Grosey's Messages

Psalm 30

1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."

7 By your favour, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy:

9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!"

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

 

The heading to this Psalm says:  "Joy Comes with the Morning A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple."

We know that David prepared the Temple for Solomon to build. But God forbade David to build the Temple. The emphasis is on praise to the Lord for rescuing David from a dangerous and difficult situation that included sickness (v. 2), being near death (vv. 3, 9), God's anger (v. 5), weeping (vv. 5, 11), and emotional turmoil (v. 7). But the trial also involved the nation, for David addressed them in verses 4–5. Apparently this was a national crisis that David had helped to precipitate because he disobeyed the will of God. It came at a time when he was enjoying ease and security and was proud of himself and his kingdom (vv. 6–7). According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm for "the dedication of the house." The word house can be translated "palace," referring to David's house, or "temple," referring to the Lord's house. I think it may better fit with the circumstances  recorded in 1 Chronicles 21:1—22:1 and 2 Samuel 24 for the context. This is the record of the national plague David caused when he arrogantly numbered the people and 70,000 people died. This caused David great distress (2 Sam. 24:10, 14), and he put on sackcloth and begged God for mercy for the people (1 Chron. 21:16; see Ps. 30:11). David purchased a plot of ground from Ornan and dedicated it to be the site for the temple (1 Chron. 22:1), and he began to use the plot as his own personal place of worship. This second explanation seems to cover the facts better. In either case, the message of the psalm is clear: the Lord forgave David and gave him the blessing of a new beginning. "The victorious Christian life," wrote the noted Scottish preacher George Morrison, "is a series of new beginnings." That definition beautifully fits this psalm.

 

1 Chron. 21:1Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

7 But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly." 9 And the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, 10 "Go and say to David, 'Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'" 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me."13 Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man." 14 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.

 

The words of psalm 30 are so similar:

1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." 7 By your favour, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

 

15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, "Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people." 18 Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

 

David experienced three problems: the sinking mire beneath him that would take him down to the pit, the enemies around him who wanted him to die, and the distress within him that was like a painful sickness— and the Lord delivered him from all three! Because of his disobedience, David was in the depths, and the Lord had to lift him up. (See 18:4–6; 69:1–2, 14–15;

71:20; 88:6; 130:1–3; Lam. 3:55; and Jonah 2:2.) The "grave" or the "pit" refers to sheol, the realm of the departed spirits. (The Greek equivalent is hades.) But instead of allowing David to go down, God lifted him out and brought him up. God had done this for David before (18:16).

David's foes would have been glad to see him die (13:4; 25:2; 41:11), but the Lord saved David's life and silenced their taunts. The "healing" mentioned in verse 2 may not have involved actual physical sickness, but it may have included the thtreat of pestilence.  The word is also used to describe not only forgiveness and spiritual restoration (41:4; Isa. 6:10; 53:5; Hos. 6:1 and 7:1) but also deliverance from mental and emotional distress (Jer. 8:21–22; 14:19; Lam. 2:13). Undoubtedly the pestilence, the plague caused David immense emotional distress.  It was David's pride that had brought the plague to the land, and he felt the pain of this deeply, so much so that he thought his convicted conscience and broken heart would kill him. But God heard his pleas and brought him from death to life.

Recognise Where You Are

Have you ever been through the mil of God's chastening? We are promised that as the children of God, the Lord would discipline His children. Sometimes it seems like our foolish sinfulness will take us down to the pit!! Other times we have fierce enemies perhaps antagonistic neighbours, or antagonistic family members.   Other times we are so depressed it is like we are sick. We don't feel like getting out of bed. We feel cast down entirely.  Have you experienced God's reproof in your life and perhaps you have not recognised it?  It is times like this today where God speaks to His people to reprove them for their sins. 

Psalm 30:6-7  When I felt secure, I said, "I shall never be shaken."  O LORD, when you favoured me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

But worse than all of these chastisements is the sense of the Lord withdrawing His hand from our lives. Like David, we can all allow ourselves to become captive to our circumstances.  When things are going well, it is easy to be 'men and women of faith', speaking confidently of our trust in God and encouraging others to do the same.  We may think   "I shall never be shaken", or god has "made my mountain stand firm".  But it is also very easy to be 'dismayed' when things are not going so well, and our spiritual barometer is reading, 'God has hidden his face'!  Chastisements are demonstrations to us that God has withdrawn His face.  We must address this.

I am greatly comforted by David's honesty and his admission of human vulnerability.  Its OK to feel dismayed.  But its not OK to remain in despondency.  We can't help feeling down and discouraged; what's important is what we do next!  David 'called out' to the LORD and 'cried for mercy' (8) because he knew that he alone was the one who could 'turn his wailing into dancing' (11).

Where are you in all this?

Duncan Campbell was greatly used by God in the Lewis Island revival off the coast of Scotland during the 1950's.  But, while studying for the ministry, Campbell's heart had grown cold.

"I found myself training for the ministry. And this is one thing I deeply regret, because I wasn't very long training when I came under the influence of professors that had no time for the authority and inspiration of the Word of God and I found myself doubting the first three chapters of Genesis. My dear friends it began there…. For seventeen year I moved in a barren wilderness. It is true that I was evangelical in my preaching so much so that on several occasions I was asked to conduct special missions. I was even asked to address Keswick conventions…. Seventeen years of it knowing in my own heart that I wasn't right with God… feeling out of touch, on my knees before God again and again I acknowledged it (Campbell, 2005). Campbell spoke of how God spoke to him through hs young daughter:

"She came over and threw herself on my knees and said to me: "Daddy I would like to have a talk with you…." We went to my study and she said, "For several days Daddy I have battling against hitting you with this question but I must do it. When you were a young pilgrim before you went in for the ministry you saw revival. How is it Daddy that you are not seeing revival now?" And then she faced me with this crushing question, "Daddy you have a large congregation and many are going to the church, but Daddy when was the last time you knelt beside a poor sinner and led him to Jesus?"… That shook me (Campbell, 2005). Campbell recalls: 'I suddenly became conscious of my unfitness to be on that platform. I saw the barrenness of my life and ministry. I saw the pride of my own heart…. That night in desperation on the floor of my study, I cast myself afresh on the mercy of God' (Campbell, 1964: 61). Campbell then, like numerous times in his life, had an encounter with God. During his cry for the mercy of God, Campbell notes that God 'heard my cry for pardon and cleansing, and as I lay prostrate before Him, wave after wave of divine consciousness came over me, and the love of the Saviour flooded my being; and in that hour I knew that my life and ministry could never be the same again' (Campbell, 1964: 61). One night when they were waiting on God in the "barn", Kenneth Macdonald rose, opened his Bible to Psalm 24 and read, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart". He then said, "It seems worthless to be gathered here night after night seeking God as we are doing, if our hands are not clean and out hearts are not pure. O God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?" At that moment the presence of God flooded the place and several of the men fainted … , with the overwhelming awareness of the Eternal…. John Smith said it was at that moment they all became aware that the holiness of God and revival were inextricably linked (Peckham, 2004: 112).

'It [revival] happens primarily in the Church of God and amongst believing people and it is only secondly something that affects those that are outside the church

(Lloyd-Jones, 1987(b): 99).

Realise Your Only Hope

Your Only Hope Is The Lord

When all things seem against me,  To drive me to despair,

I know one gate is open,  One ear will hear my prayer.

OSWALD ALLEN, ―TODAY THY MERCY CALLS ME‖

When all created streams are dry,  thy fulness is the same.

The storm may roar without me,  My heart may low be laid;

But God is round about me,  And can I be dismayed?

Green pastures are before me,  Which yet I have not seen;

Bright skies will soon be o'er me,  Where the dark clouds have been.

My hope I cannot measure,  My path to life is free,

My Savior has my treasure,  And He will walk with me.

ANNA LAETITIA WARING (1820–1920), ―IN HEAVENLY LOVE ABIDING‖

 

This is where the story really began, for it was David's pride that made it necessary for the Lord to chasten him.  "I was at ease," said Job, "but He shattered me, and He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces: He has also set me up as His target" (Job 16:12 nasb). Prosperity without humility can lead to adversity. David's mountain (kingdom, as in Jer. 51:25) seemed strong, but the Lord showed David how weak he was.

When God's face is shining upon us (Num. 6:23–27), then we enjoy His rich blessings; but when we rebel, He may hide His face, and this causes trouble (see 10:11; 13:1; 27:9; 88:14; Deut. 31:17–18; 32:20).

The Hebrew word translated "troubled" describes "intense agony, terror, anguish." It's used in 1 Samuel 28:21 to describe King Saul's feelings in the house of the witch. Knowing he had sinned, David kept crying out to the Lord for mercy and even debated with Him.

"Am I more useful to you in the grave than I am alive on earth? Can the dead praise you and serve you?" (See 88:7–12; 115:17; Isa. 38:18–19.) David was a great king with a strong kingdom, but he was only dust, one short breath away from the grave. He humbled himself and confessed his sin, and the Lord mercifully forgave him and restored him.

Your Only Hope Is Humility and Repentance

Your Only Hope is Confession and Mercy

1 john 1: 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Proverbs 28: 13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. 14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Psalm 32:3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

3. Rejoice In The Mercy of God 

David Sings A New Song—From Mourning to Rejoicing (vv. 11–12)

Seven times in the psalm David wrote "thou hast" (vv. 1–3, 7, 11), bearing witness to the strong and gracious hand of the Lord working on his behalf. Even God's chastening of David was an expression of His love (Heb. 12:1–11). Once David knew he was forgiven and accepted, he moved from the funeral to the feast. He took off the sackcloth of sadness and put on the garments of gladness. In Scripture, a dramatic alteration of one's life was often marked by a change of clothing (Gen. 35:2; 41:14; 45:22; Ex.19:10, 14; 2 Sam. 12:20; Luke 15:22). "My glory" means "my heart, my soul." David was singing to the Lord from the depths of his being. He realized that he would be singing praises to God forever (v. 12), so he wanted to start getting ready now! Every difficult experience of

life—and David had many of them—is an opportunity to have a "pity party" or attend a rehearsal for singing in the choirs of heaven! We have a lifetime of grace (v. 5) to prepare us for an eternity of glory.

Exodus 33 The Presence of God

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your offspring I will give it.'

2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."

4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.

5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.'"

6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.

9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.

11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

12 Moses said to the LORD, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.'

13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people."

14 And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

15 And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"

17 And the LORD said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name."

18 Moses said, "Please show me your glory."

19 And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."

21 And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,

22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

 

THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS THE DISTINGUISHING MARK OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

This is the understanding that Moses had in his conversation with God. In fact, He said to God in that conversation: "How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" Moses understood that it was the presence

of the eternal God in the midst of His people that set the people of Israel apart from all the other peoples of the earth.

1. It is part of the Covenant Blessing.

When God established a covenant with the people of Israel, He included the manifestation of His presence among them. In the instruction that He gave to Moses concerning the building of the Tabernacle, He said, "Then have them made a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them." In that same revelation that He gave to Moses in a later chapter, He declared, "Then, I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, but brought them out of Egypt so I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God" (Exodus 29:45-46). So, from the very day that God brought them out of Egypt, it had been His covenant and His intention that He would dwell in the midst of His people. They would enjoy the presence of the eternal heavenly God in their midst day by day.

The Apostle Paul understood this and made application to the life of the New Testament Church in the Corinthian Letter. "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple ofthe living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you." (II Corinthians 6: 16-17) It was that tent dwelling in the midst of the nation of Israel where the presence of God was manifested that set them apart from the other nations around them. The other nations had idols before which they bowed and offered sacrifices. These idols only represented a God that they talked about. Israel did not have an idol or a representation of God, they had God Himself, the Lord of the Covenant dwelling in their midst.

We no longer have a tent in which God lives - rather we are the tent of the Lord. We are the temples of the Lord in this age. We do not have something among us to represent the presence of the Lord, rather we have the Lord Himself indwelling our hearts and manifesting Himself through us. It is the presence of the eternal God, the risen Lord, in the midst of His people that sets us apart from all the other religious efforts and religious movements that move upon the face of the earth. The presence of the Lord among us is our distinguishing mark.

The significance of this is rather obvious. If there is no manifestation of the presence of God among us, then we are no better than the other entities and social movements around us. The church of Jesus Christ has lost its distinguishing mark if it loses the manifestation of the presence of the Lord among us. This is the reason that Moses was unwilling to take another step toward the land of Canaan without the evident presence of the Lord with Him and His people. Without Him Israel would be nothing. Without Him, we are  nothing!

The Presence of God means Communion

Christian people have an immediate and a direct knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find some very wonderful promises about this in the Bible. The Lord Jesus, just before the end—the account is found in John 14—turned to the disciples who were so unhappy because He had announced His departure and said, ―Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me‖ (v. 1). He said that He was not going to leave them comfortless; He was going to send the Holy Spirit to them. But He went beyond that and said, ―I … will manifest myself to [you]‖ (v. 21).

Now that is a very distinct and explicit promise. He says He will manifest Himself to the one who keeps His commandments, the one who is truly Christian—not manifest Himself physically, but in a spiritual manner. This is connected with the sending and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He promises to give manifestations of Himself to His people so that they shall know Him. Though He is no longer with them in the flesh, He will be as real to them as He was before. That is why He also says, ―It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you‖ (John 16:7). Why is it ―expedient‖? Well, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ will be present; and in addition to that, He will give manifestations of Himself to His people. Do we know Him like that? Do we know God in a living and in a real manner?

An old Puritan, for example, said just before his death, ―God dealeth familiarly with men.‖ Why did he say that? He said it on the basis of an experience he'd had of God's nearness. God had manifested something of His glory to this man.  Do you know God? Do you know anything of this familiar trafficking with Him, this communion with Him, which is real? I am not talking about just getting on your knees and saying your prayers. I am speaking about a realization of the presence of God—God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We are meant to enjoy that. These are some of the exceeding great and precious promises that God has held out before us, and my argument is that if we know nothing about this, then we are guilty of limiting Him. We are not enjoying to the full what He has put at our disposal, what He has prepared for us as His people.

Getting The Presence of God Must be a Consuming Priority

Its importance

Dr. W. E. Sangster shared a page out of his own pilgrimage through his preaching ministry. He wrote, "I felt I had lost God. Spiritual things had become unreal to me. Doubts darkened my mind. I lost appetite for the holy vocation to which I believe God had called me. The conviction grew in my heart that the one thing an honorable man could do would be to give it up. Yet, I wanted God. In those months of awful darkness, nothing was surer to me than my hunger for Him. All the varied wants of my heart had become resolved into the one great cry of the questing soul, 'O that I knew where I might find him!' One night I had reached the breaking point. My mind was wearing with the effort of pondering these problems over and over again. My heart was sick with hope long deferred. I sat at midnight in the darkness of my study on the border of despair, when a friend came to me with words of unsurpassed comfort. He knew my need, he said, 'You are chasing your shadow: the hunger within you is a mark of His presence.' I know those words will not seem magical to you, but I have no language to describe the affect they had then upon me. To my poor soul, they were the authentic words of the living God. I grasped the truth of what He said. This hunger! –– the one consuming passion of my soul–––a mark of His presence."

The Apostle Paul had a face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. With his very own eyes he beheld his glory. And yet years later he write of his desire to know Him–––"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death!" Did not Paul already know Him? Yes! Absolutely! But he knew that there was more to be known of Him. This is what gave Moses the desire to cry out, "Show me your glory!" The knowledge he had of Him gave birth to a desire to know Him more intimately.

Charles Wesley was writing from his experience. You see, it is not only the apostle Paul who can say, ―I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.‖ Charles Wesley repeated it, and others have said exactly the same thing. As Wesley said in another hymn:

Thou, O Christ, art all I want,  More than all in Thee I find.  ―JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL‖

Its Immediacy

God delights in revealing Himself.  The writer of Hebrews defines the life that pleases God as being one, "that believes that He is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." It would be a mistake to materialize that reward for those who seek Him find. It is better to see the reward as being a deeper, more intimate knowledge of God Himself.

 Loved with everlasting love,  Led by grace that love to know;

Gracious Spirit from above,  Thou hast taught me it is so!

You see, it is the direct work of the Spirit, not an external, merely theoretical, intellectual assurance. If you stop short with the latter, you are quenching the Spirit:

O this full and perfect peace!  O this transport all divine!

In a love which cannot cease,  I am His, and He is mine.

Heaven above is softer blue,  Earth around is sweeter green!

Something lives in every hue  Christless eyes have never seen;

Birds with gladder songs o'erflow,  Flowers with deeper beauties shine,

Since I know, as I now know,  I am His, and He is mine.

GEORGE WADE ROBINSON (1838–1877), ―I AM HIS, AND HE IS MINE

I trust that you are now convinced that this is something that we all ought to know and possess. It is not confined to certain people, certain ages, or certain places. It is meant universally for all of God's children. God means His children to rejoice in Him. The Bible is full of this. ―The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.‖ Are you enjoying God? We are meant to. Shame on us if we are not; still greater shame upon us if we try to dismiss that and say, ―As long as I believe and live a good life, surely no more is demanded.No; we are meant to rejoice in Him and to enjoy Him forever.

Getting The Presence of God Requires A Clear Presentation

William Cowper spoke of the desire to know God and the problem that separates us from Him.

1 O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heav'nly frame,
a light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb!

2 Where is the blessedness I knew when first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view of Jesus and His Word?

3 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their mem'ry still!
But they have left an aching void the world can never fill.

One thing have I desired 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 behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

The psalmist gives us his experience, because he is anxious to praise God. He is also anxious to help others. That is the whole purpose of sharing a personal experience—not to call attention to oneself but to call attention to the Lord who is the giver of all and who alone is worthy to be praised. As we look at the experience of this man, we can learn many lessons from him. He is teaching us here how to face the battle of life and of living.  That is the great value of the book of Psalms. They are always so practical because they are experimental or experiential. They have this additional value: Each psalmist is not a man writing theoretically about life. It is generally someone who, having passed through some experience that tried and tested him, has again discovered the way of success and of triumph. So he wants to celebrate that and to pass on the information to others. And another great value, of course, of the psalms is that they are always so honest. The psalmist does not pretend he is better than he is. He opens his heart; he exposes himself to us, as it were, exactly as he is. He tells us about his fears and his forebodings; he never conceals any of his own weaknesses. So we feel that he speaks to our condition.

Then what does he desire and what does he dwell on? Here again I want you to notice the order of these things. This man's supreme desire is to worship God and to adore Him; so that is what he starts with: ―One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.  What for? ―To behold the beauty of the LORD.  He repeats this in the thirteenth verse: ―I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD.‖

A much better translation of the word rendered ―behold‖ in verse 4 would have been ―gaze upon, meditate upon, consider: ―to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.  It means to see the desirableness of God, to see His goodness, to consider and to meditate upon and to contemplate His excellencies. This is what this man wants above everything else.

He does not start with answers to prayers and deliverance or this and that particular blessing. Not at all! He wants to know God and to gaze upon Him. This is adoration; this is worship! He is talking about the being of God and about God's dealings with us. His supreme ambition is to gaze upon the glory of the being of God.

The psalmist wanted to gaze upon the glory of God, the beauty of the Lord in His very being, the consideration of His attributes. Do you do this? Is this your supreme ambition? Is this your greatest desire? My dear friend, this is the whole secret of life!

Present to Him the distress of your Soul

This is how we are meant to live. This should be our constant experience. Not to know it is, in some sense, to limit His grace and His glory.

The first and most common cause of all, of course, is sin and disobedience. It was because this was constantly true of them that the children of Israel were brought to calamity and made miserable and wretched. And you, too, will never know the blessings of this Christian life until you stop sinning and until you begin to obey God's commandments. It follows as the night the day; it is no use asking for blessings if you are deliberately continuing in sin. That is the most common cause of all.

Let me add a second: self-satisfaction—that is, self-confidence and self-reliance. That, again, was a constant source of trouble in the children of Israel. They did not need the power of God, they thought. They could gather an army; they could muster their forces; they could have good generals of their own! They did not need God. So they went and challenged the enemy in their own strength and were defeated. But when they trusted in God, even though they were only a handful, they were always victorious. Beware of self-confidence, self-satisfaction, this feeling that we have arrived!

Present to Him the desires of your Heart

4 Return, O holy Dove, return, sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, and drove Thee from my breast.

5 The dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be, help me to tear it from Thy throne
and worship only Thee.

6 So shall my walk be close with God, calm and serene my frame; so purer light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.

Maintaining The Presence of God Produces Convincing Evidence

His presence is a holy presence.

It is this understanding of God that makes His presence a potential menace to His people. It is worth our remembering that the part of the tabernacle in which the presence of God was continually manifest is called, "The Holy of Holies." The part of the tabernacle that was just outside of the "Holy of Holies" was called "The Holy Place." All of the people understood that the God who dwelt in their midst was a holy God. They understood that there were certain dangers that went with having holy God manifest in their midst.

His presence places a demand for holiness upon His people.

The book of Leviticus has been called the book of holiness. In one of the summary statements in that book God said to his people, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt to be your God: therefore be holy because I am holy" (Leviticus 11 :45).

1. Our worship will be transformed.

We read concerning the response of Moses, "Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped, 'O, Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.'"

Do you see him bowing on his face before the Lord! Worship will never be the same again. Since he knows God better, he is better prepared to give himself in worship to the most high God.

Our limited knowledge of God is our greatest hindrance when we come together to worship him.

Spiritual Purpose

2. Our walk will be transformed.

There is a little detail included in the record concerning its impact upon Moses –– "When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken to with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him." This was to Moses a life changing moment. It showed up in his face.

Any time you come to more intimate knowledge of God it will affect your face, your feet, your voice, your hands, and your tongue. It will affect all of the ways that you relate to life around you. Moses would always be the man who had the glow on his face from that day forward.

3. Our work will be transformed.

Once Moses saw the glory of the Lord from the cleft of the rock, there was a new dimension to the way he went about his tasks day by day. He was the servant of the great and glorious God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would never, never be tempted to the empty idols that attracted the people of Israel from time to time. He knew better! He knew God to be the living and eternal God!

Are you ready to begin to pray with Moses, "Lord, show me your glory."? Nothing greater could happen in your life nor in the life of this church than for us to have awakened within us a deeper desire for a greater knowledge of the infinite God.