From the garden of Eden to the great restoration of the last days, men and women have attempted to hide themselves from God, seeking safety and avoidance of the consequences of sin due to those who think, speak, and act contrary to God’s good design.
We first find this in the garden following the initial sin of Adam and Eve. After seeking their own pleasure, satisfaction, and authority, they felt the onset of conviction over their sin. Their solution to this sense of wrongdoing was to hide from the One who made them, loved them, and had given them the instructions they rebelled against. No surprise to us, God knew where they were. He drew them out of their hiding and confronted them in their attempts to hide their sin.
Even in the last days, this effort to hide from God won’t be successful. In Revelation 6 as the seals are being opened, verse 15 speaks of kings, nobles, generals, rich, powerful, slaves, and free people hiding in caves and among the rocks as the wrath of God for sin becomes more and more imminent. In an effort to hide from God, they run for cover hoping they can escape the looming punishment. In the subsequent chapters of this apocalyptic letter, that coming wrath is revealed against the ungodly and their hiding proves to be to no avail.
Reading these accounts of people seeking to hide from God brings to light at least two very important truths. First, we cannot hide from God. There is nowhere we can go in His creation that He will not be aware of. Second, God knows not just where we are, but every other detail of who we are as well.
In light of this, Psalm 139 provides the most freeing of assurances to our failed attempts to hide, giving the reader a beautiful understanding of the sovereignty of God and the value of every human life. Not only is there no where we can go to hide from God, but every other detail of our lives is known to Him, and even determined and directed by Him.
The next time you are tempted to hide from God because of sin, guilt, or shame, remember these central truths. There is nowhere you can go to flee from God. He knows you better than you know yourself. And He wants you to accept that, willingly confess your sin to Him, and trust that He is gracious and merciful to forgive His children because of His Son, Jesus.
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