REDISCOVER GOD IN YOUR LIFE
[Exposition of Psalm 139:1-12f]
Many of us do not doubt that God exists and created heaven and the earth; knows us personally. He knows where and when we were born, our home addresses, phone numbers and can reach us anywhere and anytime even when we are hidden from human sight. Its astounding to discover that God knows everything about us and cares for us. God knows our thoughts and the purposes of our minds before the thoughts are formed. You will be overwhelmed to discover that in spite of the fact that Hes an Almighty and awesome God, Hes interested in the minutes detail about each person. If you think deeply, you cannot but wonder how God with the whole universe to care for, can be interested in the minute details in every individual. The Psalmist expresses such wonder in Psalm 139 verses1-2: O Lord, You have searched and known me; You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought a far off. Even when we jumble, muddle and fumble as we pour our hearts to God, God knows each of us intimately; our needs before we ask [Matthew 6:8]. He knows our fears, our sins, our insecurity and inadequacy; every detail of our lives. Jesus foreknew the woman at the well, Zacchaeus was on the tree, that Lazarus had been buried four days earlier, and that the man at the pool was there for thirty eight years. He also knows our struggles.
In the wilderness experience the children of Israel were under God watchful eyes that throughout their 40 years journey God cared for them, protected them and supplied their needs. In Matthews Gospel, Jesus Christ teaches that God cares for his humanity and urged us not to worry about life. If God could take account of every bird in the air, every animal in the forest and fishes in the sea, then He can account for every hair in human heads [Matthew 6]. Human minds do not understand how God can do all these. That is why in Psalm 139 verse 6, the Psalmist exclaimed, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. The Psalmist learnt that this God does not only know and care but also chases [pursues] human beings to bring them love and to make them enjoy His grace.
You mightve been forsaken by your spouse and weary children; your unfriendly friends may boycott you and your parents abandoned you. You could have made wrong choices and exposed to wrong lifestyle and perhaps end up in jail, with or without walls. Yet youve a God who would not let go. Hes stubborn, jealous and a chasing God whose love and compassion is so much that He holds tight when every other has let loose. It does not matter if we loose our hold of Him, run and hide from Him, escape and runaway to a far country like the prodigal son or like Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden; yet we cannot escape from the relentless lover of our souls. What a hard lesson to learn that we cannot run away or keep God away from loving and chasing us. His compassionate love that cost Him the life of His only begotten son on the cross of shame cannot be reversed.
Most people that read or recite this Psalm 139 do not pay attention to the expressions and surprises in verses 7-12. That is why some people still think they can run or become fugitives from God. The reasons they closed their doors and commit crime and think God neither sees nor knows them. The Psalmist understood that God is Spirit and Omnipresent. Whether you ascend to heaven or hide in hell, dwell in uppermost part of the depth, in darkness or in light, indeed nothing can hide anything from God. When Adam and Eve sinned, they ran to hide but surprisingly even in their fugitives, God found them. Those living as economic refugees in other lands, God is still watching and caring for them. Even though they were refugees, some of them have made unequal and uncommon achievements and progress. Those refugees who decide to commit crime in the lands of their abode should know that the God who gave them favor into those lands is watching keenly. God is everywhere and working every time. Those who have tried to hide from God in the things of life had found themselves in mystery. They elude that those who seek heaven are the poor, scornful, sorrowful, sick and less privileged. The strong, healthy and happy people have no need for God and heaven. These rich people create their heaven on earth and they often resort to coercion and violence to achieve it; ending up in creating hell instead of heaven.
In every occasion, God sends the same message to every generation that He is always present at every where and time; loves us unconditionally and we cannot run away from Him. An Old Testament prophet says God speaks in two ways: in words and in events. If we refuse to listen to His words, He allows us to go through events and experiences. Either way, the purpose of God is to draw us back to Him. We can meet God as a friend and child or as an enemy; can hear His words or hear His voice in events. Neither the farthest limit of emotion nor farthest limit of space can provide refuge from God. Even the wings of the morning surprisingly cannot provide an escape from God. In spite of the glaring lessons that we cannot escape or hide from God, mankind has been busy trying to do same. In our age, man has immigrated to new continents of thought and achievement, where they think God cannot find them. This is windful thought and waterloo, because wherever we go, God is already ahead and behind us. This is why He is God.
If we plan to run away from God, what would happen when we die? What happens when we face Him in judgment? It could just be a mental battle living in denial that God is present in death. Its a fool that think God does not exist every where [Psalm 14:1]. Just as your can close your eyes and pretend that there is no light, you can close your mind, take a deep breath and say theres no God. There are futile gestures and cheerful deceit. The question you would answer this day is: How much longer are you going on like this: shutting the door against God? Its my prayer that you will discover before its too late. Theres no doubt that much of our life is an attempt to escape from this God who knows us better than we know ourselves. He has known us since even before we were born. Verses 13-14 say, For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mothers womb. The more reason this great God is to be honored and praised. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works. And that my soul knows very well.
Why should one want to escape from God? Does this God not bless us, care and provide for us? Griffith, Leonard in God in mans experience wrote, God is not like a police inspector, who tract down escaped convicts, chasing them to everywhere to arrest and lock them up in prison cell and chain them to the wall . Our God is like a shepherd who leaves the rest of his flock while he goes searching for a single stray and when he finds the lost sheep, He curdles it tenderly in his arms and brings it back to the warmth and safety of the fold . This God is the God who died for us when we did not know Him. God raised His son from death to victory of all mankind who accept Him. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord; the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor weary. His understanding is unsearchable [Isaiah 40:28]. Today this great God beckons on you saying, come back to me I still love and care for you. Know that you can run but you cant get away. He had purchased us with the life of His son; will pursue ruthlessly until He recovers us.
Reach: Evangelist Ogbonnaya, Godswill at: weefreeministries@yahoo.com or P. O. Box 720035, Houston, Texas, 77272.
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