Omnipresent

When I was a junior officer attending Infantry Officers Basic Course (IOBC), we sponsored foreign military officers. Some of those officers were married Muslims who were quite happy to be in America and to engage in all kinds of immoral activity. When asked why they were getting intoxicated and frequenting strip clubs when they had wives back home and strict rules against consuming alcohol, their answers were quite revealing.  “Allah cannot see us.  He is not present here.” They firmly believed that only in their own country were they visible and accountable for their behavior.  Their Allah was a god with limitations.

H​Meditation
Jeremiah 23:23,24--“Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”—the Lord’s declaration.
 
One of Yahweh’s incommunicable, absolute attributes is His omnipresence.[1] He is “present everywhere at the same time,” not confined to heaven, unrestricted by the Laws of Physics, and able to observe all activity everywhere.[2]  That is not something we can easily believe or understand in our finite, limited existence with no human counterpart. Yet it is a powerful truth Scripture reveals about God.
           
King Solomon wrote, “But will God indeed live on earth with man? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built” (2 Chronicles 6:18). His father David, asked, “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there” (Psalm 139:7,8).
           
Knowing this about God should warn us that He always sees our conduct and attitude. We are always accountable. Yet, it also should encourage us that we are never alone. God is beside us even when we are lonely, discouraged, troubled, or defeated. We cry out for help, believing He hears our cry. This is why worship is so powerful. When we praise Him, we acknowledge His presence. Why praise Him if He cannot hear us?  J.I. Packer stated, “Living becomes an awesome business when you realize that you spend every moment of your life in the sight and company of an omniscient, omnipresent Creator.” Catherine Marshall observed, “When life hands us situations we cannot understand, we have one or two choices.  We can wallow in misery, separated from God. Or we can tell Him, I need You and Your presence in my life more than I need understanding.”
 
Inspiration
“The sense and remembrance of the divine presence is the most ready and effectual means both to discover what is unlawful and to restrain us from it.”—Henry Scougal in The Life of God in the Soul of Man

©2024 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)


[1] Erickson, M. (1985). Christian theology. Baker Book House.
[2] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/omnipresent