Verses 7-10: [7] Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? [8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. [9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; [10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
In these verses, the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) transitions to God's omnipresence (all-present) and omnipotence (all-power). The psalmist cannot remove himself from the realm of God's transcendence, that is, no matter where he goes in his life, he can't get away from God. Think about the Psalm this way: Where can we go that we can have a thought that God cannot comprehend? There is no place! God's immanent and personal engagement with us means the God we worship is aware of every thought we have (good or bad), every concern we have (good or bad) and every need we have (good or bad). God is aware 24/7 of everything about everyone and He desires to control every aspect of our lives.
What are the implications regarding this truth? If we realize that God knows all things and He desires to guide our lives, we should make the conscious effort to make every aspect of our lives pleasing to Him. But you might say, I can't think about God every moment of the day. I can't think about anything every moment of the day. That's not the point. The point is when we become aware of a thought or an area of our lives that is not in conformity to His will, we simply turn that thought over to Him and yield to His direction.
The extremeness of God's all reaching "hand" in seen in verse 8 that there is no place up there in heaven or down there is hell that we can go to escape His ability to know where we are and what is going on in our lives. The notion of escaping to heaven and hell finds its roots in ancient Near Eastern mythology. The Old Testament acknowledges God's ability to access Hell because He is sovereign (see Job 26:6, Amos 9:2). However, a sentence to Hell removes a person from God's blessing so the psalmist is employing these words to describe the vast reach of an all knowing God.
Pray for God to give you a conscious awareness of His presence wherever you journey and then for Him to lead and hold you (verse 10).
In these verses, the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) transitions to God's omnipresence (all-present) and omnipotence (all-power). The psalmist cannot remove himself from the realm of God's transcendence, that is, no matter where he goes in his life, he can't get away from God. Think about the Psalm this way: Where can we go that we can have a thought that God cannot comprehend? There is no place! God's immanent and personal engagement with us means the God we worship is aware of every thought we have (good or bad), every concern we have (good or bad) and every need we have (good or bad). God is aware 24/7 of everything about everyone and He desires to control every aspect of our lives.
What are the implications regarding this truth? If we realize that God knows all things and He desires to guide our lives, we should make the conscious effort to make every aspect of our lives pleasing to Him. But you might say, I can't think about God every moment of the day. I can't think about anything every moment of the day. That's not the point. The point is when we become aware of a thought or an area of our lives that is not in conformity to His will, we simply turn that thought over to Him and yield to His direction.
The extremeness of God's all reaching "hand" in seen in verse 8 that there is no place up there in heaven or down there is hell that we can go to escape His ability to know where we are and what is going on in our lives. The notion of escaping to heaven and hell finds its roots in ancient Near Eastern mythology. The Old Testament acknowledges God's ability to access Hell because He is sovereign (see Job 26:6, Amos 9:2). However, a sentence to Hell removes a person from God's blessing so the psalmist is employing these words to describe the vast reach of an all knowing God.
Pray for God to give you a conscious awareness of His presence wherever you journey and then for Him to lead and hold you (verse 10).