“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.” (Psalm 139:9-­‐10)

Believing a lie is easy at times. When pain is pressing down our backs, bill collectors are breaking down our doors, or a boss is breathing down our necks, we get the impression God is no longer on our side. However, the psalms negate that thought 150 times over. Crack the Bible right down the middle, allow your eyes to dance from song to song, and you will hear the psalmists dispelling that note of discord.

King David gives form to the dim and troublesome thoughts when he writes, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night….’” (Psalm 139:11) When fear is murkiness that conceals the face of God and appears to hinder his efforts of our behalf, midnight’s colors drown all light of day.

But, look carefully now. Dark shadows and brilliant light are one and the same from God’s perspective. “Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (Psalm 139:12). The Living God is not bound by our muddles or our midnights. When as this Psalm says, we are forced to go where morning flees away or open seas swallow us whole, verse 10 declares that “even there” his powerful hands are able to guide us safely and hold us securely.

“Even there” is where we find our God. “Even there” is where he lives and moves and breathes. No matter where life jostles us, he is “even there.”

Elizabeth A. Mitchell