Please read
Psalm 139:7-12
After acknowledging
and praising God’s omniscience in the first six verses of Psalm 139, David extols
God’s omnipresence in the next six verses. He writes, “Where
shall I go from your Ruwach (Spirit)? Or where shall I flee from your paniym (presence)? (v. 7)” Most English Bible versions correctly use the words ‘Spirit’
and ‘presence’ coming to verse 7, but
let’s take a look at the Hebrew words Ruwach
or Ruah and paniym. Ruwach means wind
or breath. In Genesis 1:2 Ruwach is used when we are introduced to
God the Holy Spirit. Just as wind is everywhere on the earth, God the Holy
Spirit is everywhere, i.e., omnipresent.
Paniym is an interesting
word. It means face. In Numbers, God commands (“you shall”) Aaron to
bless the Israelites by saying “24 The Lord bless
you and keep you; 25 the Lord make
his face (paniym) to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon
you and give you peace.”(Numbers 6:24-26) Basically,
David is writing in ‘where can I flee
from your face/presence God?’
Yet beginning
with Adam, people have tried to avoid the face of God. Jonah is probably the
best example - Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the paniym of
the Lord. (Jonah 1:3). Francis Thompson in his great poem* describes God’s pursuit of the human soul. While man tries to hide or runaway, the truth
is - God has been seeking man since Adam’s rebellion- “The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”(Genesis
3:9).
People
run from God because they are scared, hurt (by others, but blame God), proud,
rebellious, or believing to know what is best for them. When they run away,
they miss God’s spiritual blessings but they can never escape the truth, and
blessings of His Love, which are evident on the Cross. So let’s turn away from our feeble attempts
of running away or hiding from God, and turn to Jesus and be the salt and light
for Jesus and His Gospel.
Blessed God, I thank you that you are with me all
the time, and one day I will see you face to Face because of Jesus. Until then
guide me with Your Spirit and continually cleanse me with the blood of Jesus.
In His Name I pray. Amen.
* Poem http://www.bartleby.com/236/239.html
and the late Richard Burton’s reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr-CkuGUI7c
Looking forward to that face to face with great anticipation & trying to stay focused on our current face to face in our temporal experience with God the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDelete