His Precious Thoughts (of you)

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 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. (Psalm 139:7-10 NIV)

Last week I highlighted the Father’s intimate and perfect knowledge of us. He knows us because he created us. He created us because he wanted us to be his family, living in unity and being like his son, Jesus.

We live in a fallen world and that has caused there to be separation between us and our Creator. In fact, in the garden we were pulled away from him through the lies of the enemy.

Because of this separation the question in verse 7 “Where can I flee from your presence?” is often rooted in fear. There is fear of judgement or punishment and that causes us, like Adam and Eve, to want to run and hide. We think we might be able to find a dark corner where the Father won’t be able to find us. As the Psalmist reminds us, there is no place to hide.

Shame, guilt and condemnation try to force us away from his presence into a place where we think we can be safe. We can’t hide. Our Father will seek us and draw us into the light of his presence. He does so, not to judge but because of his love for us.

We can respond to this question out of fear or we can respond with to love. As we respond to love we discover that the Father’s love is all embracing and that it is a secure place for us to step into. There is no fear in love. In responding to love we discover that not only does he know us, but we are known by him. A deeply intimate knowledge which reflects his care of us and his love for us.

As you mediate on this Psalm can I encourage you to see how precious his thoughts of you really are.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! (V17)