The ocean depths
25th June 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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.
(Psalm 139:7-8, NIV)
The ocean depths
There has been something ghoulish and macabre about following the search for the missing Titan submersible this past week, not least because it now turns out that it imploded last Sunday. Indeed, I hesitate to write about it, and I have refrained from exploring the details of the story. After all, we have been witnessing five human beings lose their lives in the public eye and in the most awful circumstances. I feel there must be some restraint in reporting such events. One can only imagine how traumatic it must have been for the family and friends of those in the vessel, not only to lose their loved ones, and in this way, but also to have the drama played out on world news.
Why, then, do I mention it at all? It is a sobering and even chilling reminder that we human beings are finite, limited and dependent beings, something we tend not to like to admit until we are forced to. It is an extraordinary achievement to be able to take people to such depths, and for them to explore the wreck of a ship that sank more than a hundred years ago. Human beings are truly capable of great and astonishing things – in the image of the Creator who made them.
At the same time, this sad saga shows our limitations as human beings. Even though we can put a man on the moon and track satellites through space, nobody knew exactly where the sub was, and it has taken the best part of a week to ascertain what happened to it. The ocean depths truly are another world. We are limited in what we know, and in what we can do. And death, of course, remains the final frontier – or rather, as the Bible puts it, “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:16).
Psalm 139 is a wonderful picture of the God who is not finite, limited or dependent as we are. He knows everything, he is present everywhere, and he is sovereign over everyone and everything. We do not know whether those in the sub knew this God for themselves, but we can pray that he would reach out to comfort their loved ones. And we can thank him that he is indeed all-knowing, ever-present and absolutely sovereign. The events of the past week reveal once again that we need such a God, the God who is able even to ‘swallow up’ death (1 Corinthians 15:54
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)