Entering into His Presence Part #03
Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: 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 inquire in His temple.
How do we come into God’s Presence?
1. With worship!
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Whether your full of joy or you are down and out, come before God with praise. We praise Him verbally with words that exalt Him….we do this by singing songs to Him. We can do it with instruments, in our devotion time, in a church service. Guess what--we can praise Him throughout our day.
2. With repentance
Psalm 15:1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts. 5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.
Would you agree the subject of this chapter is how to dwell in God’s Presence? After David asks this question, he then answers it. There are several things mentioned: living right, being truthful, speaking no gossip, keeping our word, our vows and promises. Just do what is right by following God’s Word. God does call his people to be morally upright, to live right. We live among evil people whose standards and morals are eroding. Despite what the world says our standards for living should not come from our evil society but from God. We live by what God says even when it’s not what we want. Are we perfect: no. Do we make mistakes: yes. The danger here is living in outright sin and staying in it, doing the opposite of what God wants us to do, for when we do this the Bible calls this sin.
James 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Sin will hinder His Presence.
3. Coming to His House
Psalm 122:1 A Song of Ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD."
Why did David want to go to God’s house? He knew he could come into God’s presence. God’s presence shows up where two or three are gathered.
Matthew 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
Going to church should be a priority in your life, not only if you want to. If you’re in love with God, you want to worship with other believers.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
4. Your personal devotions
God is there when you spend time with Him. This is probably the time you will hear Him the most because it’s just you and Him. His presence can fall during the time you spend alone with Him. If you don’t meet regularly with God, I am challenging you to set aside fifteen minutes to connect with God. Know that God longs to meet with you. He waits patiently to spend time with you. Think about it! The Creator of the universe is patiently waiting right now to spend time with you!
Blessings, Pastor Scott