Omnipresence

I skipped sending a devotional to you last week. Some weeks I am too busy to do one. Also, I do not want to overload you with e-mail. Some of you get so much e-mail that these devotionals could become just one more thing to read, which could in turn reduce their effectiveness.

My thoughts today are upon the omnipresence of God, that attribute of God that makes God present everywhere at all times. The Psalmist David describes this attribute of God in the following verses.

Psalms 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 ¶Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

David begins by dealing with God’s omniscience, the fact that God knows everything. Then he blends the thought of God’s omniscience with the thought of God’s omnipresence. It follows that if God is everywhere all the time, then God always knows everything that is happening, because He is there to see it happening. Because God is everywhere all the time, there is no place I can get away from Him. And since He is everywhere at all times, there is nothing I can think, say, or do that He is not aware of. It is as God said in Jeremiah 23:24:

Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

The awareness that God is present everywhere should have two effects on us. First, as children of God for Whom God cares as our heavenly Father, it should bring us great comfort to know that God is omnipresent. Since God is everywhere all the time, God is always there to help and relieve us. We are never beyond God’s reach in any place or situation we may be in. Wherever we are, God is there. But it is also true that wherever our enemies are, God is also there to restrain them. Our security lies in the fact that God is everywhere at all times.

And God’s omnipresence should have another effect upon us. It should serve as a deterrent to sin and a motive to obedience. Whenever you are tempted to sin, consider that God is right there watching your thoughts, hearing your words, and seeing your actions. How many sins we would avoid if we more diligently maintained an awareness of God’s presence! Are there sins that you commit that you would not commit if you knew that your brethren or your pastor were watching? If so, then why do you commit them when God is watching? Is God less than your brethren or your pastor? Or is it that you do not really believe God is present everywhere at all times watching everything you do? Just remember this:

Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

We do well to continually remind ourselves as did righteous Job.

Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

The fact that sin is committed in the very presence of God makes it all the worse. Observe how the prophet Nathan charged David with his sin:

2 Samuel 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

What David did, he did in the sight of God. When David confessed his sin, he acknowledged that he had sinned in God’s sight, which served to justify God’s verdict against him.

Psalms 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

How does one claim innocence before the person that was there and saw him commit the crime?

The awareness that God is ever present seeing all we think, say, and do, should spur us to avoid sin and obey God’s commandments. This is just the effect this awareness had on the Psalmist.

Psalms 119:168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.

I close with this reminder: God is everywhere at all times; yea, God is here right now watching me as I write this and watching you as you read it. Be aware and beware!