He’s Still There

He’s Still There (by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)

Psalm 139:9-10

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy Right Hand shall hold me.

When I was growing up, our family would gather at the kitchen table for our meals, and we each had our place at the table. My mom and dad would sit across from each other at the rectangular table, and my sister and I would sit across from each other. Of course there was the usual under the table kicking, and above the table annoying that went on between her and I, but my mom and dad would only let it go so far before stopping it.

I remember a time when I must have been particularly annoying to my sister, and as I looked at her she put her hand up in front of her face, and told me to stop looking at her, and that she didn’t see me anymore. My dad, in all of his great wisdom, calmly said to her, “But he’s still there.” Her response was a bit of a smile as well as the remark that she didn’t care.

How many times we treat the presence of God in our lives the same way? Instead of putting our hand in front of our face, we use the circumstances we find ourselves in as a “barrier” so God doesn’t see us. The verse above mentions those circumstances as the “wings of the morning,” which are the particularly high times in our lives; times when we feel as if we “got this” and really don’t need God to guide us. To “dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea” represent those times when we are tempted to ask God where He is, that we don’t sense His presence.

Notice the words “if I take.” Most of the time when we feel like we must hide from God, it is because we have taken something to ourselves that we should not have done.

But the next verse assures us that “even there” He is present to lead me, and His “Right Hand shall hold me.” The “Right Hand” of God represents His never ending power which is always strong enough to go with us in the darkness. We must remember that no matter how we try to hide from God, “He’s still there…”