God's Presence


 

Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched? Do you sometimes feel that you are not alone, even though no one else is around? I certainly did on the morning I first turned this corner during holiday season. I walked past, then turned back. I knew something was odd, different. It took me a few moments before I noticed that the trees had eyes. When I did, I was taken aback. This was a very subtle, yet effective, display.
When I was a boy growing up in the church, I remember times when our lessons concerned the idea that God was watching us. The imagery was profound; God knows the number of hairs on our heads, not even a sparrow falls without God noting its demise, what is done in secret is known to God. I have to admit, there were times in my life when that idea was not so comforting! God watching seemed to me to be one of those things that could be both really good and really bad.
As I have grown older, the thought has definitely moved more to the “good thing” side of the ledger. In fact, one of my favorite passages is Psalm 139. It speaks profoundly of God’s presence with us. These beautiful words open the Psalm:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
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 guide me,
your right 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 shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Sometimes it is a comfort to feel eyes upon us, following us wherever we go. We can never wander out of God’s presence. Thanks be to God.
Peace.

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