God had promised Abram (He had not yet changed Abram’s name to Abraham.) a seed yet Sarai, his wife, was barren. She schemed to secure that seed through Hagar, her maid, by giving her to Abram. When Hagar conceived, Sarai dealt harshly with her and Hagar fled into the wilderness. There God spoke to her and instructed her to go back to Sarai and submit to her. She would bear Abram a son and his name would be Ishmael. It was there in the wilderness that Hagar “called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13). It was there in the wilderness that Hagar came to know the omnipresent God, i.e. the God who is everywhere at all times.
David, the great warrior-king, was overwhelmed by this particular attribute of God. He wrote “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 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. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psalm 139:7-12). It is, indeed, an awesome thought to comprehend that God ever watches over me!
Understand that God’s presence everywhere is not pantheism. The idea behind pantheism is essentially all things are God. That is not the God of the Bible. God created the trees, but he is not the trees. The Creator stands apart from his creation. Yet, he is present in all places at all times. There is no place where we can go that he is not there. The implications of this truth are staggering. For example, he sees our troubles. When he sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, he said to Moses “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7). How comforting to know that the God of all comfort sees my difficulties and is present to see me through them.
But his presence has other implications as well. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, God sent Nathan, the prophet, to him. Nathan asked David “Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?” (II Samuel 12:9) God sees our sins – every one of them! The writer of Hebrews records “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). Yes, God sees all of our lives and doings. For the child of God this can bring great comfort and aid in difficult times. But for those whose sins are not under the blood of Christ, their works shall be judged by the One who has seen them all.
From the Chaplain 