Week Thirteen-Day Two: Omnipresent

Jeremiah 23:23-24

²³ “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?
²⁴ Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”

God is everywhere present all the time. This does not mean that God is uniformly spread out through all places so that there is a little of God all over the place. Instead, God in His whole being is fully present everywhere, all the time. Among the things that are difficult to understand about God, this has got to rank right up there.

And yet this is the consistent testimony of those who have known Him well. Let’s look at a few examples of this concept among the Bible’s authors. We’ll spend a moment reflecting on each set of verses.

1.

³ The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

The real idea here might be that God knows everything; we cannot pull anything over on God. While this is true, the author here explains that the reason for that is that God sees everything. He is everywhere – in this case specifically His eyes are everywhere.

²⁷ “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)

This verse recounts a public prayer offered by King Solomon on the occasion of the ark being brought into the newly-built temple. This temple has been looked forward to for generations. As far back as Moses, the people had a sense that God wanted them to build Him a “house”. This was part national pride. Other lesser nations, and certainly greater ones, had elaborate temples for their gods. “What’s wrong with us?” they had to be thinking.

This was also a matter of worship. They believed they were building a central point around which orthodox worship of Yahweh would revolve. And they believed it honored God in the highest degree to do so.

So … 1 Kings 8 records the incident of the temple initiation. The ark – the holiest emblem of their worship and of God’- is presence being brought into the holy of holies. Here is the very embodiment of God’s presence. Here is His house fully furnished and adorned.

And on this occasion, Solomon chooses to acknowledge that this place cannot contain God. He is beyond … “Beyond what, Solomon?” “Beyond everything – beyond everywhere – He is all wheres and all places. He cannot be contained!”

3.

(Psalm 139:1-12)

¹ You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

We have already looked at Psalm 139 before, but we cannot leave it out of this discussion. Interestingly, when we are living in a way that dishonors God, His omnipresence is threatening. But when we are walking with Him “such knowledge is too wonderful for us.”

One thing more worth noting here. The Psalmist suggests that God’s omnipresence includes our internal space as well. “You perceive my thoughts from afar.” And “before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.”

4.

²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 20:18)

Jesus seems to make a somewhat sentimental application of the reality of God’s omnipresence here. “No matter where you are, if you gather in my name, I’m there.” Please notice that Jesus takes this attribute of God on Himself. Let’s say that again. Jesus takes this most Godlike attribute, this unimaginably unhuman attribute of God, on himself. We will have more to say about this next week when we discuss our final attribute of God. But for now, let’s just be a little amazed.

God is omnipresent! Let’s carry this idea with us today: no matter where we go or what we do, no matter what we think or say, God is with us. He is present with all of us. Or maybe it’s better to say that we are present with Him, after all this is His universe. Really maybe it would be more accurate for us to imagine the whole universe being played out right in front of God.

I think it’s also appropriate for us to remember that God’s omnipresence involves more than spacial presence. In other words, God is not only with us everywhere; He is also present with us in everything. No matter how deep the depths, no matter high the heights, God is there.

I have a good friend who one time described for me a remarkable experience of worship. He recalled an incident when he was thinking about a very, very difficult time in his life. Really he was grieving an experience from earlier in his life. Into the middle of his grief and darkness He felt like God said to him, “This moment is a moment of worship.”

“What does that mean?” he asked God. His pain didn’t feel very much like worship. But he felt like God responded and explained.

“It’s a moment of worship, because that was a moment that you and I shared at the deepest level. I was with you! Who else do you think was there? Even other witnesses were only partially there and for only part of the time. But you and I walked through every bit of it, and I was always fully with you. This is something that only you and I understand. This is something that only you and I know. And as you remember it, even as you grieve it, I want you to remember we were there together. That’s a moment of worship!”

I will never grieve the same way again.

BEFORE YOU START YOUR DAY

1. Spend a moment reviewing Isaiah 26:3.
2. Spend a moment acknowledging God’s presence.He is here!He really is!

Look for signs of God’s presence today.