Today we are going to discuss one of the many attributes of God; His omnipresence. This is a two-part series and, in the first part, we will discuss this attribute of God and how it relates to His interaction with His creation.
What does it mean when we say that God is omnipresent and where do we find this attribute in Scripture? In the second part, we will explore God’s presence as it pertains to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within a believer.
If we know that God is present and can see us at any time, or that He see us all the time, how should we act? If you are reading this today and have not asked Jesus into your heart, I hope that God reveals a small part of Himself to you in these few moments.
Where is God?
Some may ask “Where is God?” or “Where does God reside?”
Especially in hard times, when we may not feel His presence, we may ask if He hears us or sees what we are going through. Others may wonder if He is sitting somewhere in heaven, detached from the affairs of mankind and watching life as we know it unfold. I have heard some call Him the “big guy in the sky,” implying that He keeps His distance from mankind.
However, in the Scriptures we find something very different.
We find that God is not limited to a particular place, but He can be everywhere, at all times. It is not only that He can be, He is everywhere, at all times. This is a tough concept for a finite mind to comprehend.
One can fathom the concept of omniscience, in that God knows all, because we have some knowledge, as miniscule as it may be. We seem to inherently know that God is omnipotent, all powerful, that is why we refer to Him as God. We see evidence of this attribute throughout Scripture and we hear testimonies from other believers to this fact.
However, to try and contemplate the fact that God is present everywhere, at all times, that seems like a stretch. Today, we are going to look at Psalm 139:7-12 and see what David and others had to say on this matter.
Breaking it down: Psalm 139:7-12
First of all, this Psalm of David speaks of God’s omniscience in verses 1-6 and it is fitting that this attribute is mentioned before our text because there appears to be some overlap between this attribute and that of omnipresence. After this, he begins to ask some hypothetical questions, or maybe questions that he asked or experienced in the past.
Let’s start by breaking down the key texts.
Where can I go?
In verse 7, it states “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 1:7, New King James Version).
Here we see somewhat parallel questions. David reflects upon the possibility of going and fleeing from God’s Spirit and from God’s presence. Has David tried this in the past? Well, we cannot say for certain, but we can only speculate.
The term “go” seems to speak of casually walking into a different location where God may not be. The term “flee,” however, is more deliberate and speaks of actually trying to escape God’s presence. One only flees if he is trying to escape from someone or something.
Normally one flees because he is afraid, embarrassed, or trying to avoid responsibility. While we may not see an example of this in David’s life, we do have a couple of great examples elsewhere in Scripture.
First, in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve had sinned, they tried to hide from God’s presence (Genesis 3:8). Also, in the Book of Jonah, we find the main character, when confronted with a task from God, Himself, turns to flee from His presence (Jonah 1:3).
In both cases, they were unsuccessful.
You are there
In the next verse, it states “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make by bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Psalm 1:8).
The first statement is an easy one to understand for most expect God to be in heaven. So, heaven is one of the places that God resides, or is found. The prophet Isaiah says as much when he prophesied that God “sits above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22).
God is present in the heavens; however, the next statement is tougher to consider.
In Hebrew, the word for “hell” in this passage is Sheol, meaning the “underworld,” or the place of “the dead.”[1] Therefore, the psalmist cannot escape God, even in death.
Moreover, God is not only present above the earth, but below it also.
The psalmist testified to this fact when he stated “You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol” (Psalm 86:13). We see this most vividly in the account of Jesus being raised from the dead (Matthew 28:6).
Wings of the morning
In verse 9, it states “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,” (Psalm 1:9).
God is present in the morning and He is present wherever we dwell, no matter how remote. Pertaining to the “wings of the morning,” Ross likened the statement to the thought of flying “at the speed of light (the wings of the dawn) from east across the sky to the west.”[2]
Next, David moves on to what God does when we are in these places.
He leads
Verse 10 states “Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:10).
Here we find that God is not just present to be present. He is present to interact with His creation. His omnipresence allows for Him to lead David and it also allows for some sort of security, in that God holds him. But, holds him from what?
Maybe it is from danger or maybe it is for the purpose of comfort in times of distress. Next, David moves on to statements about darkness and light.
The dark season
Verse 11 states “If I say, Surely the darkness shall fall on me, Even the night shall be light about me;” (Psalm 139:11).
Is this talking about darkness as it pertains to a lack of light, or darkness as it relates to our emotions, feelings, chaos, or a dire situation?
This may speak of depression, a sense that all is lost. It may also speak of the helplessness of not being able to see; to see what is next. However, literally, as we see it here, it is the absence or lack of light. God is present in the light, in the darkness, in the morning, and in the night, wherever we may be. It is important to note the Hebrew word for “fall.”
The New American Standard Bible translated this word as “overwhelmed” and the New International Version translated it as “hide.” Therefore, even when we seem to be completely engulfed in darkness, He is there, He sees us.
Darkness is no match for the Light
Finally, in verse twelve, it states “Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to you” (Psalm 139:12).
David acknowledged that there is nothing so dark that God is pushed to the side or that He cannot see. God is not limited by the darkness. God sees just as good in the dark as in the light, and He is just as present in the dark as in the light. In Genesis, we find that He created the greater light and the lesser light (Genesis 1:16), therefore, nothing is hidden from Him, not only because He created both lights, but because He is there.
What does this mean?
So, what does this all mean and what does this passage reveal about God?
God is present, even though we may not be able to see Him or feel Him in our earthly circumstance. He is present, and sees us, while our hearts are filled with darkness and gloom. After reading this Scripture we find that the question “Where is God?” is not a logical question.
In reality we may have asked this many times, but we were speaking nonsense.
He is Here
God is all-present, even though our finite self, our sinful self, our imperfect self may not fully realize this truth.
Erickson stated that God is not a “divine superman who flies at infinite speed.”[3] He does not run to our aid, but He is already present. The psalmist was sure of it and we can be sure of it. The entire Bible is about God being present with mankind, revealed in the most tangible sense through the incarnate life of Jesus Christ.
He is called Immanuel, God with us. This can be seen as past tense, present tense, and future tense. Right before Jesus left the earth and ascended into heaven, He gave the Great Commission and stated, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19).
What a promise and what a comfort we have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion
I have a few questions to consider. Now that we know, or are reminded, that God is omnipresent, what changes do we need to make in our life? What sin have we committed in “secrecy,” which you now realize was in His presence, that needs repentance?
Even though we may not fully understand all the attributes of God, we can be confident that He is with us right now and will never leave us.
May God manifest His presence to you in a way that you have never experienced before. May He reveal more and more that He is always by your side and, furthermore, that He resides within you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of 2: The Wonder of God-Part 2 of 2: Indwelling.
References
[1] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1369.
[2] Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 892.
[3] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 244.
Dan Buteau has been married for the last 33 years and is a father of four adult children. He is also a grandfather to five children. He serves as a Pastor at a church in southern Maine. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Math Studies from Granite State University and he is currently a Master’s of Theology student at Liberty University. In addition, Dan served in the United States Marine Corps for four years and is retired from a 25-year career in law enforcement. He has a hunger and thirst for the Word of God and is continuing to obey the calling of his Savior, Jesus Christ, as he carries out the Great Commission.
