Hiding, but not Hidden

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”

Psalm 139:7-12

In today’s post I would like to build off a quote I heard this Sunday from a pastor Brad McMurray. He made the profound statement:

“You can hide IN God. But you can’t hide FROM God.”

This is absolutely true and I would like to prove it through scripture. We will begin by looking at the former half of this quote. “You can’t hide from God.” I believe that this is really important to study and look into for a couple of reasons. First of all, we like to think we can get away with participating in wrongful actions that no one else will know about. Second, when we feel under attack, lost, desperately in need, the One we should turn is God because we can and should hide in God.

Let’s look at this through Scripture. We already saw clearly in the opening verses (Psalm 139:7-12) that there is no where we can ride to escape from God. It is quite literally impossible. This is expressed in a couple of different ways throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testament.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Hebrews 4:12-13

These verses dive further into the idea that we cannot hide from God. The author states that not only can we not hide from God, but all creatures are not hidden. From the fish to the birds to us humans, nothing can run from His sight.

"Am I a God at hand, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?”(Paraphrased)

Jeremiah 23:24

The reason I chose this final verse for this point is because it is God speaking. We’ve heard from the Psalmist in the Old Testament, we’ve heard from the unknown New Testament author of Hebrews, but what greater source to turn to then God Himself? He asks a hypothetical question where the obvious answer is: NO. A man cannot hide himself so that God cannot see him.

With all of this in mind I would like to turn the tables and look at the former half of Mr. McMurray’s observation. “We can hide in God.” The Psalmist loves to accept this fact and prove it as his life gets in danger. He feels threatened by armies, people, even the world, but he expresses his firm belief in the fact that he has God to turn to and truly hide in.

 

“Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.”

Psalm 17:7-9

Here we see the analogy of hiding in the wings of the Father. Just as a little chick when in danger runs and hides in the protective wings of his mother, so we should run and hide in the shelter of our Father’s wings.

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.”

Psalm 27:4-5

This final passage really wraps up the beauty of what God will do for us in time of need. King David gives some examples here once again beginning with the idea of hiding in the wings of God. He uses three different examples:

One, God will hide Him in His shelter. This could be conveyed as the wings of protection. God will keep you safe in His shelter.

Two, God will conceal us under the cover of His tent. We could think of maybe rain fall coming down and the tent being the protection from that trouble.

Finally, three, God will lift us up on a high rock. I would posit in King David’s time if there was a wild beast pursuing him he would seek a high rock to climb on to get away from the attacker. In the same way when in times of attack or trouble God will lift you up and keep you safe.

I encourage you to remember this important idea: we can hide in God, but cannot hide from God. We should live our lives based on this fact and understand nothing is hidden from Him, and in times of trouble we must turn to Him for safety.