The Awareness of God

​Psalm 139:7-10 ~ “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are 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.”
 
What happens when you begin to comprehend the awareness of God? When you know that He knows all things pertaining to you, does it set anxiety in your heart? It is a proper response to tremble at the knowledge of God’s greatness. It is essential to fear the LORD for His power and authority. But what happens when you know that HE knows all the hidden secrets of your heart? It may cause you to want to flee from Him. Let me encourage you, even now, to read the entirety of Psalm 139.
 
In our text today, we discover the full measure of God’s absolute knowledge of all things—and especially all things pertaining to mankind (see Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16). Nestled between two statements of God’s perfect knowledge, David cried out, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Oh what anxiety rises up in the heart of a man who knows that his ways are found out! All who dwell on this earth have sinned against the LORD and many have imagined that they have carefully hidden all their thoughts and secrets. But the LORD God Almighty knows every hidden thing. Consider what it says in John 2:24-25, “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” It would be as if you stood before a judge, and he is the very one you have wronged. Locked in the courtroom, there is no place for you to flee from the certain judgment that will come. David knows that there is no place to go. Heaven belongs to God… Sheol does as well. Great distances of far away places cannot be far enough to flee from God’s presence, for God is the Ever-Present One.
 
However, I want you to see a difference in the mentality of the psalmist. As he considers the vast understanding of the Almighty, David looks and perceives a different purpose to the full awareness of God. Many look to the LORD (and at times rightly so) as the severe judge that will condemn all sin and punish the wicked. For them, the presence of God is too much and they would rather have the rocks and mountains fall upon them and hide them from God’s wrath (see Revelation 6:15-17). But David writes, “even there your hand shall lead me.” The “hand” mentioned in our text today is not a closed fist waiting to crush, but an open hand ready to guide. David sees the LORD reaching out with an open hand to lead. Oh, beloved, reach out and grasp the open hand of the Savior. See the wounds placed there, marks of your redemption that remain as the evidence of His great love for you. He wants to guide you, to take you by the hand and shepherd you. God Almighty knows all there is to know of you, and in His mercy and grace, He will redeem you and pardon your iniquity. Shall you not be guided by the nail-pierced hand of the King of kings? Hear the call of the Savior in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
 
Not only will the LORD guide you with His open hand, but our text today also states, “your right hand shall hold me fast.” The “right hand” is the hand of strength and authority. But, dear ones, you are not locked in the death grasp of the LORD of Hosts. If you belong to the LORD Jesus Christ, you are grasped by the hand that will preserve and protect you all the way to eternity. You are secured firmly in the loving hold of the LORD Almighty. Jesus said as much in John 10:28-29, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” Rejoice, dear Christian, for you are held fast in the hands that cannot and will not let you go.
 
This blessed Psalm opens up our minds and hearts to the wonder of God’s perfect awareness of all mankind. There is no place to hide, nor is there any means of preventing the LORD from knowing all about you. Does this cause you to want to flee? Then run straight into the hands of the Savior and do as David did: pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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