You Can Run (or can you?), but You Can't Hide
Another installment of vacation thoughts.
It was a beautiful night to play outside our cabin. It was like I was a child again playing the ball game SPUD and Hide and Seek.
The Hide and Seek game brought back memories of playing at our neighbor's house "Ollie, Ollie in come free!" yet the current reality of being a 41 year old overweight adult became very evident. There really wasn't many places for me to hide, and I definitely could not run too well. There were a few big rocks, but my family used them first. (I did manage to find some big trees near the playground we played at later in the week.)
It reminded me of the passage in my Psalm 139 (my favorite Psalm) where it talks about not being able to hide from God. He knows where to find us. Even the greatest of Hide and Seek players can't hide from Him. The Psalm also reminds us he cared for us even before we were formed (Psalm 139:13-15) until our last days (verse 16). He knows our deepest thoughts. My, that's a sobering thought! No matter what we do, think or say, God promised not to leave us. (Hebrews 13:5) Now, that's a very comforting thought!
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
It was a beautiful night to play outside our cabin. It was like I was a child again playing the ball game SPUD and Hide and Seek.
The Hide and Seek game brought back memories of playing at our neighbor's house "Ollie, Ollie in come free!" yet the current reality of being a 41 year old overweight adult became very evident. There really wasn't many places for me to hide, and I definitely could not run too well. There were a few big rocks, but my family used them first. (I did manage to find some big trees near the playground we played at later in the week.)
It reminded me of the passage in my Psalm 139 (my favorite Psalm) where it talks about not being able to hide from God. He knows where to find us. Even the greatest of Hide and Seek players can't hide from Him. The Psalm also reminds us he cared for us even before we were formed (Psalm 139:13-15) until our last days (verse 16). He knows our deepest thoughts. My, that's a sobering thought! No matter what we do, think or say, God promised not to leave us. (Hebrews 13:5) Now, that's a very comforting thought!
from www.biblegateway.com New International Version
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
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