Skip to main content

Seek His Presence...Continually!

 

Last week, I wrote about a Psalmist who yearned for and even fainted for the courts of the Lord (Ps 84).  One commentator suggested that the wording indicates that the Psalmist’s desire was deep and insatiable and that the very soul of the man was yearning for his God.  So it’s very  likely that his deep and insatiable desire was not just for the courts of the Lord but for the Lord Himself.

Another Psalm starts off this way:  “See the Lord and the strength; seek His presence continually!”  (Ps 105:4)

An inquisitive part of me wants to know why I should seek His presence before I give the “continually” a whole lot of consideration.  The investigative part of me found these verses that point to the reasons:

And the Lord said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  (Ex 33:14)

You lead me in the path of life. I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.  (Ps 16:11 )

But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things you have done.  (Ps 73:38)

I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence.  (Zeph 3:12)

So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you—that is, Jesus.  (Acts 3:20)

The analytical part of me loves to reiterate the reasons with bullet points.  His presence:

·         Gives rest;

·         Is where I experience absolute joy;

·         Is really all that I need;

·         Is where I find safety;

·         Provides the refreshing I need.


Even with such beneficial, concise bullet points, sometimes my lack of faith gets in the way of enjoying His presence as I should.  But the beautiful irony is when I lack faith, that is when I need to be in His presence all the more.  And the more I am in His presence, the more my faith is strengthened!  And that is a cycle I should continually be on!

So not only should I have an insatiable desire for God but I should also have a desire to seek Him continually!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...
Post a Comment
Read more

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more