Is God Omnipresent?
The psalmist writes:
‘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.’ Ps.139:7-10
‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?’’ Isaiah 66:1
“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. Jer.23:23,24
The psalmist, Isaiah, and Jeremiah are convinced of the Lord’s omnipresence. Yet Adam and Eve hid from the LORD. Gen.3:8; Cain went out from his presence. Gen.4:16; Jonah fled from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:8
Omnipresence means that God’s divine presence encompasses the whole of creation. That is what the psalmist is referring to in Psalm 139. Are there places where the Lord is not? In all these instances above, the characters can’t hide from the Lord, as the psalmist makes clear, but they can flee the place where God spoke to them, perhaps from the manifestation in that place of the God who is in every place. We could ever be hidden from him, flee from his omnipresence, but we can flee his call.
We are told in Genesis:
‘And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.’ Gen.11:5
‘Then the Lord said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” Gen.18:20,21
Does the story of Sodom and Gomorrah indicate limited knowledge on God’s part? Did God have to travel to the plain to see for himself if the reports were true? Did he need to take a journey to see what men were doing at Babel?
This is very much indicative, not of God’s limited knowledge, or his limited presence. Rather, the language here is describing God’s actions in ‘coming down’ from mercy’s throne in judgement on the sin of man that is ever before his face. The activity of God can only be comprehended in terms men and women are able to understand, and our understanding is essential to the call to repentance.
When Elijah, fearful and exhausted, fled to Mount Horeb God spoke to him. We are told:
‘And [God] said, ‘go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the firs the sound of a whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave, And behold, there came a voice to him…’ 1 Kings 19:11,12
If God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, are these events where God is not?
Key to understanding this passage is its contrast with the spectacular events on Mount Carmel, where God spoke in stormy, fiery violence. The prophet, who heard God speak by such means, a prophet with a zeal for reformation (v.14), was being taught that this same God spoke in reassuring, providential whisper. It is not that God ‘wasn’t in’ the wind, earthquake, or fire, but that on this occasion he did not speak by means of these things.
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