The God of Presence

Introduction

*Read Psalm 84*

Psalm 84:title–12 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

These are the instructions for the psalm

according to The Gittith - Gittith = musical instrument from Gath?

of the Sons of Korah.

Sons of Korah were most likely Levites whose duties included serving as temple musicians and temple doorkeepers.

Lineage can perhaps be traced back to Numbers 16 when a levitical priest named Korah led a rebellion along with Dathan, Abiram, and On — were swallowed up by the earth

Apparently, some were not a part of the rebellion

Could mean OF the Sons of Korah or FOR - Good chance David wrote the Psalm FOR the Sons of Korah who were in charge of the music at the temple.

Either way, we will see it is someone who is familiar with the temple and the presence of God found there.

As many Psalms are, this psalm is structured — chiasm

**Enter Chiasm Here*

These are the longing of the true worshipper.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

Psalmist describes a longing for the temple. Why? Because for some reason preacher is really good? No.

Hints at it here:

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

He longs for the place of God because there he will find the presence of God.

Lovely = beloved — psalmist is longing for the presence of God

Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

Two ways in which we speak of the ‘presence of God:’

1. God as spirit, is present, in His fullness, everywhere all the time — Omnipresence

a. (not “is God in this room and that room — Better to say, there is no place or space that is not always before the face of God.)

The Presence of God: Discovering God's Ways Through Intimacy With Him Chapter 1 the Unconscious Presence of God

The truth is that God may be at work during the times of His unconscious presence the same as when He clearly shows up!

You don’t need to seek God’s omnipresence.

1. God’s universal presence is experienced in a very real way — Manifest Presence

1st is not dependent on humans the 2nd is dependent.

• Moses at the burning bush

• Isaiah 6 - Seeing the LORD high and lifted up

• Jacob - “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know (experience) it.

• Ark of the Lord brought to the Temple

2 Chronicles 5:14 (ESV)

14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Psalm 27:4 (ESV)

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

• Mount of Transfiguration -

Matthew 17:4 (ESV)

4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

The presence of God is a personal reality.

In OT, the presence of God was associated with the place of God — the tabernacle then the temple.

Presence of God throughout the Bible is often associated with His Spirit

Spirit hovered over the waters

ruach - breath, wind, spirit

you can feel it — i.e., you know it’s presence, but you can’t see it.

David — don’t take Your “presence” from me (in what way? His Spirit)

In NT, we as believers have the Holy Spirit with us at all times.

in Acts, Jesus breathed on his disciples and they received the Holy Spirit

Presence of God is no longer in the PLACE of God it is on the PEOPLE of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV)

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

The PLACE of God contained the PRESENCE of God which led to the PERSON of God

the Person of God was the real object of the psalmists longing.

Amos describes the opposite:

Amos 8:4–5 (ESV)

4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy

and bring the poor of the land to an end,

5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,

that we may sell grain?

And the Sabbath,

that we may offer wheat for sale,

that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great

and deal deceitfully with false balances,

How much do you long for the presence of God?

or do we want to hurry through the religious duties so we can get on with the rest of our lives?

How often are we even aware of it? How much of our day is spent with even a thought of being in God’s presence?

How often does our time in God’s presence feel more like a duty to accomplish than a privilege to long for?

This will give an indication of the importance of the Person of God in our lives.

We are driven more by our desires than by our knowledge.

ILLUST - this is why we find it hard to pass up desert and why we don’t exercise when we know we should.

If this is the case, then looking at our longings tells us more about our priorities than our to do list.

In the OT, one of the main reasons one was kept from the presence of God was physical distance. That’s what the psalmist seems to be lamenting here.

Two reasons why we don’t long for the presence of God:

Disobedience

Presence of God is a HOLY space.

Isaiah 6:1–5 (ESV)

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Distraction

We are distracted by other things we are told will satisfy our longings.

But the psalmist knows that:

The presence of God satisfies us like nothing else.

With Joy

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

Literally - “Cry out” for joy.

heart / flesh = inward being - everything in him screams with joy and delight in the LIVING God.

Living God stands apart from the other gods of the ANE that surrounded the psalmist

other gods needed to be dressed, have attendees to move things for him

but Yahweh is living! He doesn’t need people to move things for Him — He’s the mover of all things!

Psalmist cries out that he has found the kind of joy the world cannot offer.

Not only does God’s presence satisfy with JOY, but also with SAFETY

With Safety

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.

This sounds like an eyewitness to the physical temple.

temple had courtyards that were open air

the little creature knows the safety found at the place of Creator

The dangers of the outside world will not touch her as she builds her home in the house of the Lord.

With Blessing

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise! Selah

Didn’t Peter want to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration because it was GOOD

Happiness and well being

More than anything else.

10 For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I would rather have the least with God than the most anywhere else.

Unfortunately, many Christians commit to Christ with caveats.

I’ll follow you unless. . .

I’ll get serious in my faith as soon as. . .

I’ll commit my life to you unless it seems too difficult / I lose to much.

Philippians 3:7–8 (ESV)

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

With light and life, goodness and honor

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

Sun and shield = light and protection against fear and danger

God protects and provides.

The presence of God gives strength for life’s journey.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Shift here from the blessing being with the one who resides at the temple to the one who is on a journey.

lit. “who have highways in their hearts.”

Life is not static, it’s a journey and the presence of God offers strength for the journey.

Because the presence of God is not bound to a particular place.

This is where the reality of God’s manifest (felt) presence meets His omni(everywhere) presence.

God’s omnipresence is not just abstract theology, it is a comforting reality.

**It means that whatever you face is also before the face of God.**

6 As they go through the Valley of Baca

Unsure whether this is was an actual place - obviously a desert

or whether Baca is referring to a Hebrew verb baka which means to weep.

Either way, it’s not a good place. It’s the desert. It’s lonely. It’s the “I’m walking this path alone because no one understands this”

Knowing the presence of God is with you gives the strength to see and have the desert become a place of springs —place of refreshing.

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.

Leads to a prayer:

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

Look at how quickly all this becomes personal.

My prayer is that we see God’s presence in this Psalm and make it personal.

9 Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

Possibly David praying for himself.

Climax of Psalm:

The presence of God offers hope for all time.

7 They go from strength to strength;

each one appears before God in Zion.

Strength to strength - strength in increasing measure until we reach the goal — to see God in Person

The end goal of the presence of God is the Person of God.

The presence of God points to the hope we have of actually being in God’s presence — His personal presence.

Around the throne with children of Tripura singing about following Jesus.

This is the ultimate hope that carries us through life’s biggest and longest and loneliest journey — and through our Mondays.

There is another time a similar phrase is used

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (from glory to glory). For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The progressive change in our lives that comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives until we find ourselves in the personal presence of God.

Paul says that we only have this hope through Jesus. We don’t have this hope in anything we can do.

The way to receive the presence of God in your life is to place your trust in Jesus.

Old Covenant pointed / New Covenant enabled.

12 O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Conclusion

Living in awareness is key

May God grant:

Increased awareness

Increased longing

Increased response.