We have an account of one Biblical writer's attempt to escape from God, and what happened. This account is in Ps. 139. It is a good place to begin a study of the God of the Bible, because it will keep us from becoming "sentimental" about him.
God has come too close to this writer, who is terrified by the thought that the Lord of heaven and earth is very near. If you have a friend who can "see right through you" when you are bluffing, and who knows you almost too well, you can get a dim notion of how the writer felt, for he had discovered that God knew him all too well: "There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether" (v. 4). A rather unpleasant situation!
And so, since God's nearness makes him squirm, he decides to put a lot of distance between himself and God. This is what people invariably do when the living God gets too close. (It is only the "tame" gods that we manufacture ourselves in whose presence we can remain comfortable.) For the living God makes demands. So the psalmist imagines four ways of escape: 1. He will "ascend up into heaven," seeking refuge, apparently, in a world that is so well-ordered that God will become unnecessary, a veritable "heaven" of his own imagination.
But it doesn't work. God is there.
2. So he decides to make his bed in Sheol, "the pit," the one place he can be sure God won't be.
But, worse luck, God is there, right where he has no business being!
3. The writer is panicky now, so he decides to run away, to the ends of the earth, "the uttermost parts of the sea." God won't be able to keep pace with him. He'll outwit God yet!
No luck. God is there ahead of him.
4. Finally, he decides to take cover under "darkness." Once more, God finds him.
No exit. No escape.
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