Psalm 139:1-12; 23-24

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

 

¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from far away.

³ You search out my path and my lying down,

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,

    O Lord, you know it completely.

⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,

    and lay your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

 

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning

    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light around me become night,”

¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is as bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

 

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any wicked way in me,

God knows you. You cannot hide from God.

 

I love the title of this psalm – The Inescapable God! God has a GPS on us 24/7! There is nowhere we can go to escape.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

One of my concerns as a pastor over the past four months is that I have been unable to set my eyes on so many of our congregation members. Four services at Far Hills on a weekend, and I can right now close my eyes and see each grouping of people and where they usually sat, when they arrived, and the looks in their eyes as I served them communion. I miss that. I miss being able to read your reactions of the words spoken or the music sung. I miss your smiles and greetings before and after church. I miss the times we can share the joys and sorrows each week.

I know you miss it, too.Yet even when we are together, so often we hide behind the masks of our own making (pre-COVID masks) and put on a facade that we have it all together, and everything is fine. Now that we are not together, those barriers are easier to establish, and harder to break through.

A few days ago I mentioned the steps outside the Temple in Jerusalem. The steps were purposefully designed to be uneven, so when you climb the steps to the Temple, your head is bowed down as a sign of humility and reverence.

Another trait about the Temple is that there were certain passages for entering and exiting: one-way passages if you will. But the custom in the days of Temple was that if you were mourning the loss of a family member within the last year, you would enter through the exit, and exit through the entrance. This was a sign to those around you that you were mourning. Maybe we should try that when we get back to church.

My hope and prayer is that the walls and masks and barriers we build don’t get in the way of allowing the body of Christ to care for each other.

As we are loved for who we are and whose we are, may we do the same with those we are called to love. And if you need a definition of that, Jesus made it clear – love one another as I have loved you!

During these difficult days, we may need to work a bit harder.

 

Let us Pray: