Two Views

The omnipresence of God--God's presense in every corner of creation--has long triggered two opposite reactions: great comfort, and great shame and fear. For some, knowing that God is always with them means that they have constant protection and love. For others, it means that God knows all their shameful secrets.

Check out these two Psalms--one ancient and attributed to King David, the other modern and penned by songwriter Greg Brown. How many of us haven't felt something from each of them at one point or another?

Psalm 139
(excerpts; Today's New International Version, copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved worldwide.)

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
[...]
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
[...]
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
[...]
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.


Lord, I Have Made You A Place in my Heart
by Greg Brown; copyright 1997 Hacklebarney Music

Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
Among the rags and the bones and the dirt
There's piles of lies and the love gone from her eyes
And old moving boxes full of hurt.
Pull up a chair by the trouble and care
I got whiskey, you're welcome to some.

Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
But I don't reckon you're gonna come.
[...]
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
So take a good look and then leave.
[...]
Lord if you made me, it's easy to see
Y'all make mistakes up above
But if I open the door
You will know that I'm poor
And my secrets are all that I own.

Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
And I hope that you leave it alone.

(Originally recorded by Greg Brown on "The Poet Game" from Red House Records)

Our faith cycles, from rejoicing in God's presence in our lives to rudely asking God to leave us alone, from echoing David to singing along with the narrator of Greg Brown's song.

Here's the thing though: even if our hearts look like the one described in the modern song, God's hand guides us and holds us fast. After all, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."