(REFLECTIONS ON Amos 9:1-10)

In Psalm 139, the psalmist contemplates,

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Yes, the Lord is everywhere, and at all times. There is great comfort in this because there is no where, no situation, no time or space that we aren’t under the watchful eye of our God.

However, what happens if His people are under judgment? That is what today’s Scripture makes us consider. How could we escape from God’s wrath and judgment? He is all places and at all times. Who could get away from His grasp if we were judged by Him?

2 “Though they dig into Sheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they ascend to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.

What a powerful statement of God’s authority in our lives and in all of creation. And that is what is so amazing about God’s grace and mercy. Yes, what we learn from the prophets is that God is a God of judgment, that no one can escape from. But God is also the source of grace and mercy that is also available to all the world through His Son, Jesus Christ.

God is the Judge, but He also is the Savior, and so let us not try to outrun God, hide from God, escape His judgment, but to run into His arms through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Discipline comes from Him, but so does healing, redemption, and life. Let us stop trying to hide, escape, to get out of His grasp, but through Christ see and experience that grasp turn into His healing hands holding us, loving us, and restoring us.

There is nowhere we can flee from God’s presence. So let us not flee from Him. Let us run to Him.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Amos 9