so. It makes no difference to Him whether it is night or day, or whether there is darkness or light (Psa 139:12). Everything is light to Him. Day and night, light and darkness, it is all created by Him and therefore nothing is hidden from Him.