DarkWalker
Member
Psalm 139 is well known within the Church. In it, King David writes that God has searched us and known us, since before we were born. The eighth verse, however, recently struck me as particularly reassuring:
Sometimes we think of God as being absent from Hell. After all, it is a place of separation from Him, right? So why would David say, "if I go to Hell--if I take up a residence there--God is there?" There are a few thoughts I've had on this. One is that David was confident God would be with Him, even if David ended up in Hell. However, the more biblical position (in my opinion) is that God is present, even when we cannot feel His presence.
There are times in my life where I am prone to highs and lows. However, whether I can sense God or not, this verse (and many others) reassure me He is there. We do not need to feel Him, or see Him, or sense Him in any way. All we need to do is trust that whatever we do, wherever we are, God is with us. Even if we choose to indulge our sins, He is there. Even if we are going through our own version of Hell on Earth, He is there. There is nothing we can do to change that fact.
This verse used to make me upset as a younger man, because it meant I couldn't get away with having "fun" with sin without God knowing about it. As I have grown, physically and spiritually, I have come to understand what a comfort it is to know God has my back, whether I feel Him there or not. We are given our senses and emotions, but we are also given the "heart knowledge" of things that comes from faith. Thank God that His ability to work in our lives is not subject to what we feel or sense.
In short, this verse tells us that if we go into the skies, God is there. What is very interesting to me, however, is the next portion. In the Hebrew in which this verse is originally written, the word for "make my bed" refers to the idea of a marriage bed, providing the idea of a more permanent residence, a more intimate association. The word for "Hell" is the familiar word sheol, referring to the grave--a place of physical and spiritual death.
Sometimes we think of God as being absent from Hell. After all, it is a place of separation from Him, right? So why would David say, "if I go to Hell--if I take up a residence there--God is there?" There are a few thoughts I've had on this. One is that David was confident God would be with Him, even if David ended up in Hell. However, the more biblical position (in my opinion) is that God is present, even when we cannot feel His presence.
There are times in my life where I am prone to highs and lows. However, whether I can sense God or not, this verse (and many others) reassure me He is there. We do not need to feel Him, or see Him, or sense Him in any way. All we need to do is trust that whatever we do, wherever we are, God is with us. Even if we choose to indulge our sins, He is there. Even if we are going through our own version of Hell on Earth, He is there. There is nothing we can do to change that fact.
This verse used to make me upset as a younger man, because it meant I couldn't get away with having "fun" with sin without God knowing about it. As I have grown, physically and spiritually, I have come to understand what a comfort it is to know God has my back, whether I feel Him there or not. We are given our senses and emotions, but we are also given the "heart knowledge" of things that comes from faith. Thank God that His ability to work in our lives is not subject to what we feel or sense.
