This is a short, non-exhaustive walk through Scripture concerning the presence of God.
Why Do We Need His Presence?
God’s Presence is the Distinguishing Mark of God's People.
Then Moses said to the Lord, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people." And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" The Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name." (Exodus 33:12-17 NASB)
- A primary reason God manifests Himself to and upon us is so that we might learn His ways and therefore know Him. Many today do not recognize, receive or understand Gods ways because they have never been exposed to them. Yet, here, in His Presence, we say Come Lord and show us Your ways!
God’s Presence Overpowers ALL THINGS, and brings joy to His People. God’s presence works like a judgment of joy. It is as once a judgement on the enemy and even the earth, while bringing joy to the people of God.
Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, And let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, Whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him. A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. O God, when You went forth before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah. The earth quaked; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God; You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched. (Psalms 68:1-9 NASB)
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence- As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil- To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence. For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (Isaiah 64:1-4 NASB)
How Do We Respond to His Presence?
The primary response to God’s Presence is to Honour and Worship Him.
This is accompanied by listening to His voice – hearing and obeying that which He is speaking to your heart and life.
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest." (Psalms 95:1-11 NASB)
Repentance and Turning to God keeps His presence and refreshing near.
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19 NASB)
Humble yourself. God’s presence will not share the stage.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:7-10 NASB)
What Happens in His Presence?
In His presence we are changed and set free.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17 NASB)
In His presence is joy and pleasures from Him. His blessing is found in His presence.
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalms 16:11 NASB)
In His presence is Protection.
How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. (Psalms 31:19, 20 NASB)
We can Dwell in and Enjoy His Presence at all times.
Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence. (Psalms 140:13 NASB)
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19 NASB)
