Welcome to week 8!

It’s our final week in our Summer in the Psalms series! So glad you have joined in and I pray that it has been an encouragement to you.

I hope over these eight weeks you have been reminded that God is:

• Our protector
• Our refuge
• Always with us

I also hope that you’ve come to know that God’s Word is a source of words when we don’t know what to say. We can turn to His Word when we want to:

• Praise God
• Confess
• Pray
• Choose Joy

If you missed a week, you can find them all here 🙂

This week we’re taking a look at Psalm 139.

Psalm 139

“Where’s Daddy?”

It’s a question I get every morning from my three year old son.

“Daddy’s already at work,” I remind him.

“Oh,” he says and pauses. “But where’s Daddy?”

I try to explain where Daddy is but all he knows is he went to bed with Daddy home and woke up to Daddy gone. Daddy’s presence is felt when home and missed when gone. And it’s a scary thing to wake up and believe Daddy isn’t there!

It reminds me of this week’s psalm, and especially of verses 7 to 12.

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Psalm 139:7-12

All throughout scripture we’re promised that God is with us. And really I can’t think of a better promise than that.

This is what David talks about in Psalm 139. First he writes of how God knows us (v.1-6) and then he moves on to how God is with us (v.7-12).

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v.7) I don’t believe David was trying to run from God’s presence. I think he was merely asking the question. Where can we go without God’s presence being with us? And the answer is that there is nowhere we can go that God isn’t there with us.

David gives three examples of God with us:

• in the heights and the depths (v.8)
• in the east and the west (v.9-10)
• and in the darkness and in the light (v.11-12).

Let’s take a look at each of those examples:

Heights and Depths

As high as you can go, whether you climb the tallest mountain or fly in an airplane, God is there. And if you are in the lowest point possible- the grave (or the depths)- God is there too. David uses these extremes to show that no matter the physical height or depth that a person goes, God is still there.

And in the heights and depths of emotion, the rollercoaster that life takes us on with its ups and downs, God is there too. When we are in our highest moment of joy and when we are in our lowest moment of pain, He is there.

East and West

In this second example, David illustrates the width of God’s presence. Whether it is “the wings of the dawn” or the “far side of the sea,” He is there. What does that mean? Some commentators believe the “wings of the dawn” is when the sun rises and the light hits the earth. Some believe it’s referring to the speed in which the light spreads across the sky. And the “far side of the sea” can mean that no matter how vast the sea, God’s powerful right hand is still guiding you.

To me, these speak of those moments too when the day is new (the dawn) and the sunrise bathes everything in beautiful colors and possibility feels precious and inviting. God is there. And when the sea feels large and there is nothing but the same blue water all around, maybe hope and possibility feel gone and all you can do is tread water to stay afloat, He is there too. He hasn’t left you.

Light and Dark

Some people may believe that if enough darkness surrounds them, they will remain hidden from God. But that’s not true. We know God is light and so we can never be truly hidden in the dark because God can always shine light. We can’t close ourselves up in our rooms, shut the lights off and be hidden from Him.

God’s presence is a precious gift to us. We don’t ever have to wake up and wonder, “Where’s Daddy?” Because He is there. Our Abba Father is always there.

Reflection Question

How does it comfort you to know that no matter where you go, God is there with you?

Challenge

Read Psalm 139 in its entirety. Thank God for the precious gift of His presence in your life.

Thank you for joining in during our time in the Psalms! Let’s close out this series with a song: Hills and Valleys by Tauren Wells. I’ve had this song on my mind throughout these eight weeks as we’ve studied the Psalms and think it perfectly captures how our God is with us throughout the ups and downs of life. I think that’s what the message of the Psalms help us to remember. God bless!