If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. Psalm 139:8-10, GNT

 

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:14, GNT

 

If the concept of God as almighty or all-knowing is difficult to comprehend, the idea that he is omnipresent is even more difficult to understand for me. The word is not used as such in the Bible, but we can clearly derive it from various scriptures in the Bible.

 

My old Penguin English Dictionary defines omnipresent as: “present everywhere at once”. An internet search gave basically the same meaning for the word. When I narrowed the search to ask what it means that God is omnipresent, I found the following: “Since God's power and knowledge extend to all parts of his creation, he himself is present everywhere. God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means his divine presence encompasses the whole of the universe”. This is a very difficult concept to grapple with.

 

The poet of this Psalm describes God’s omnipresence beautifully. To him, God is not only present everywhere in the here and now, but he reaches beyond all boundaries to that which is still hidden from us, like heaven and the world of the dead. It is evident that time and space in the here and now are also important, as conveyed by the scripture portion, “If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.” Heaven or death, east or west; even if I do not really understand how it can be, the Bible tells me that God is always very close to me.

 

How close you may ask. The Gospel according to John tells us: “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us.”

 

Prayer: Dear Lord, we want to pray the words of a song that says, ‘God is always near me, hearing what I say, knowing all my thoughts and deeds, all my work and play. God is always near me; in the darkest night. He can see me just the same as by mid-day light.’ Thank you, Lord, for being so near to us every moment of every day. Amen