Seeking God's Presence - Pastor Tom Loghry
We long to spend time with those we love - do we place the same significance on seeking God’s presence?
Transcript:
A letter from a friend is nice, but a visit is better. FaceTime and Zoom can help families connect across continents, but the best video quality cannot replace a loved one's embrace. We long to be together with those we love. We will pay an expensive price to get on a plane to be reunited, if only for a brief time. And so with that in mind, here is a question for you. Do we desire God's presence even as much as we desire the presence of family and friends? Is the desire for God's presence our deepest desire in life? We're going to contemplate this today in Psalm 84. In this psalm, the sons of Korah express their deep longing for God's presence.
Now, I wanna remind you, last summer we dipped into the Psalms, and we're dipping into the Psalms again here this summer, that Psalms were used for worship. Most of them were written by King David. This psalm, however, is written by the sons of Korah, and they wrote 11 of the Psalms. And as songs, they were put to music. One of the terms here that is strange to us, it says, "According to Gittith," would've been the instructed musical style in which it was to be played. But we don't know what that means. We don't have the notation so that we could play it as it was in that time in our own. But these sons of Korah were part of the tribe of Levi and served in the temple.
Now, there's something very interesting about these sons of Korah, though, because their family history has a, has a, has a big skeleton in it. Some of you might be familiar with Korah's rebellion. This, this was a rebellion on the part of their ancestor, Korah, who was of the tribe of Levi, during the time of the exodus as they're approaching the promised land. Now, Korah, unlike other members of the tribe, the Aaronites, who were given the privilege and responsibility of serving as priests in the temple, Korah was there to basically give hands-on service, to help carry things, to help set up the tabernacle, to transport it from one place to another. It turns out, though, that Korah wasn't very pleased with that service, and he was jealous. He was jealous of, of Moses and of Aaron, and he wanted their position, their stature, their glory for himself. And the, in response, God brings judgment upon them. But it's interesting because we have this showdown between Korah, and there are some Reubenites. There was 250 leaders in the community who joined with him in this rebellion.
And Moses addresses Korah in Numbers 16, verses 8 through 9. He says, "Now listen, you Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do work at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?"
You see, Korah was showing a lot of ingratitude, ungratitude for the privilege that he had been given, because unlike the rest of the tribes of Israel, he was constantly ministering in the presence of God. Yes, not as closely as the priests, but nonetheless, it was a great privilege. And yet he was entirely ungrateful and desiring for something more for himself.
These sons of Korah, however are not like their predecessor. He was consumed by fire. He and most of his household were destroyed, but there was a line preserved. In this later generation, we're talking about a few hundred years later now, they are, they are serving as doorkeepers in the temple, as its custodians and as, as singers in the temple. This is how they have their hand here in the Psalms. They're musicians. And as they're serving in the temple, they're reveling in this great privilege that they have. So they start off in verse one. They say, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty." How lovely is your dwelling place. Now, what does this mean when we're talking about God's dwelling place?
We're gonna spend a little time on here. I promise you the rest of the psalm isn't gonna take as much time, but we need to first understand what we're talking about when we're talking about God's dwelling place. What we're talking about is God's presence with his people. Now, we can say that God is omnipresent, that is that he's present everywhere. You cannot run away from God as, as Jonah tried to do. In Psalm 139:7, David says, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" And so that's true, but there is also a sense in which God makes Himself especially present with His people. And there's a true sense in which we've lost the greater presence of God because that sort of presence, that sort of relationship with God that we enjoyed in Eden has been lost. Adam and Eve were dismissed from God's presence. They were cast out of the garden. And it's interesting, though, that we see that through the people of Israel, God is calling a people for himself, and he's making himself present with them. It's by his presence that he brings them out of Egypt, and when they sin against him, they're very afraid of God removing his presence among them.
And when you see the camp of Israel organized when they set up camp, what we find is the tabernacle in the center of the camp, God in the midst of his people. So yes, God was making himself present among the people of Israel in the tabernacle, and ultimately looking forward to the temple that would be constructed in the land of Israel.
In Deuteronomy 16:11, it anticipates this, and it says, "And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his name-- you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you." So God was making himself present in his temple, and we, and we see this idea captured in the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6:18-21. And we have this interesting tension here because not only here is it recognized, but elsewhere in the Old Testament God's dwelling, true dwelling place is heaven, and yet he's making his dwelling place in some way here in his temple. Solomon, in, in dedicating the temple says, "But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive."
So we see both heaven as God's dwelling place, but him, himself, God making his, himself present here in this temple also so that his people may come before him and pray to him even from afar, praying towards the temple, which is, it seems like a strange concept to us, but it was this idea that the people were seeking the presence of God. And so you have to have this in mind if you're gonna understand the richness of this Psalm, that there's a very true sense here of the presence of God. It's not a mere building. It's a place in which God has made himself especially present. And yet we know that there is no longer a temple today, which may lead us to wonder, has God removed his presence from Earth? When we look at the testimony of the New Testament, we see that's not the case at all. Jesus, in his earthly ministry, anticipated and actually brought about this situation in which we would no longer have need for an earthly temple that preceded him and that was around at his own time.
In talking to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, many of you will be familiar with this, in John 4:23-24. He tells her, "Yet a time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." And the reason why he was saying this to the Samaritan woman is 'cause there was this debate as to whether worship should be taking place in Jerusalem, as the Jews believed, or on Mount Gerizim, as the Samaritans believed. And Jesus is saying it's not gonna be fixed in one location. But do not misunderstand. This does not mean that our experience of coming before God's presence is necessarily spaceless. It's not spaceless. We hear Jesus tell his disciples in Matthew 18, verses 18 through 20 this. He's talking about situations in which his believers have to correct those that have fallen into sin, but it has a broader implication, I think, as we talk about, as we think about our gathering for worship.
Listen to what he says. He says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on Earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them."
Think about that. As believers, as disciples of Christ, when we gather together, Christ is present with us. And in my course of the ministry here, I've tried to stress over time that the church is not, you know, the boards, the architecture here. The church is the people. But I don't want you to think that when we gather, there isn't something special happening. When we gather, we are truly drawing before God's presence. Because the church, in fact, is the new temple of God. Paul, in Ephesians 2:18-22 says this: "For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in, and in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit."
Do you get that? That God has actually now made it so that because of what Christ has accomplished, He is going to make His dwelling place in us.
Now, certainly that applies individually, but I do wanna stretch us here not to just think individualistically about the presence of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives, but thinking about collectively, this idea of a spiritual body built up in God's presence dwelling among us. Now of course, we do also have the great privilege of drawing before God's presence individually, collectively and individually, because Christ is our great high priest. He is at the right hand of the Father. In Hebrews 4:14-16, we, we hear this described, and I'll just jump to verse 16, where there's this invitation given to us. "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Christ is standing as our representative. He is the one who is not only fully God, but He's fully man. He's fully human. And so He, He is present for us, and He mediates on our behalf so that we are truly drawn before the throne of God in Jesus Christ. This is all great. So when we think about seeking God's dwelling place, we can think about in the Old Testament context, yes, the literal temple that was there at that time. We can think about now as we would seek God's presence as we gather together with the people of God, and as we would seek God's presence in prayer, looking to Christ as our great mediator. But there's something more yet to come. We hear this foretold in Ezekiel 37, verses 26 through 28, a promise that God's going to make His dwelling place here on Earth.
It says, "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever."
So we see this reference here in the Old Testament that God's going to make His dwelling place here on Earth, even while it's been already noted that God's true dwelling place is Heaven, but that something more is yet to come. And we see that which is to come foretold, and seen, really, in the Apostle John's visionary revelation in Revelation 21:1-3.
It's one of my, I, I feel like almost every week I refer to this passage, so I'm sorry if it's so familiar, but it's such a, so important. He says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, saying," I want you to pay close attention here, given what we're talking about with God's dwelling place. "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God."
So when we're talking about how lovely God's dwelling place is, and we're reading it from our position now on this other side of the cross, we are looking forward to that coming day when this will come to pass.
So moving from here then, thinking about, we seek God's presence in the church, individually in prayer, and ultimately in Christ's return when God makes His dwelling place here on Earth. We can now really receive the rest of what the psalmist has to say here. Looking at verses two through four, it says, "My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you."
Why does the psalmist's soul yearns, even faint for the courts of the Lord? Why does he desire to be in God's presence? It's because he, he knows that's where true life is found. In Psalm 16:11 it says, "You make known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
We know how we can experience joy in the presence of, of one another, with those that we love, how we can be blessed by one another. How much more in the presence of God? He desires to be in God's presence so much that you, you can just visualize it here. They're serving in the temple, and they look up in the architecture and see there's a bird up there, and it's made a nest and for, for itself and for its little ones. And, and he's looking at that, and he's saying, "I wish I could be that bird. I wish I didn't have to go home at night. I wish that this place was my home, that I could always dwell in the presence of my God.
Is that your desire? Do you long to dwell in the presence of God forever? That's what we're promised. I just read that passage from Revelation. That's what we're promised. Is that what you desire? Or are you desiring the presence of something else? Maybe the promise of some false idol in this world, religious or material, or are you so consumed with yourself, almost like a, a narcissist, just looking at the image of yourself in that mirror? Are you looking at the image of yourself or are you trying to see the face of God?
He, he longs to be near the altar of God. It's a blessed place because the altar is the place in which the people of God are sanctified. It's a place of, of praise. And as I've already referenced, in Christ, we are perfectly cleansed and purified. We are invited into God's presence to receive true grace and forgiveness in Him. And so yes, we would long to be in that place near God's altar because of what Christ has done for us.
Moving on to verses five through seven. We have this kind of shift in, in imagery now to someone who's pilgrimaging to God's temple. Says in verse, starting in verse five, "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs. The autumn rains also cover it with pools." Then going to verse seven, "They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion."
It's not, you gotta appreciate the difficulties that, that they had at that time. The great privilege that we have in Christ that we no longer have to travel many miles to draw before God's presence, but that's what they did. Yes, they would pray towards the direction of the temple, but they would also take pilgrimage to actually come to God's temple. It was not an easy journey. They'd have to pass through the Valley of Baka, and, and this was a valley that was known to be arid, and the word baka means weeping. A valley of weeping. You can see how there's something kind of metaphorical about this. And when, as we are seeking God's presence, as we're going on this pilgrimage, it's not necessarily easy. We pass through a valley of weeping. But see how that va- valley of weeping is transformed. It says, "They make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools." It's like as those tears are pouring, it actually irrigates the land. It waters it and brings forth life.
It is God who strengthens and, and provides for His people as they seek His presence. They go from strength to strength, each appears before God in Zion because again, they're not just going through some rote motion of like, "Hey, I've gotta go and do these things." They are seeking God Himself, and He strengthens His people on that journey.
He strengthens us in that journey as we seek His presence. And so the sons of Korah pray in verse eight and nine. They say, "Hear my prayer, Lord Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob. Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one." So they're, they're praying for, for blessing. They're praying for protection. "Look on our shield." And we can think about that for ourselves, about the perils that we face as we seek, seek God. And yes, there's all sorts of perils in this world, you know, disease, death, all, all that kinda stuff, but that's really not the most dangerous peril. The most dangerous peril is that which would take us away from God.
The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, "Be alert and of sober mind because your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." We are praying that God would protect us, that He would guard us from temptation so that we would not get off the path.
And then we get to verse 10, which is a very well-known verse, a very beautiful verse in which they say, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
What they're saying is, is that dwelling in God's presence is worth it all. It's worth everything. And notice the redemptive arc here, these sons of Korah, Korah who had complained about having to essentially be a doorkeeper in God's temple, totally ungrateful, and now they're saying, "I would rather be a doorkeeper every day of my life in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked, the tents which were consumed by God in judgment in the time of Korah's rebellion."
Can you say the same for yourself? That better is one day in your courts, better is one day in the presence of God than a thousand elsewhere? We go through many troubles and trials and, and we're tempted to try to console ourselves, to kind of drug ourselves by pursuing empty pleasures, but they cannot bring us the comfort that we seek. They cannot give us the joy that we desire. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17 reminds us that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that outweighs them all, that for all our days of suffering, the eternity that awaits us in God's presence when Christ returns, it's priceless. So are you desiring to dwell in the courts of our God? Or are you being drawn into the tents of the wicked?
If you're not seeking God's presence now, if you're not desiring it now, why would you want it then when God actually makes His home here on Earth? if we are truly seeking Zion, that's gonna change our life today. And we have a promise of blessing as we draw near to God. Verses 11, 12. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.
So we think about the sun. The sun brings life. We, we prefer the sun to overcast skies. Brings about joy in our hearts. God is our shield. He protects us. He is the one in whom our future is secure. He is the one in which we find a lasting inheritance. And so we have this promise that He's not gonna withhold anything good from us. Yes, we go through trials and tough things, but all things are being worked together for the good of those who love God and who have been called according to His purpose
But one little detail here may stick out to you. It says, "No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." It's like, who among us here are, are blameless? It's kinda like you get to the end of all this and you're like, "Oh, this is great," and it's like, "Oh, this doesn't apply to me. I'm not blameless."
But in Jesus Christ, we are given good news so that we would not despair. The Apostle Paul in verses, in Ephesians 1:3-8 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us."
So I want you to notice the two things there, that in, He chose us in Him, in Jesus Christ. Even before the creation of the world, God saw all of this. None of this is a surprise to Him. In order that we would be holy and blameless in His sight. But it's not on our own. It's only in Jesus Christ. The key here is verse seven. It says, our redemption is not by our blood, it's by the blood of Jesus Christ. We cannot earn forgiveness of ourselves. Our forgiveness, the forgiveness of our sins, is found in him. Everything is in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavishes on us. That's how we are judged as blameless in Christ.
And in Christ, we do begin living a new life. That is God's purpose in us, that we would be delivered from punishment, but also delivered unto a new life, the life that God created us to live in Jesus Christ. And so, and we see actually this, this key carry over into this psalm, 'cause notice the word, the note that it ends on.
"Blessed is the one who trusts in you." Blessed is the one who trusts in you. That is how we are counted blameless before God, it's as we trust in Jesus Christ, as we trust in what God has done in him for our sakes. Insofar as we trust in Him, we are counted blameless and we are blessed.
If you trust God, if you believe that your true joy will be found in His presence, that your true home is found in His presence, then you're gonna seek Him. You will come before His presence in Christ as you pray in the Holy Spirit, you will see God's presence in the communion of His saints, the gathering of the church, because Christ promises to be present in our midst. And above all you will set your eyes on Zion. The day is coming when Christ will return and God will dwell with us here on Earth-- do you long for that day? Do you thirst for His presence?
I might have shared this before, but I had a dream about a year and a half ago that left a deep impression on me. I was walking through a darkened landscape, a black plain, and looming before me was the city of God. Its walls towering like skyscrapers, its gate opening inward, casting forth light. And it left a deep impression on me because in that moment, I desired with all my heart to go there. In that moment, I felt my only concern was to get there, my only concern was that God would be pleased with me as I made my way into His presence. Not because I thought I could justify myself, not at all, but because He was all that mattered to me in that moment. None of the distractions of this life were in view. Seeking His presence was all my hope and joy
It was a dream, but I think my concerns in that moment were more real than any of the other concerns that preoccupy me too often. Do I long to be like the sparrow, nested in the presence of God? Do you? Does my heart and flesh cry out for the living God? Does yours? How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! Let us yearn for him and trust in him with our whole heart. Let us pray
Dear Father we thank you that you invite us into your presence.
Father, we thank you that you have purposed that we should be able to dwell in your presence forever in an even better situation than the sparrow, Father, and that you have brought this about in Jesus Christ.
Father, we pray that we would desire You, that we would love you with our whole heart. That we would seek your presence because we know that it is only with you that our true joy is found that our true rest is found.
Father, as we pilgrim our way through this current age, give us strength. Guard us from temptation. Fill us with, fill us with hope and desire for the return of Christ, when your presence will be made fully manifest here on Earth. Until then, Father, let us not fail. Fill us heart, our hearts with a yearning desire to seek you in the congregation of your people, in the gathering of the body of Christ for worship. Fill our hearts with the desire, Father, to seek your presence in our quiet moments of prayer. And in the midst of chaos and turmoil around us, Father, cut through the noise, that we would seek you and to know your presence, Father. Once again, we thank you that we can do this, and that all this is going to come about because of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
In His name we pray, amen
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we worship God and hear the preaching of his word. It's our joy to welcome you into our community
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)