God’s Presence with Man

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.” —Psalm 139:3

PSALM 139:1-12, 23, 24

IN THE beginning the first man, Adam, enjoyed communion with God and was privileged to be in his presence. But when Adam sinned, God withdrew his presence from him. (Gen. 3:17-24) And associated with man’s separation from God was his loss of life. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 5:12, states, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

But it was not God’s plan to abandon man in this lost condition. His plan, which was formed before the foundation of the world, was to restore man to his former condition of perfection. (Matt. 25:34) This great recovery project is the golden thread of the entire Bible. The Apostle Peter, in Acts 3:21, calls this project “times of restitution of all things,” and he indicates that it was spoken of by God’s holy prophets since the world began.

Generally, God’s presence with man down through the ages has been manifested by the outworking of his plan for their recovery. The Apostle Paul, in Hebrews 11:3 (Diaglott), states, “In faith we perceive that the ages have been so thoroughly adjusted by God’s command, that not from things then manifest the things now seen have come to pass.” The thought is that God is thoroughly in control of the times and seasons, and that each ordered period of time succeeded, but did not spring from, the events that occurred in its predecessor. Each of these ages was another forward step in the plan for the reestablishment of God’s presence with man.

The first such period of time after the Flood is known as the Patriarchal Age. It was during this time that God dealt with the patriarchs, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These men, because of their faith, were accounted by God as just, and therefore they enjoyed the presence of God in a personal way.

After God delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt he began to deal with them as a people. He gave them the Law Covenant and dealt with them on the basis of that covenant. He spoke to them through emissaries, or prophets, and he performed miracles on their behalf. The Prophet Amos states in Amos 3:2, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” Our selected text, taken from the 139th Psalm is a psalm of David who was a king, prophet, and friend of God, and who here expresses his love and appreciation for God, who has revealed himself to David.

During the Gospel Age the Heavenly Father has revealed himself and has been present with the comparatively small number of footstep followers of Jesus. So also Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [age].” (Matt. 28:20) There are many texts that speak of God’s presence with his people during this time, such as, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”—Matt. 18:10

After the completion of the church at the end of the Gospel Age, God’s control of times and seasons will again manifest itself in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom here on earth. It is during this time that God, acting through Christ and his church, will bring about a reconciliation between God and men. This glorious time is one of the most prominent themes of the Bible. One text is found in Zechariah 2:10,11: “I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord [Jehovah]. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.”

God’s presence with man is beautifully expressed by the psalmist in Psalm 145:15,16, “The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.”

| Home Page | Table of Contents |