Where Can I Hide?

Read Ps 139

God knows us completely! This psalm says it so well. “You have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise.” David, the Psalmist. is very impressed. God knows everything, and it’s amazing when you think about it: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (v 6).

But there’s something uncomfortable about this, too. David asks, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v 7). Yes. But why would you want to go? Why would you want to run away?

It’s part of human nature to hide. Sometimes it’s fun to hide. Young children enjoy hiding. Hide-and-seek is fun. Older children learn about secrets.

But sometimes we hide for darker reasons. Who were the first people in the Bible to hide? Adam and Eve. Why did they hide? Because they went against God’s way. But it was a waste of time to hide. God searched them and knew them. You can’t hide from God.

Sometimes people hope for darkness, to hide their actions from other people. In the cafe where we meet, there are cameras to record everyone’s activity. At night, the cameras see body heat. Do you feel safe, or do you feel threatened? It depends on trust. Do you trust the people who installed the cameras and why they did it?

With God, there is no escape. “Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (v12). But does the Psalmist really want to escape?

No: David trusts. For David, it’s a blessing. “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” (v 10).

There is no way to escape from God, but we don’t have to escape from God. In fact, we don’t want to escape from God. God’s Spirit is good.

But we are not always good.God knows us better than we know ourselves. So we should pray to God as David does in this psalm. He asks God to keep searching him.“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (v 23). We ask God to help us with insight. Sometimes God may see things that aren’t worthy. In that case, we can pray to God to let us know, too. We can’t hide from God, but sometimes our mind will hide things from ourselves. God can shine a light! With David, let’s pray, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (v 24).