Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #12 God’s OMNIPRESENCE!

As we continue our brief exploration of some of God’s attributes revealed to us in the Scriptures, we come to His omni-attributes. “Omni” means all. His omnipresence means He is not limited by space.  His omniscience means His knowledge is not limited in any way.  His omnipotence means He is able to do all things consistent with His nature as God.

Let’s consider His omnipresence.  “Wherever there is a where, God is there,” says the noted theologian Millard Erickson.  It is true that sometimes God’s presence is difficult to discern.  We’ve noticed in a previous post that occasionally God hides Himself.  And there is the experience of what some call “the dark night of the soul” when He appears to have abandoned His child.

What verses in Scripture indicate God’s omnipresence?  Here are a few:

Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the LORD “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.

1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Psalm 139:3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?

Jeremiah 23:23-24 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?

Acts 17:27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Job 34:21 “For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps.

What can be learned from these verses about God’s OMNIPRESENCE?

1. We can’t hide from the Lord! There is no hiding place which excludes His presence!

2. His omnipresence implies His omniscience. HIs “eyes” are in every place. He sees both the evil and the good. We are to pray to our Father “who is in secret” and He will reward us!

“I can’t run fast enough to flee from God!”

3. He is not “contained” or limited by space. If I am in one place, I can’t be in another. God isn’t confined in that way.

4. His presence (especially in the difficult matter of church discipline – Mt. 18:20) ought to encourage us to do what is honoring to Him.

5. There is no escape from the Lord. The fastest runner in the world (Usain Bolt) can’t get away from the Lord!

6. Our tiny houses (churches) don’t contain God!

7. His omnipresence ought to encourage lost people to search for Him.

We don’t need to “invite” the Lord to our church meetings.  He is there before we arrive.  A better prayer might be, “Lord, make us aware of Your presence with us.”  How might you become aware of God’s presence with you today?

 

 

Jonah — Belief Contradicted by Behavior! (Part 4)

Preaching against a culture’s wickedness is a dangerous thing.  Jonah’s response to the Lord’s call is to FLEE.  His fleeing, as we learn later in the book, is not because he feared persecution from the Ninevites, but their repentance at the message of judgment!

Repentance seems to be a lost factor in today’s conversions to Christianity.   When we reduce salvation down to merely a simple affirmation of certain propositions, we reduce Christianity to an intellectual perspective instead of a total life change.

“But Jonah ran away from the Lord . . .”  Here’s a map showing Jonah’s apostasy:

Geography was never my strong suit in high school. Or college. Or life. But this map makes it crystal clear that Jonah was taking the most direct route away from the Lord!

Jonah’s non-verbal response to the Lord’s command raises an important question for me:  Is there any evidence in my life of my trying to flee from the omnipresent God?  What is the Tarshish in my life? (to be continued)

 

 

 

 

Psalms of the Salter: Some Thoughts on Really Living for the Lord: Psalm 139

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 139)

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 125)

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people
    both now and forevermore.

³ The scepter of the wicked will not remain
    over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
    their hands to do evil.

⁴ Lord, do good to those who are good,
    to those who are upright in heart.
⁵ But those who turn to crooked ways
    the Lord will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel.

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 119): Part 19

ק Qoph

¹⁴⁵ I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord,
    and I will obey your decrees.
¹⁴⁶ I call out to you; save me
    and I will keep your statutes.
¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help;
    I have put my hope in your word.
¹⁴⁸ My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
    that I may meditate on your promises.
¹⁴⁹ Hear my voice in accordance with your love;
    preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.
¹⁵⁰ Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
    but they are far from your law.
¹⁵¹ Yet you are near, Lord,
    and all your commands are true.
¹⁵² Long ago I learned from your statutes
    that you established them to last forever.

Do we only have God’s number on speed-dial?