“Where Can I Go?” from the Psalm 139 Scripture memorization CD

Play .mp3: Psalm139

 

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.

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