God, you stand behind and in front of me, and you lay your hand upon me (Psalm 139:5, OGV).
The theological term for God being everywhere is omnipresence. The word literally means “God everywhere.”
That’s the God of the Bible. As Psalms 139:7 says . . .
I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! (NLT)
I want God to be everywhere because, at any moment, I may need His help. But the phrase “omnipresence” seems a little distant and impersonal. Yeah, God is everywhere, but will He help me?
The Bible using the phrase “hand of God” softens theology to an image of care and concern.
During the summer, I was with the G-Bops (my granddaughters Gabby and Gwyn and “G-Bops” because they get so excited that they run into one another and bop themselves to the ground).
We were at a playground with a swinging bridge.
Gabby, being outgoing and adventurous, ran across the bridge, while Gwyn, being more reticent, stayed behind. Gwyn shouted, “Gabby, come back and help me!” Gabby then came back across the bridge, took Gwyn’s hand, and hand-in-hand, they walked across the bridge.
That’s the image that we should have of God’s hand. As it says in Psalm 139:5, “God stands behind and before us, and He places His hand upon us” (OGV paraphrased!).
God’s hand means He loves us and is always available to help us.
If we read other passages about God’s hand in the Bible, we will note that . . .
God’s hand is on us, so we can take courage (Ezra 7:28, OGVP).
God’s hand makes all things (Acts 7:50, OGVP)
We are the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1, OGVP).
God opens His hand and satisfies our every desire (Psalm 145:16, OGVP).
I desire to walk hand-in-hand with God. How about you?
Omnipresence is spectacular — wow, God is everywhere, but His hand upon us means God is also personal.
We can depend upon Him.
The images we form in our minds impact our beliefs more than words memorized. You will remember the picture of Gabby and Gwyn walking hand-in-hand more easily than the correct definition of omnipresence.
Now let’s take the image of hand-in-hand with a God a step further. The Bible also says . . .
God holds all the water of earth in His hand (Isaiah 40:12, OGVP).
And . . .
God’s hand holds all the power of the universe (Habakkuk 3:4, OGVP).
Impressive — God’s hand holds all the water of the earth and all the power of the universe, and He wants to walk hand-in-hand with us!
Note: OGV means Old Guy Version (my personal translation), NLT means New Living Translation, and OGVP means Old Guy Version Paraphrased.