In a world where information is available everywhere all the time, people are increasingly concerned about privacy. Cameras intended to detect thieves taking packages outside our front doors can apparently be hacked to spy on homeowners instead. And if Alexa can hear you ask her a question, what else is she hearing (and reporting to others)?

Yes, it seems that the anonymity once afforded by automobiles and urban living is disappearing, and we are all once again living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. And the only reasonable response to such transparency is integrity. Just as our village-dwelling ancestors did, we simply must live as if someone is always watching us.

And as we see in today’s passage, this has really always been the case. For as David reminds us in verses 1-6, God has always known everything we are doing and everything we say – even before we say it! Moreover, in verses 7-10, David affirms that God is everywhere – He’s on the front porch watching when thieves steal packages, and He’s also in the family room listening to everything we have to say.

Whether that is good news for you will frankly depend on the nature of your relationship with God. If you love Him and trust Him, of course it is a great comfort to know that He is close at hand all the time, willing and able to guard you and guide you. But if you are living in rebellion against Him, if you want to make up your own rules, if you want to get as far away from Him as you can, well, you are out of luck.

So why not give in? Why not admit that God is all-seeing and all-knowing? It’s not like you are putting anything over on Him anyway. So why not accept God’s pardon and surrender to His authority? For then, the fact that God is everywhere will be the best news of all.

Psalm 139:1-12 (ESV)

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.