Walking With God # 1: Practicing the Presence of God, 2 Kings 5:15-16

INTRO: Have you had this experience before, of reading something in the Bible that you know you’ve read before, but this time something new stands out to you? This happened to me a couple of years ago, I recently read it again in 2 Kings, and I want to share it with you.

Here’s the setting: Elisha was the prophet in Israel. This is the time of the divided kingdom, Israel in the north, & Judah in the south. Elisha’s predecessor was Elijah, Elisha had prayed for a double-portion of Elijah’s spirit, & God had given it to him. Elisha performed something like 16 miracles, & I want to share one of them with you today.

2 Kings 5- On one occasion, there was a commander of the army of Syria named Naaman. Naaman was highly esteemed by the king of Syria as a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper (leprosy is a terrible skin disease). Naaman led many raids into neighboring lands, & one time he brought back a young girl as a captive from Israel who became a servant to his wife. The servant girl told his wife about a prophet in Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel) who would heal him of his leprosy. Naaman asked the king for permission to go, who sent a letter to the king of Israel, saying he wanted Naaman to be healed of his leprosy. When Israel’s king got the letter he flipped out. He knew he couldn’t heal Naaman, & thought the Syrian king was baiting him into a fight. When Elisha heard about it, he sent to the king to send Naaman to him to be healed.

When Naaman came to Elisha’s house, Elisha wouldn’t even come out. He sent a messenger to Naaman to tell him to 2 Kings 5:10, “wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” Naaman was furious because he thought, surely that Elisha would have come out of his house, & perform some kind of ritual- calling on God, waving his hand over the place, healing the leprosy. And there were better rivers back home than the Jordan, why couldn’t he wash there? He left in a rage, but his servants convinced him to try what Elisha said. Naaman dipped in the Jordan 7 times & his skin was restored like that of a young child. He was clean.

2 Kings 5:15-16, And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

This phrase that struck me then, & still captivates me now- “before whom I stand.” The CSB uses the wording- “in whose presence I stand...” Here’s why- lit. it reads “to/towards the Lord’s Face.” Presence translates the word front, or face. Stand- go up before, stand in position. Being in the Lord’s presence has something to do with one’s standing before Him, i.e., your positional relationship with Him. How we experience God’s Presence depends upon our Relationship with Him.

1, EXPERIENCING GOD’S PRESENCE

Once I saw this phrase in Scripture, I couldn’t unsee it. It is everywhere. You can go all the way back to Genesis 3:8, after Adam & Eve sinned, “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” They hid from before His face (Heb. paneh). Go all the way forward to 2 Thessalonians 1:9, where it says that those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” They are punished from before His face (Gr. prosopon). Seeing the face of God from a wrong standing before Him, e.g., Adam & Eve, or unbelievers, is a terrifying prospect.

In Acts 3:19, Peter & John were preaching in the temple for people to turn to God & be converted so that “your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord...” Refreshing refers to rejuvenation, taking part in God’s renewal of the world begins in our lives with His presence.

Jonah 1:3, But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, & found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, & went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

If we are disobedient and unbelieving, God’s presence brings fear and punishment. If we are repentant and compliant, God’s presence brings forgiveness and seasons of refreshing.

Elisha described himself as standing in the LORD’s presence, while Jonah is described as fleeing from it. Elisha embraced the presence of God (& was revered for it), but Jonah fled from the presence of God (& got swallowed up by it).

We can either be running towards God’s presence or running away from God’s presence, but there is NO in-between. We’re either cultivating the presence of God in our lives or we’re cutting it off. We’re either practicing the presence of God or pulling away from Him. Now, which one are you? How we experience God’s presence depends on our relationship with Him.

2, EMBRACING GOD’S PRESENCE

There’s more to Naaman’s story than I have time to share. We need to fast forward to Elisha’s servant Gehazi. Gehazi was greedy. He saw the reward from Naaman that Elisha refused, and he ran after it. He ran after Naaman, told him a lie, collected silver & clothing from him, & hid it so that Elisha wouldn’t know. He came back into the house & Elisha asked him- “Where did you go Gehazi?” (5:25). Gehazi lied & said he didn’t go anywhere. Then Elisha said something extraordinary- (26) Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? For his greed, Gehazi’s punishment was that he got Naaman’s leprosy, but that’s inconsequential to what I’m talking about. How did Elisha know what Gehazi had done? The term “heart” refers to the physical organ, & one’s inner self- mind, will, emotions, conscience. Elisha discerned what Gehazi had done, I think it had something to do with the Lord’s presence that was with him.

Elisha’s remarkable reliance upon God’s presence is seen even more clearly in the next chapter- 2 Kings 6. The king of Syria was making war against Israel, he consulted with his attendants, & told them where his camp would be. Elisha sent word to the king of Israel telling him to not go to that place because the Syrians were coming there. This didn’t just happen once or twice, but repeatedly. Syria’s king was enraged & demanded from his servants that they tell him who the mole was. 2 Kings 6:12, And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. The Syrian king tried to capture Elisha but it didn’t work out. It’s quite comical, you should read it (6:13-19). But that’s not the point of this sermon. I want us to consider that there was something about the presence of God that gave Elisha incredible powers of discernment & awareness.

Now, I’m not saying that we will do the miracles that Elisha did, he was a prophet at a different time, place, & period of God’s plan than we are. But I do want us to be open to the exercise of increasing our spiritual awareness of God’s presence with us.

3, ENJOYING God’s Presence

Acknowledge God’s OMNIPRESENCE (omni = all presence). Psalm 139:7-10, Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

Receive God’s INDWELLING Presence. After Christ’s ascension, He sent His promised Holy Spirit to indwell His people (individual believers & the collective gathered church). 1 Corinthians 3:16, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Exercise God’s MANIFEST Presence. Ephesians 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 5:18, And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. God is present with His people in a special way. Psalm 46:1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

I think that Psalms is the book of God’s presence. At least 25 times the Psalms talk about God’s presence. The Psalms can help us cultivate the presence of God. Next week, we’re going to start a brief series in the psalms to help us practice the presence of God by walking with Him.

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Over 300 years ago, a book was published called “The Practice of the Presence of God” (see QR code in bulletin). It is a collection of letters & conversations by a monk named Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence’s birth name was Nicholas Herman. Born around 1610, he was a young soldier in the Thirty Years War. During the war, Nicholas sustained an injury that crippled him and left him in chronic pain for the rest of his life. He lived to be 81.

Somewhere around middle age, Nicholas became a monk in a Paris monastery, & took the name Brother Lawrence (his beloved childhood tutor).

Brother Lawrence was assigned to kitchen duty. He prepared, cooked, & cleaned up for 100 people every day. Later he repaired sandals in the sandal repair shop. He spent his life doing menial tasks- cooking, cleaning, repairing sandals; but he believed God could be invited into everything he did, and His presence could be enjoyed anytime. Instead of just doing the dishes or cooking the meal, he enjoyed an on-going conversation with God.

He said- ‘I began to live as if there were no one except God and me in the world.’ Together, God and Brother Lawrence cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world; they did it together.

Brother Lawrence knew the secret about something that you and I need to learn and practice- God is omnipresent, so that means He is with us all the time, but we are not present with God all the time. God is present everywhere, so He is already here with us, standing in our presence. The question is, are we standing in His?

The difference is living on another plain of His reality, living in the spiritual realm of His presence so that He is real to you, & you are really with Him.

Do you want to practice His presence, not just every day, but every hour of every day, every minute of every hour, every second of every minute? It’s not impossible. We can stand in the presence of God; we just need to practice it.

· Walk with Him; Talk with Him; & Tell others about Him

· Make every moment count by spending every moment with Him

· Give Him Thanks in all things.

If you practice these 5 things, you will practice the presence of God, & He will become more real to you than you can possibly know.

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What does it mean to be in the presence of the Lord?AI OverviewBeing in the presence of the Lord means being aware of and experiencing God's active involvement in one's life, under His authority, and for His glory. It involves a conscious choice to live in accordance with His will and character. This can manifest as a sense of peace, guidance, and a deeper understanding of God's nature. Elaboration:

Awareness and Experience:It's not just a passive state of God's omnipresence, but an active engagement with Him. 

Living in Obedience:It involves walking in obedience to what God has revealed, both in the Bible and through His Holy Spirit, according to some religious perspectives. 

Surrender and Trust:It means surrendering control to God's guidance and trusting that His ways are better than our own. 

Holiness and Awe:It requires reverence and a humble acknowledgement of God's greatness. 

Dwelling Presence:Some believe that God can "dwell" in those who walk in obedience, creating a manifest presence that separates them from others. 

Examples:Practicing prayer, meditating on Scripture, worshiping, and serving others can all contribute to experiencing the presence of the Lord. 

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