God"s Inescapable Presence

I had just been in the United States for a few days, arriving at Dallas to attend Dallas Theological Seminary, and I was very excited to begin the first class in systematic theology. I liked the thought of that, and the first course was called Theology Proper. I won't explain what that is, but you may get an idea of it that our first assignment, the professor came in, introduced himself, and said, now I want you to write who God is. I want you to write what you think of God. That's quite an assignment, isn't it? And so we did, we put pen to paper, these first year students like myself, and began to think of what kind of God that we worship.

What would you have said? What do you think of God? What is God like?

How would you describe God? Do you want a God you can manage? A God who makes you feel comfortable? A God who is user-friendly? A God that you can use? And if so, we're in danger of trivializing God, aren't we? Of domesticating God. Of ending up making a God in our own image.

No, we want, whether we're theological students or whether we have just come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, we want to know not the God of our imagination, not a God that you think or I think would act in a certain way, we want to know the true and the living God. And to help us in understanding God, we have this wonderful psalm, Psalm 139, and I ask you to turn to it with me. A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the first six verses of this wonderful psalm, and we learned of God's omniscience.

We learned the wonderful truth that God knows everything about everything. You can't teach God anything. You can't counsel God.

I know we try to. You ever find yourself praying to God and giving Him advice? And then we catch ourselves, how foolish. As Martin Luther said, we must think that God is a very poor student because we keep telling Him what to do.

We don't want to do that. And so, we were encouraged and also challenged when we thought that great truth, that God knows everything about everything. Tonight, we're going to learn about God's inescapable presence. And this is a God we must know, a God we must love, a God we must worship. Psalm 139 then, trust you've got your Bibles, and I'm going to read from verse 7 through 12. I've said this psalm is neatly divided into four sections, each of six verses. So, we're going from verse 7 through 12.

David is the writer. This is to the choir master. We don't have the music, but we do have the wonderful words. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you're there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, you're there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you.

The night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139 verses 7 through 12. The psalmist is saying in the second section, the first six verses, he's told us that God knows everything about everything. Now he's reminding us that God is everywhere. He is omnipresent. We begin to understand that God is infinite, and to say that God is infinite is to say that God has no limits. We saw last time that He has no limits as to His knowledge.

He knows everything about everything. God is so awesome now. God is so big that He cannot be limited as to space.

He is immense. How big is God? Is God big? God is so big that He is everywhere. King Solomon says as he's building the temple, the whole heavens and the highest heaven cannot contain God. You can't put God in a box. You never think you can control God. You never think you've got God where you want. No, God is huge. He's immense. Augustine said, God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.

Isn't that good? He's an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. God transcends all spatial limitations. God is present in every point of space with His whole being. He is transcendent, that is, He's over and above time and space.

But He's also imminent. He is in space, and He is in time, because God is everywhere wholly and completely. It's difficult for us to get our minds around, isn't it? There's not a little bit of God here at Calvary, not a little bit in Mexico, a little bit of God in China, a little bit of God in New Zealand. No, whatever God is, He is present in the fullness of His being. All of God is in this sanctuary, because God fills every part of space with His whole being. No wonder the Scripture says over and over again, particularly in Isaiah, there is no God like this God.

We often sing that, don't we? That God is unique. He's infinite. In that sense, He's unknowable. Satan can only be in one place at a time, but God is everywhere at every moment in time.

It blows the mind, doesn't it? When you got up this morning, God was there. When you went for that early morning walk or run, God was there. As you sat down for breakfast this morning, God was there. As you drove to and from Calvary, God was there. He was also listening to your conversation.

Wouldn't that be interesting? God is there. Tomorrow as you go to the kitchen sink and wash the dishes, God is there. When you go to work tomorrow, God is there.

When you go to the gym tomorrow morning, God will be there because God is everywhere. God is omnipresent. We as human beings are limited. We cannot be in two places at once. We're limited by time and space, but God is not.

God is infinite. Now, David is saying this, and he's saying because of that, something we need to remember that we cannot escape from God and we cannot hide from God. Verse seven, first of all, you cannot escape from God. I know sometimes you feel it would be good to get away from God for a day or two, to hide from God so that you could do something and God wouldn't know.

That is impossible. You cannot escape from God. Where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presence?

Rhetorical questions. David is saying in these rhetorical questions that there is no escape from the presence of God. There is nowhere that you can go to get away from God. There is no escape. Verse eight, if I ascend to heaven you're there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. There is no escape in either the heavens or hell, vertical polar opposites. However high you go, and that's space rocket, however high you go or however low you go, David is saying God is there. There is no escape in the whole universe from the presence of God.

Furthermore, regardless of how fast you run, there's no escape from God, for God is there. David uses beautiful poetry here, remember? He's a man of war. He's a man after God's own heart, but he's also a poet.

He's a musician and his way he describes these realities is wonderful, isn't it? Look at verse nine. If I take the wings of the morning, that's pretty fast, isn't it? The Psalmist looks to the east for the rising of the sun and sees the beautiful rays of the dawn, as some of us saw this morning.

And he likens the rays of the dawn to the wings of a bird. If he could fly as fast as the rays of the dawn, flying at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, that's fast. He still would not run fast enough to escape from God.

Why? Because God is everywhere. However fast you go, you'll never escape the presence and knowledge of God.

Furthermore, regardless of how far he runs, there's no escape. If I take the wings of the morning, looking east, and he says dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. He's running from Israel. What's the sea? The Mediterranean. To the west, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Having looked towards the east for the rising of the sun, now he looks to the west.

To the uttermost parts of the sea, that is the Mediterranean from his perspective. If he goes as far west as he possibly can go, to the far side of the sea, he still cannot get away from God. However fast he runs from God, however far he runs from God, God is there. There is no escape from God, is the point, because God is everywhere. From heaven to earth, from east to west, from north to south, whether vertical polar opposites or horizontal polar opposites, there is no place that you can out distance God or outrun God. Wherever you go, you understand this? Wherever you go, God is there, because God is everywhere.

Not only can you not escape from God, you can't hide from God. Verse 11, if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you, for the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Regardless of the darkness of the night, there's no hiding place, you understand that God is there. Yes, you can hide in the dark from people, you can do things in the dark that no one else will ever know about.

That is true. You can go to a secret place, you can have your secrets, you can go to these dark places as it were, and none of us, perhaps not even your spouse, your children, your friends, none of them will know about it, but God knows because it's impossible to hide from the presence of God. He says here, interestingly, surely the darkness shall cover me.

Some translations say hide literally is bruised. He's thinking of the darkness as something which is thick and crushing and a bruising weight or cover on him. It still would not be dark enough. It still would — the darkness wouldn't be thick enough to hide him from the Lord.

Why? Day and night, darkness and light are the same to God. They're not the same to us, but they're the same to God. You cannot escape from God. You can't run from God.

You'll never be able to run fast enough. You'll never be able to get far enough away from God because God is everywhere. This is the true God, the living God.

We thought this morning, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me draw a couple of applications from the truth that God is everywhere. I don't think many of you would argue with that proposition that God is omnipresent. That's one of the attributes of God. He is all-knowing. As we see in the first six verses, He is also omnipresent. Now the omnipresence of God challenges us, doesn't it?

It challenges us when we think about it to live holy lives. Have you ever felt like running away? Have you ever felt like starting a new life somewhere of walking out? Some people do this. We've had over the years in Britain, British politicians which simply disappear. They sometimes fake their own death and they, because of the difficulties of life, they want to get away from it.

Maybe start a new family, get away. Have you ever felt like that? Wherever you go, you'll never get away from God. Wherever you go, there's no place to hide. Remember the man of God, the prophet who ran away from God?

He went to the outermost part, as it were. He wants to go to Tarshish, probably away in Spain. There he is. Jonah runs away from God.

How foolish. Think of the way that God providentially brought him back and said, no, the Word of God comes to a second time. Jonah, I want you to go and preach in Nineveh. Jonah learned what we must learn, that you can never run away from God. You can never hide from God. You may leave home, students, you may leave home to get away from the strains of parents.

Husbands, you may leave your wife to get away from your wife and family. You may leave Calvary Church. But wherever you go, in the darkest night, in the busiest of cities, in the remotest parts of the earth, in the most isolated island in this planet, God is there. You'll never get away from God, because God is everywhere.

It's also said, rightly, that you'll never get away from yourself, and that the most difficult person to live with on this earth is yourself. And people run away, don't they? A new life. Escape. Let's do it.

Let's try and get away. Foolish, because God is everywhere. And this understanding of the omnipresence of God promotes holy living, doesn't it? God is there. What soldier would commit a dishonorable deed in front of the general? What person would break the speed limit when the state trooper is behind you?

What student would cheat in front of the teacher? What Christian would sin in the presence of a holy God? Do you understand that? God is everywhere. He is right there, and as we think of that, that does something to us, doesn't it?

That God's eye, as we thought two weeks ago, is not only on the sparrow, God's eye is on you and me, is on the sinner. When you gossip, God is there. When you told that lie, God is there. When you're cheating on that test or assignment, God is there. When you're entering into that sleazy business deal, God is there. When you're cheating on your spouse, God is there. When you're sleeping with your boyfriend, God is there.

When you're out of town, and you think no one knows what you're doing, remember this, God is there, and God sees you. And you'll never get away from God, because God is everywhere. Therefore, live a pure and holy life in the presence of God.

That's what it means, isn't it? To live in the presence of God. Each day, each hour, to live in the presence of God. So, the omnipresence of God not only challenges us, the omnipresence of God, and David is telling us this, comforts us. Because the Lord is always with you.

In the middle of the trial, and the crisis, and the danger. Psalm 46 is a great example of that, one of the probably best-loved psalms in the Psalter. God is a refuge and strength, notice it, a very present help in trouble. You're in trouble, God is there. He's a present help in trouble. He's not a remote God. He's not a God who's far away.

He's a present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear. What's the refrain of the psalm? Verse 7, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Verse 11, the God of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46, your world may be turning upside down, but God is with you. Think of your greatest fear, that which keeps you awake at night. Consider your most anxious worry, your health, your business, your family, your future. Even the worst thing that you can imagine, if that happens to you, remember this, that God is there.

God is always with us. Natural disasters, wars may come. Nuclear war is a possibility in our world. Terrorism is alive and well in our crazy world.

The economy seems very, very uncertain. None of us know the future, but I know this, that God is with us, that we do know. That's what the psalmist is saying. Psalm 46, verse 10, therefore be still. Be still in the sense of stop fretting, stop striving, stop worrying. Be still and know God. God is with us. Be still. Why are you worrying?

Why are you fearful? God is with us. God not only is with us, He is for us. And if God is with us and is for us as He is, who can be against us? So the Lord is always with us in the middle of crisis, dangers, and trials.

Many of us have experienced that, haven't we? In our darkest hour, we realized that God is with us. Our friends, family, people who we may have looked to help us and may come short, but God never does. He is always with us, a present help in trouble.

Isn't that good as you go forward? There is not one situation that can happen that God will not be your present help in trouble. The Lord is with us in the middle of crisis, dangers, and trials. Secondly, the Lord is always with us in the middle of material needs.

Hebrews chapter 13, the last chapter of Hebrews verse five. Anyone worried about the material needs? Anyone worrying about paying the bills? Hebrews 13 verse five, keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have, for He has said, here it is, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Struggling financially? Concerned about your children's education?

Concerned about these medical bills which keep coming? Concerned about your retirement? Don't worry, God will never desert us. He is always with us. Don't focus on what you don't have that only breeds envy and bitterness. Focus on God's presence and be content. Don't panic.

Don't worry. The Scripture is saying the Lord is with us. He's always with His people. So He's with us in the midst of crisis and dangers. He's with us in the middle of material needs. He's always with us when we are serving God.

We just heard a report from Cebu going to Kenya. But it's not just when we go to Kenya, it's when we serve the Lord, when we're witnessing to others, when you are communicating the gospel to that difficult family member. As you teach Sunday school, as you watch over the children in the choir, as you look after our babies in the nursery when you're teaching Awana. Yes, as we go on a missions trip, His promise is true, and behold I am with you to the end of the age. Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and behold, lo, I am with you, even to the end of the age. Whether you go to a remote part in Kenya, way north, whether you're in a dangerous spot, whether you are in the midst of a hostile office as you stand as a follower of Jesus Christ, remember this, that God is with you.

He's right there at your side. And of course, the Lord is always with us in the midst of suffering and death. John 23 verse four, yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

You're kidding me? I'm walking in the valley of the shadow of death and I'm not afraid? No, David says, the Lord is saying for I am with you. The story is told of John Wesley when he's dying and people are coming, speaking to him, trying to encourage him, and John Wesley says yes, but best of all, God is with us.

Isn't that wonderful? That in the extremity of life, as we come towards the end of our life, that the Lord is there. When we go through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord, our great good Shepherd who loves us, who gave His life for us, He guides us, He provides, He restores, and He comforts, and He is with us. And He'll be with us through death and into our eternal home. We thought this morning about this wonderful future inheritance, which is imperishable, undefiled, unfading.

It's reserved, it's kept in heaven for us. And the Lord Jesus has accomplished all of that. And there's all of His great mercy, this great God, and that is He going to desert us? Is He going to desert you in your hour of greatest need?

No. Our Lord Jesus, our great pioneer, our great champion, the great captain of our salvation has entered into death, has conquered it, has shattered its gates, and it is eternally alive. And He promises that He will bring, safely bring us home.

And I want to tell you, I've seen that work over and over. I've been at many deathbeds, I've ministered over the years to many people who are terminally ill, and God never ever abandons His people in the crossing of time into eternity. When my old brother, brother George, a year and a half older than me, called me and told me that he had an inoperable brain tumor. He's a physician. He knew that what the prognosis was, they did surgery, and he realized that he'd only a few months to live.

Strong believer in Jesus Christ. And my brother told me this. He's not one to exaggerate.

It wasn't because of some great emotion or recording. No, he said it privately to me, his brother. He said, John, all of our life we have known the love of God. We're brought up in a living home. Our parents loved God. They loved us. He said, and I love God. I have a wife that loves me. I have three children that love me. I have daughters-in-law who love me. He said, I have experienced the love of God all of my life, but I can testify to this. I have never known the depths of the love of God as I have experienced now as I face my death. And I thought, how wonderful.

Let me ask you, does that surprise you? Parents, when your children go through the difficult time, it'd be unimaginable that you would deserve them, isn't it? If your little Johnny who's five years old has some, requires some surgery or something, you're right there. You're going to cancel all of the appointments or whatever else it is in your life because you love that little fellow, and you are going to be with him, with her. And God is a much, much better Father than we are. He will be with us all of the way into the Father's house. Yes, the grace that saves us is the grace that keeps us, is the grace that will lead us safely home. That's why we call it a living hope, our living hope.

Our Lord Jesus Christ will never ever leave us. And so this idea of the omnipresence of God, yes it challenges us, it convicts us. You can't run away from God. Don't think you've got that secret that you hide from other people. You might hide it from other people, but God knows.

But it's also a great theme, isn't it? That comforts us, that God is everywhere. He's not a remote God.

He's not a God watching from a distance. And when in the fullness of time, God the Father sends His Son into this world, He's given this beautiful name, Emmanuel, which being interpreted means God with us. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to be with us so that we would be with Him forever.

He came to earth, died for our sins, was buried, conquered death, and is alive. And if you trust Him with all of your heart, you will enter into this amazing experience of knowing God and of being assured that this great God who saved your soul will be with you. He has not promised the absence of storms in your life, but He has promised the presence, His presence in the middle of the storm. So today, put your hand in the hand of God.

He's already got it. He'll never let you go. He'll never abandon you. And the cross of Jesus Christ as we come and break bread testifies to this. As Paul says, that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. Our God knows about suffering. He was there. He understands. He is with us.

He is always with us. Father, thank You for this truth that You're a God who is with us, and we're convicted by that. And so as we come to the Lord's table, we want to confess our sins and repent of them and turn from them.

Perhaps there's some unholiness, something in our life that we need to repent. And yet, Father, what a comfort. And some of us here need these words of comfort because life is hard, and life is difficult, and life has many tears and many struggles, but we thank You that You are a God who never, ever leaves Your people. And Jesus says, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Thank You for Your grace that You would be with us. And particularly as we break bread, we rejoice in this God who is Emmanuel, God with us. We pray in His name, amen.