Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psalm 139:7 turns David’s meditation on God’s perfect knowledge into two questions about His presence. The LORD has searched and known him, understood his thoughts, observed all his ways, and known every word connected with his tongue (vv.1-4). Such knowledge is too wonderful for David and too high for him to attain unto (v.6). He now asks whether any place could remove him from God Himself. Verses 8-10 answer the questions: heaven, hell, and the uttermost parts of the sea cannot place David beyond Him. This is prayerful meditation spoken directly before God, teaching the worshipper to stand in awe of the One from whose Spirit and presence no creature can escape.
“Whither shall I go.” The question expects the answer, nowhere. David is not asking for directions to a place beyond God. He is confessing that no such place exists. The word “whither” concerns destination. Where could he go that God would no longer be there? This follows naturally from the opening verses. If God knows David’s sitting, rising, thoughts, paths, lying down, ways, and words, changing location cannot defeat that knowledge. Distance may separate men from one another, but it cannot separate a creature from his Creator. Jonah could flee from the command of the LORD toward Tarshish, but he could not move beyond God’s rule or sight (Jonah 1:1-4).
This truth should correct the foolish thought that a change of place can create freedom from God. Men may leave home, church, family, familiar restraints, or human witnesses and imagine themselves less observed. David destroys that confidence. Wherever the feet go, God is already there.
“From thy spirit?” David names God’s spirit as that from which he cannot go. He does not describe a created messenger who may be left behind. He speaks directly to God: “thy spirit.” The next question joins this with “thy presence,” so the verse confesses God Himself as inescapably present. God asked through Jeremiah, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?” and then declared that no man can hide in secret places where He cannot see him, for He fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24). God’s Spirit is not limited by walls, distance, darkness, nations, oceans, or the limits that bind creatures.
This is fearful to the wicked and comforting to the righteous. Secret sin has no place outside divine observation, but neither can affliction carry a saint beyond God. Joseph was far from his father’s house, yet “the LORD was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2). Paul could stand nearly alone before earthly judges and still testify, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (II Timothy 4:17). Distance from men is not distance from God.
“Or whither shall I flee.” The second question is stronger. David moves from going to fleeing. A man flees when he wants urgently to get away, yet even determined flight cannot succeed against God’s presence. Adam and Eve learned this in the beginning. After they sinned, they hid themselves among the trees of the garden from the presence of the LORD God, but God called unto Adam and exposed what they had done (Genesis 3:8-13). Their hiding place concealed them neither from His knowledge nor from His judgment.
The question therefore presses the conscience. Why flee from the One before whom every place is open? Better to flee unto Him than from Him. David elsewhere prayed, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast” (Psalm 57:1). The God from whom no sinner can escape is the very God in whom the saint should seek refuge.
“From thy presence?” This gives the final object of the attempted flight. David is considering whether he could cease to stand before God. The answer supplied by the following verses is absolute. If he ascends to heaven, God is there. If he makes his bed in hell, God is there. If he takes the wings of the morning and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, God’s hand still leads and holds him (vv.8-10).
God’s presence is therefore not confined to the sanctuary or to places men call religious. David worshipped in the house of God, but the God he worshipped was not contained there. Solomon confessed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (I Kings 8:27). The New Testament gives the same truth when Paul told the Athenians that God is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:27-28). Every breath, step, secret, labor, prayer, and sin occurs in His presence.
Jesus Christ reveals this same divine presence. He said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). While the man Christ Jesus spoke on earth, in His Godhead He was in heaven. He also promised His disciples, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). His divine presence is not limited by earthly distance.
Do not try to hide from the God who already knows and sees you. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” (v.23). Live every place before His face, flee to Him for refuge, and let His inescapable presence make you both fearful of sin and confident in prayer.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psalm 139:7 turns David’s meditation on God’s perfect knowledge into two questions about His presence. The LORD has searched and known him, understood his thoughts, observed all his ways, and known every word connected with his tongue (vv.1-4). Such knowledge is too wonderful for David and too high for him to attain unto (v.6). He now asks whether any place could remove him from God Himself. Verses 8-10 answer the questions: heaven, hell, and the uttermost parts of the sea cannot place David beyond Him. This is prayerful meditation spoken directly before God, teaching the worshipper to stand in awe of the One from whose Spirit and presence no creature can escape.
“Whither shall I go.” The question expects the answer, nowhere. David is not asking for directions to a place beyond God. He is confessing that no such place exists. The word “whither” concerns destination. Where could he go that God would no longer be there? This follows naturally from the opening verses. If God knows David’s sitting, rising, thoughts, paths, lying down, ways, and words, changing location cannot defeat that knowledge. Distance may separate men from one another, but it cannot separate a creature from his Creator. Jonah could flee from the command of the LORD toward Tarshish, but he could not move beyond God’s rule or sight (Jonah 1:1-4).
This truth should correct the foolish thought that a change of place can create freedom from God. Men may leave home, church, family, familiar restraints, or human witnesses and imagine themselves less observed. David destroys that confidence. Wherever the feet go, God is already there.
“From thy spirit?” David names God’s spirit as that from which he cannot go. He does not describe a created messenger who may be left behind. He speaks directly to God: “thy spirit.” The next question joins this with “thy presence,” so the verse confesses God Himself as inescapably present. God asked through Jeremiah, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?” and then declared that no man can hide in secret places where He cannot see him, for He fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24). God’s Spirit is not limited by walls, distance, darkness, nations, oceans, or the limits that bind creatures.
This is fearful to the wicked and comforting to the righteous. Secret sin has no place outside divine observation, but neither can affliction carry a saint beyond God. Joseph was far from his father’s house, yet “the LORD was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2). Paul could stand nearly alone before earthly judges and still testify, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (II Timothy 4:17). Distance from men is not distance from God.
“Or whither shall I flee.” The second question is stronger. David moves from going to fleeing. A man flees when he wants urgently to get away, yet even determined flight cannot succeed against God’s presence. Adam and Eve learned this in the beginning. After they sinned, they hid themselves among the trees of the garden from the presence of the LORD God, but God called unto Adam and exposed what they had done (Genesis 3:8-13). Their hiding place concealed them neither from His knowledge nor from His judgment.
The question therefore presses the conscience. Why flee from the One before whom every place is open? Better to flee unto Him than from Him. David elsewhere prayed, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast” (Psalm 57:1). The God from whom no sinner can escape is the very God in whom the saint should seek refuge.
“From thy presence?” This gives the final object of the attempted flight. David is considering whether he could cease to stand before God. The answer supplied by the following verses is absolute. If he ascends to heaven, God is there. If he makes his bed in hell, God is there. If he takes the wings of the morning and dwells in the uttermost parts of the sea, God’s hand still leads and holds him (vv.8-10).
God’s presence is therefore not confined to the sanctuary or to places men call religious. David worshipped in the house of God, but the God he worshipped was not contained there. Solomon confessed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (I Kings 8:27). The New Testament gives the same truth when Paul told the Athenians that God is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:27-28). Every breath, step, secret, labor, prayer, and sin occurs in His presence.
Jesus Christ reveals this same divine presence. He said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). While the man Christ Jesus spoke on earth, in His Godhead He was in heaven. He also promised His disciples, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). His divine presence is not limited by earthly distance.
Do not try to hide from the God who already knows and sees you. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” (v.23). Live every place before His face, flee to Him for refuge, and let His inescapable presence make you both fearful of sin and confident in prayer.