We worship an immeasurable God.
Draw a circle on a sheet of paper and place a dot in its center. Whatever the size of your circle, both its circumference and center will have finite boundaries. There will always be area surrounding the circle regardless of its size. You can never scribe a circle large enough so its center covers all things. The very nature of a circle is finite whether it is a two dimensional drawing, or a three dimensional sphere.
This isn’t the case with the Triune God.
First, consider the size of our universe. To gain some perspective read the AiG article The Splendor of God’s Creation. We’re used to praying to a God we often visualize as somewhere beyond the universe in a heaven which can’t be reached by the sorts of spaceships conceived of by science fiction.
In his book The Blessed and Boundless God, George Swinnock tells us that:
God is an infinite being. He is without bounds or limits, measures or degrees. God is a sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere…
The “heaven of heavens” cannot contain the God of heaven. No place can define Him. He is not shut in or shut out of any place. He is without place, yet in all places.
According to Scripture:
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! 1Kings 8:27
The Psalmist writes:
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
Psalm 139:1-10
While the universe cannot contain God, and God is not part of creation, He is everywhere. We cannot hide from Him. It’s true that God’s throne is in heaven (Rev 4:2; 7:15-17 etc). Yet when we pray to God, we ought to take great comfort in the fact that His center is with us as well.
God is always close to us. Hallelujah!
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