Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20051106.htm

RELISHING THE ESSENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Part II: The Attributes Of God
B. Treasuring The Omnipresence Of God
(Psalm 139:7-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. We humans are limited as to space; we can be in only one place at a time, so we can hurt the eternal worth of our lives if we choose the wrong location for employment , housing or worship, etc. at a given instant.
    2. To meet this need, David applied his gracious God's omnipresence for invaluable help (as follows):
  2. Treasuring The Omnipresence Of God, Psalm 139:7-13.
    1. When David wrote Psalm 139, he was concerned that he might unknowingly be guilty of a way or course in his earthly life that hindered the eternal effectiveness of his life's works, Psa. 139:23-24 (1 John 2:17):
      1. The word for "everlasting" (KJV, NIV, ESV) is olam in the Hebrew text, and it means "most distant times'" in reference "to either the most distant past or to the future or to both," cf. Kittel, Bib. Hebr., p. 1096 (emphases ours); Jenni, E., "Das wort olam im AT," Diss, Theol. Basel 1953 (ZAW 64:197-248; 65:1-35) as cited in Harris, Archer, Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the O. T., vol. II, p. 672.
      2. As we have shown in our previous study of Psalm 139:1-6, this psalm views God in relation to both eternity past and eternity future, for David wills to adjust his life's path to maximize its eternal worth!
    2. Thus, David considered the omnipresence of God, that attribute that revealed how thoroughly God's presence inhabited every part of the universe that equipped God to know the best LOCATION for David to be at any specific time for any specific function to maximize his life's eternal value (as follows):
      1. Having considered the omniscience of God to know all about him, David's thoughts turned to the infinite capacity of God to dwell in all points of the universe at once, to be omnipresent, Psa. 139:1-7.
      2. Having asked the rhetorical questions of where he could go to be absent from or flee from the presence of God, questions that expected a negative answer of "no where" in Psa. 139:7, David began to portray how impossible it was for him to be absent from the presence of God in Psalm 139:8-13 (as follows):
        1. David noted that whether he were to ascend up to heaven or to make his bed in "sheol," (the grave or more likely) the place of the spirits of the departed dead [considered to be under the earth], God would be there, Psalm 139:8; Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 891-892.
        2. As Psalm 139:8 contains the opposite locations of "heaven" and "sheol," a figure of speech known as a merism, every place in between these two opposites is included as well, Ibid., p. 892.
        3. Accordingly, considering the vast stretches of the stellar universe, let alone the unseen place of the departed spirits and the unseen abode of God's heaven beyond the visible stellar universe, we learn no depth is too low and no height is too lofty for us to escape the presence of Almighty God.
        4. Having considered God's omnipresence on the vertical plane, David shifted to the horizontal view: were he to take the light of dawn ("wings of the morning") in the far eastern sky and ride it at the speed of light across the horizon to the far reaches of the Mediterranean Sea in the west where the sun sets, and were he then to sink down into the bottom of the midst of that sea all at the speed of light, God would be AHEAD of David, still leading Him and powerfully grasping him to hold him in complete divine sovereignty, Psalm 139:9-10; Ibid., p. 892!
        5. David then considered if the deep darkness of the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea might possibly be able to hide him from God; however, darkness and light are the same to God in His capacity to observe David, Psalm 139:11-12. The proof of this fact is found in considering how, in the utter darkness of his own mother's womb, David's delicate, inner body tissues were carefully, intricately formed and then expertly woven together by God, Psalm 139:13 ["possessed" KJV = formed; "covered" KJV = "did weave", Ibid., Ryrie, ftn.]
    3. Deeply moved at such musing, David asked God to apply His omnipresence to his life's path to weed out any errant place he might go that would diminish the eternal value of his life's path, Psalm 139:23-24!
Lesson: In considering the omnipresence of God, David asked God to redirect him from living in or frequenting any location that would diminish the eternal value of his life, Ps. 139:7-13 with 139:23-24!

Application: May we rely on God to guide us to those locations that maximize our life's eternal value!