Psalm 139 : A Commentary (Part 2)
In our previous study we saw that our Triune God is all knowing and that nothing is hidden from Him. Through the search light of His Holy Spirit illuminating the Word of God to us deep down on the inside of us He searches the deepest thoughts and motives of our thoughts, words and actions and that nothing is hidden from Him to whom we must give an account of our lives down here.
He sees all that we do during the day and how we conduct ourselves before Him and before others. Being familiar with all of our ways and tendencies He knows every word that we are going to speak even before we have spoken it including the motive behind what we say.
He also hems us in and preserves us in times of spiritual attack especially in those times of heaviness of spirit through the seasons of unceasing and prolonged temptation. Indeed who can understand His dealings with us?
He indeed is all knowing and in His wise, loving and perfect will knows how best to deal with us individually as His blood redeemed, blood justified, blood cleansed, blood sanctified and blood protected child of His. Now in this study we will see the second divine attribute that our Triune God possesses.
Psalm 139: Exposition
The LORD is present everywhere in the universe and beyond (Vs. 7-12)
(Vs.7) “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Can you run away from the LORD? Jonah tried to do it but found that God’s presence is everywhere even in the darkness of the belly of the giant whale that swallowed him whole.
When King David was fleeing for his life he had to find refuge in places that were arid and not at all conducive to human habitation to escape his pursuers hell-bent on killing him. In these desperate times that brought with them anxiety and stress and the tempestuous mood swings of his soul He found that the LORD’s presence was with Him and that He had not left David to his own devices.
In every situation David faced, and he faced them alright, from being in a cave comforting himself in the LORD to when he had to feign madness before Achish the king of Gath in order to save his life.
After times of depression, desperate and life-threatening situations and overwhelming circumstances that weighed heavily upon his soul, David came to understand that no matter where he was or what his state of mind was that the his LORD, being present everywhere, was always present with him. Even after David had committed adultery and murder and was rebuked by Samuel the prophet David knew that he could not escape the LORD’s presence and owned up to his own sin before Him without offering any excuses.
Where indeed can you or I go to where God is not present? Nowhere of course as He is present everywhere. In this study we further see that our Triune God fills the whole universe with His eternal and divine presence. Even though He sits on a heavenly throne His presence is everywhere through His Holy Spirit. When God and His eternal Son, before His incarnation, spoke the command to bring forth creation, the blessed Holy Spirit went to work bringing into being that which had been spoken. “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9).
In Genesis chapter one when the earth was formless and empty and that darkness was over the surface of the deep the Holy Spirit of God was “hovering” over the waters ready to bring about His creative work.
The same word for “hovering” used in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is used in the Greek text of the New Testament where we read that the Holy Spirit would come upon Mary and that the power of the Most High would “overshadow” her the same way that He “overshadowed” or “hovered” over the waters to bring forth all life on earth.
The Word Himself, our Lord Jesus, being the co-creator with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit became a flesh and blood man, being fully God and fully human to tabernacle among us (John 1:1-15). When after her pregnancy the waters in her womb burst the Son of God came forth into this world. And then we read…
(Vs.8) “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.”
Heaven is a place where God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reside along with the spirits of blood redeemed men and women made perfect and where the hosts of heaven also reside (Hebrews 12:22-24). David by the revelation of the Holy Spirit saw into that heavenly realm in eternity where time as we know it down here on earth does not exist up there and where the past, the present and the future all run together.
In time as we know it down here before the incarnation of the Lord Jesus’ life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, the saints who died went to Sheol, the dwelling place of the souls and spirits of all who physically died.
In Sheol all who died before the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus went to that place. In that place there were two compartments or realms of existence separated by a wide gulf. Those who had died in faith were with Abraham the father of faith and in a place of rest and peace in God’s presence similar to the state in the Garden of Eden called paradise.
This is where the spirit of the Lord Jesus went to after He had died on the cross and took the thief crucified alongside with him to that place in Sheol called paradise by the Lord Jesus Himself (Luke 23:43).
On the other side of the gulf was a place of continuous torment where those residing there who had rejected God and His Word could gaze over that gulf into the paradise compartment of Sheol but not able to cross over into it themselves. We see this exemplified in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
When the Lord Jesus died we read that “At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people” (Matthew 27:50-53).
After His resurrection when He ascended to heaven He took all of those in paradise in Sheol with Him. He took all those who were captives in that place called paradise and took them with Him to heaven (Psalm 68:18) (Ephesians 4:7-10).
The ones left behind in Sheol were those who were unsaved. In light of the New Testament those left in that compartment of Sheol called Hades or Hell or like a holding cell as it were, awaiting the great white throne judgement where they will be sentenced to the eternal lake of fire because they rejected salvation in the Messiah our Lord Jesus. They are already condemned (John 3:36 NASB) (Revelation 20:11-15). God Himself cannot be restricted in His presence. He is everywhere on earth and in the whole of the universe at once even though He sits on a throne in heaven. David continues…
(Vs.9-10) “If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
David is saying if I were to speed across the earth on the wings of the dawn, and, having done so, were then to dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea – the extreme west, where the sun sets, even there shall Your hand lead me. In that distant region I should still find Your guiding hand. And Your right hand (The Messiah Himself implied) shall hold me. Your strong right hand would uphold me.”
One thing is sure for us as believers in the Messiah our Lord Jesus is that He, being the right hand, or the right arm of the LORD, will never leave us or forsake us, but keeps us as He holds all things together by His powerful word including us who are living by faith in Him. If we want to be spiritually upheld then we need to be into His Word the Bible.
As the author of Hebrews writes; “But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:2-3). David continues…
(Vs.11-12) “If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night, Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”
In our daily faith walk with the LORD there will be times when we become overwhelmed by our circumstances, trials, tests, temptations and afflictions of one sort or another and it seems that a sense of spiritual darkness is seeking to suffocate or stifle our faith in the LORD. David often experienced this affliction of the soul and it is clearly revealed in the psalms he wrote. There were times when he was able to praise the LORD to the hilt and it seemed his spirit soared heavenwards with praise and thanksgiving. However there were other times when he felt like he was trapped in a net spiritually and sinking into the darkness of despair and despondency.
Here we read that he had learnt that when things looked dark that they were not dark to the LORD and that the night in his soul was as light to God. In His foreknowledge of all things and set purposes our Triune God saw how that season of darkness fitted into His wise and loving will for His servant David. Through these experiences David had come to understand this aspect of God’s character.
Indeed the eternal spiritual principal given in the New Testament was already at work in David. Rabbi the Apostle Paul writes; “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The tapestry of our life we see close up only sees coloured and grey and dark threads intertwined, however, God is looking at the finished product, that final beautiful tapestry where all of the threads combined have produced a beautiful outcome. Indeed what He has called and gifted us to He will see to it that it comes to pass just as He has foreordained it for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
Darkness and light are the same to Him because He sees the end result. It we did not pass through seasons of spiritual darkness of the soul we would never appreciate the seasons of spiritual light. Nothing takes God by surprise. No matter where we go or the circumstances we find ourselves whether good or not so good, God is present to work and to will His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The second divine attribute of God then is that He is present everywhere.
