"Where Can I Go?"
from the
Psalm 139 Scripture memorization CD
Play Clip (.mp3)
WHERE CAN I GO?
(139:7-12NIV)
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.
Sample questions
from the Psalm 139 Bible study
Three study
questions for verses 7-12
1. The fact that God is everywhere and that
there is nowhere a person can go that is outside His presence can elicit
various responses from different individuals. Likewise, there are at
least two different ideas about what the words "where can I go"
represented to David, as author of this psalm. One is that David wanted
to flee from the presence of God, but could not. The second view takes
the words as a celebration of God’s mercy, that there was no place in
all creation where David would find himself separated from God’s
presence and love. Genesis 3:7-10 and Jonah 1:1-10 provide us with two
examples of people trying to escape from the presence of God. In both
examples, no one was successful (Jeremiah 23:24). What are some reasons
why man tries to flee from God? Try to think of examples from your own
life as well.
2. What do the following passages say to you about the nearness of God?
Psalm 145:18, Hebrews 4:16, James 4:8
3. As we grow and mature in our relationship with the Lord, we become
more Christ-like, and we also become more aware of our sin. The apostle
Paul, who was a great man of God, called himself the chief among all
sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). As we grow closer to the Light, we become more
aware of our own sin and the darkness of our sin nature. Explain why our
hatred of sin should grow as we mature in our relationship with the
Lord. |