Psalm 139:7 NKJV
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
The God Who Won’t Let Go
MY NOTES
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Psalm 139:7 NKJV
Have you ever tried to have a “moment to yourself” only to realize your own thoughts followed you right into the room? We often try to escape; escape stress, escape our past, or even escape God when we’re feeling guilty or overwhelmed. We look for a “God-free zone” where we can just be “us.”
In Psalm 139:7, King David asks a question that sounds like he’s looking for the exit door, but he’s actually marveling at the fact that there isn’t one. He realizes that he is permanently, beautifully, and inescapably surrounded.
The Heart of the Matter: No Exit, No Problem
David isn’t asking this because he wants to hide. As Spurgeon points out, David doesn’t wish to avoid the power of divine life; he is simply stating a staggering fact: “Jehovah is omnipresent to me.”
Think about that. God isn’t just “everywhere” in a general, cosmic sense. He is “everywhere” in a personal sense.
- The Spirit within us: He is the Maker who upholds our souls.
- The Face before us: In Hebrew, the word for “presence” is literally “face.” To be in God’s presence is to be face-to-face with Him.
For the person trying to run away from God (like Jonah on a boat), this is a “fearful thought.” You can’t find a spot in the universe where a holy God isn’t looking. But for the person who loves Him, this is the ultimate comfort. It means that whether you are in a boardroom, a hospital bed, a crowded subway, or the loneliest corner of your house, you are never, ever alone.
The All-Surrounding Deity
John Mason once said that God’s presence shows up differently depending on where you are: His glory is in heaven, His power is on earth, and His grace is with His people.
We often think we need to “travel” to get to God—to a certain building or a certain state of mind. But David reminds us that “neither by patient travel nor by hasty flight” can we withdraw from Him. We are as near to God as our soul is to our body. He is the “all-surrounding Deity.” He isn’t just watching us from a distance; He is “within ourselves.”
When we understand this, it changes how we live. If His face is always before us, then every act of kindness is done before His throne, and every secret sin is committed to His face. This truth brings a healthy “awe” back into our daily walk.
Key Takeaways
- The Personal Application: Don’t just say “God is everywhere.” Say, “God is ever around me.” Make His omnipresence personal.
- A Double-Edged Sword: God’s constant presence is a warning to the rebellious (you can’t hide) but a profound hug to the hurting (you aren’t alone).
- The Face of Grace: In the New Covenant, we see the “face” of God in Jesus Christ. We don’t flee from Him; we flee to Him as our only refuge.
- Closer Than Breath: You don’t have to go anywhere to find God. He is as near to you as your own spirit.
Cross References (NKJV)
1 Kings 8:27
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”
Isaiah 40:13
“Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?”
Jeremiah 23:24
“‘Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord.”
Acts 17:27–28
“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
Prayer
Abba, it is a staggering thought that I can never find a spot where You are not. When I am lonely, remind me that You are the Spirit within me. When I am tempted to stray, remind me that I am standing at the foot of Your throne. Thank You that I don’t have to climb a mountain or cross an ocean to find Your face. Thank You for being the God who follows me, stays with me, and refuses to let me go. I surrender to Your all-surrounding presence today. I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Things to Think About
- The “Flight” Check: Is there an area of your life—a habit, a secret, or a worry—that you’ve been trying to “hide” from God? How does knowing He is already there change your desire to hide?
- The “Grace” Presence: John Mason spoke of God’s “gracious presence” with His people. Recall a moment this week where you felt God’s grace specifically. Where were you?
- The Constant Companion: If you lived today fully aware that you are “as near to God as your soul is to your body,” what is one thing you would do differently?
Proverb for Today
Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great; For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. Proverbs 25:6-7 NKJV.
Daily Scripture
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
Commentators emphasize God’s omnipresence in Psalm 139:7, noting that escape from the Divine Spirit is impossible. Spurgeon highlights that God is as near to us as our own souls, making secret sin impossible. While terrifying to the rebellious, Barnes and Gill explain that this truth provides immense comfort to believers, ensuring they are never beyond God’s gracious reach. Ultimately, God’s presence fills the entire universe, sustaining all life and offering an inescapable refuge.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
Here, omnipresence is the theme, a truth to which omniscience naturally leads up. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit?” Not that the Psalmist wished to go from God, or to avoid the power of the divine life; but he asks this question to set forth the fact that no one can escape from the all-pervading being and observation of the Great Invisible Spirit. Observe how the writer makes the matter personal to himself—”Whither shall I go?” It were well if we all thus applied truth to our own cases. It were wise for each one to say—The spirit of the Lord is ever around me: Jehovah is omnipresent to me.
“Or whither spirit I flee from thy presence?” If, full of dread, I hastened to escape from that nearness of God which had become my terror, which way could I turn? “Whither?” “Whither?” He repeats his cry. No answer comes back to him. The reply to his first “Whither?” is its echo,—a second “Whither?” From the sight of God, he cannot be hidden, but that is not all,—from the immediate, actual, constant presence of God, he cannot be withdrawn. We must be, whether we will it or not, as near to God as our soul is to our body. This makes it dreadful work to sin; for we offend the Almighty to his face, and commit acts of treason at the very foot of his throne. Go from him, or flee from him, we cannot: neither by patient travel nor by hasty flight can we withdraw from the all-surrounding Deity. His mind is in our mind; himself within ourselves. His spirit is over our spirit; our presence is ever in his presence.
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Enduring Word
Where can I go from Your Spirit: David considered the truth that God is present everywhere, and there is no corner or dimension of the universe hidden from Him. Heaven isn’t too high, and hell isn’t too low; God is everywhere. (Guzik)
i. “Here he argueth God’s omniscience from his omnipresence.” (Trapp)
ii. “The psalmist is not trying to evade God, but he further amplifies that God’s knowledge is beyond the ability of humans to grasp. The knowledge or discernment of God can never be limited to any particular place, because God’s sovereignty extends to the whole created universe.” (VanGemeren)
iii. “The Psalmist speaks of God as a Person everywhere present in creation, yet distinct from creation. In these verses, he says, ‘Thy spirit…thy presence…thou art there…thy hand…thy right hand…darkness hideth not from thee.’ God is everywhere, but he is not everything.” (Jones, cited in Spurgeon)
Your Spirit?…. Your presence? David probably did not have a deep understanding of Trinitarian theology, but by the inspiration of God, he spoke of God’s Spirit as an essential aspect of His being and presence. (Guzik)
i. From Your presence: “Mippaneycha, ‘from thy faces.’ Why do we meet with this word so frequently in the plural number when applied to God? And why have we his Spirit, and his appearances or faces, both here? A Trinitarian would at once say, ‘The plurality of persons in the Godhead is intended;’ and who can prove that he is mistaken?” (Clarke)
ii. “The presence of God’s glory is in heaven; the presence of his power on earth; the presence of his justice in hell; and the presence of his grace with his people.” (Mason, cited in Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? – Where shall I go where thy spirit is not; that is, where thou art not; where there is no God. The word “spirit” here does not refer particularly to the Holy Spirit, but to God “as” a spirit. “Whither shall I go from the all-pervading Spirit – from God, considered as a spirit?” This is a clear statement that God is a “Spirit” (compare John 4:24) and that, as a spirit, he is Omnipresent.
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? – Hebrew, From his face; that is, where he will not be, and will not see me. I cannot find a place – a spot in the universe, where there is not a God, and the same God. Fearful thought to those that hate him – that, much as they may wish or desire it, they can never find a place where there is not a holy God! Comforting to those that love him – that they will never be where they may not find a God – their God; that nowhere, at home or abroad, on land or on the ocean, on earth or above the stars, they will ever reach a world where they will not be in the presence of that God – that gracious Father – who can defend, comfort, guide, and sustain them.
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John Gill
Whither shall I go from thy spirit?…. Or, “from thy wind?” which some interpret literally, the wind being God’s creature; which he brings out of his treasures, and holds in his fists, and disposes of as he pleases; this takes its circuit through all the points of the heavens, and blows everywhere, more or less. Rather God himself is meant, who is a Spirit, John 4:24 not a body, or consisting of corporeal parts, which are only ascribed to him in a figurative sense; and who has something analogous to spirit, being simple and uncompounded, invisible, incorruptible, immaterial, and immortal; but is different from all other spirits, being uncreated, eternal, infinite, and immense; so that there is no going from him, as to be out of his sight; nor to any place out of his reach, nor from his wrath and justice, nor so as to escape his righteous judgment. It may signify his all-conscious mind, his all-comprehending understanding and knowledge, which reaches to all persons, places, and things; compare Isaiah 40:13; with Romans 11:34; though it seems best of all to understand it of the third Person, the blessed Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and the Son; and who is possessed of the same perfections, of omniscience, omnipresence, and immensity, as they are; who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and pervades them all; and is the Maker of all men, and is present with them to uphold their souls in life, and there is no going from him; particularly he is in all believers, and dwells with them; nor do they desire to go from him, but deprecate his departure from them;
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? which is everywhere, for God’s presence is omnipresence; his powerful presence and providence are with all his creatures, to support and uphold them in being; he is not far from, but near to them; in him they live, move, and have their being: and so there is no fleeing from him or that; and as to his gracious presence, which is with all his people, in all places at the same time; they do not desire to flee from it, but always to have it; and are concerned for it, if at any time it is removed from them, as to their apprehension of it. Or, “from thy face”; that is, from Christ, who is the face of Jehovah; the image of the invisible God, the express image of his person, in whom all the perfections of God are displayed; and such a likeness, that he that has seen the one has seen the other; he is the Angel of his face or presence, and who always appears before him, and in whom he is seen. Now there is no fleeing from him, for he is everywhere; where God is, his face is: and a sensible sinner desires to flee to him, and not from him; for there is no other refuge to flee unto for life and salvation but to him; and gracious souls desire to be always with him now, and hope to be for ever with him hereafter; they seek him, the face of God, now, and expect to see it more clearly in the world to come.
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Matthew Henry
No flight can remove us out of God’s presence: “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, from thy presence, that is, from thy spiritual presence, from thyself, who art a Spirit?” God is a Spirit, and therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him, he cannot see us: Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Not that he desired to go away from God; no, he desired nothing more than to be near him; but he only puts the case, “Suppose I should be so foolish as to think of getting out of thy sight, that I might shake off the awe of thee, suppose I should think of revolting from my obedience to thee, or of disowning a dependence on thee and of shifting for myself, alas! Whither can I go?” A heathen could say, Quocunque te flexeris, ibi Deum videbis occurrentem tibi-Whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou wilt see God meeting thee. Seneca. He specifies the most remote and distant places, and counts upon meeting God in them.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit?” That is, either from thee, who art a spirit, and so canst pierce and penetrate me; be as truly and essentially in the very bowels and marrow of my soul, as my soul is intimately and essentially in my body: “from thy spirit;” that is, from thy knowledge and thy power; thy knowledge to detect and observe me, thy power to uphold or crush me.
—Ezekiel Hopkins, 1633-1690.
We may elude the vigilance of a human enemy and place ourselves beyond his reach. God fills all space—there is not a spot in which his piercing eye is not on us, and his uplifted hand cannot find us out. Man must strike soon if he would strike at all; for opportunities pass away from him, and his victim may escape his vengeance by death. There is no passing of opportunity with God, and it is this which makes his long suffering a solemn thing. God can wait, for he has a whole eternity before him in which he may strike. “All things are open and naked to him with whom we have to do.”
—Frederick William Robertson, 1816-1853.
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