ch. #1 Entering and Dwelling in His Presence; God's 'Arks'
Part One: Entering His Presence through praise and worship
Glorious Psalm 90 opens by proclaiming that: “Lord, You have been our DWELLING PLACE in all generations.” The 90th Psalm is a bittersweet lament that is also filled with the hope of regeneration in the presence of our eternal God. It is thought by some scholars, to be a continuation of the Song of Moses. Others believe that the 91st Psalm carries on a very similar theme and is also written by Moses. There are some that believe that Moses wrote most of Psalms 90-100, the ‘Royal Psalms’ that declare God’s regal attributes and how it is that we may dwell in His presence! It doesn’t surprise me, that God would reveal to Moses the holy patterns necessary for entering into God’s presence and the 5 major dispositions of worship: Adoration, Confession, Petition, Intercession and Thanksgiving (five in all). It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Moses wrote all of these Psalms (90-100). Moses knew and experienced the powerful presence of God Himself!
There are continual blessings for those that “rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!” One of the greatest revelations that we can ever know, is that “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH!” The Word says, “in ALL things, give thanks.” When we praise Jesus as a fruit or reaction to every situation, He is truly abiding in us, and we are abiding in Him. It is His will that we are able to release every situation to Him with thanksgiving and praise. He is glorified, and great spiritual blessings (His anointing, comfort, assurance and presence) are released in and upon us as we proclaim our trust in Him by praising Him with abandon no matter what the situation! The tougher the days---- the greater the praise, needed to release our faith and His mighty presence within us and then into our circumstances!
The beginning of each of these Psalms, reveal His eternal attributes, and declare to us how it is that we were created to worship Him and abide in Him! We will experience the following (in parenthesis) when we are led by His Spirit in our worship:
“Lord You have been our Dwelling Place in all generations.”
Ps 90:1 (We must dwell and abide in Jesus!)
“He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Ps 91:1,2
(He is our Hiding place... our protection)
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,” Ps. 92:1,2.
(praise Him for His wonderful attributes)
“The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.“ Ps. 93:1,2. (He reigns forever... stand in awe of His presence, praise Him for His creation and His eternal attributes)
“O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.” Ps.94:1,2. (Reveal Yourself to us Lord!)
“O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. Ps. 95:1,2.
(in His presence, praise Him with abandon)
“O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Ps.96:1,2. (Bless the Lord... reflect His salvation)
“THE Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Ps 97:1,2.
(God reigns... Rejoice! He is awesome and mysterious)
“O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. Ps. 98:1.
(Praise Him for His wonders and for the victory!)
“THE Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. Ps. 99:1,2,3.
(He is Lord and over all! Stand in awe!)
“MAKE a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. Ps. 100.
(Enter His presence with praise and worship... be thankful!)
These are the opening verses of what may all be the Psalms of Moses; Psalms 90-100. These marvelous Psalms reveal the ultimate resting place that God has ordained for all who love and seek Him... to dwell in His glorious presence and worship Jesus forever! It is accepted by some bible scholars that Moses wrote many of these Psalms, if not all. There is a spiritual and contextual continuity that deeply suggests that He did. There are Hebrew scholars that believe that Psalms 90-100, are a continuation of the Song of Moses that begins in Deuteronomy 32. The Song of Moses speaks of a wonderful and long suffering God, of how Israel the Bride, provoked Him to jealousy and then rebelled against her Husband. God declared His anger, vengeance and judgment against His chosen people (Deut. 32:41) but also lovingly promised to “provide atonement for His land and His people.” Moses’ blessing of Israel before His death, declares that God is our Refuge and proclaims the ultimate restoration of Israel. If the Psalms of Moses are in fact a continuation of the Song of Moses, the bitter turns into sweet, as it culminates in majestic praises to God, in His mighty presence. These Psalms are laden with prophecies of His final coming in glory... the coming of His Kingdom!
The Song of Moses, speaks of the history and reveals the destiny of the nation Israel. It also reveals the way God views His chosen nation. He can see the history of the world all at a glance, past and future. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega... the beginning and the end. God’s complete nature is reflected in the Song of Moses, not only His omnipotence but also His long suffering, mercy and loving-kindness. God’s broken heart and Israel’s agony of suffering over separation from God, was caused by her own sin. The fact that God knew that Israel would fall and yet chose her to be His bride, means that His intentions toward her from creation, were rooted in His loving grace. Most of Israel has yet to receive God’s unearned, unmerited deliverance (grace) and the promise of dwelling in God’s Presence (Ps. 90-100). “The eternal God is your Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms...” Deut. 33: 27 God’s loving plan for Israel, may soon be fulfilled before our very eyes! Messiah is coming!
Psalms 90-100, are a foundation for praise and worship and entering and abiding in His presence. The biblical record of Israel’s repentance from sin and remembrance of His deliverance, is necessary to lead us into brokenness and repentance. It is because of His amazing grace and love that we are drawn to worship Him and dwell in His presence for eternity. The Song of Moses, reminds us of the wisdom of not completely forgetting where we came from and Who it is that longs to carry us onward. God can take a “pig’s ear” and turn it into a “silk purse.” We need to constantly remind ourselves of God’s readiness and willingness to restore even the worst sinner or nation of sinners in this case. The nation of Israel has never been a perfect nation and yet God richly provided for her and forgave her numerous times, just as He also forgives and restores us. The knowledge of His overwhelming loving kindness and mercy, requires us to trust Him and brings us to our knees in prayerful thought, repentance, awe, praise and worship. We must first allow Him to cleanse us and “give us a new heart O God.”
The foundation that must be laid before we can ever enter His presence, is the work of the cross in our lives. Without our flesh being crucified with Christ, It is impossible to enter His presence. (Later on, I will describe what the altars of sacrifice in the Temple truly represent). Nor will we long to enter His presence without being dead to sin. His Spirit is inviting us continually to enter into oneness with Jesus. The ‘Song of Moses,’ is the song of priests (us) who will worship and minister to Jesus, in heaven;
“and they sing the Song of Moses the servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb.” (Rev. 15: 1-3).
Contained in these Psalms, are spiritual modes and attitudes of worship for all that have been grafted into Abraham, that can be attributed only to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! These Psalms mightily reveal the foundation of truth and worship for entering into His presence.
The beginning of the first two Psalms of Moses declare that Jehovah is and has always been our Dwelling Place and habitation. In Psalm 91, we are made aware that there is a secret place where we can dwell. Jesus is that “secret place” in whom all of God’s children can find refuge and dwell. Jesus is calling us to complete rest and reliance IN HIM. In this world there is chaos and turmoil. Being hidden in Jesus is the only answer and the bible bears this out quite beautifully. He wants us to have such perfect trust in Him, that we walk continually in peace and joy. Jesus wants us to be in a continual state of worship. He wants everything we do to be an act of worship! This is when He is ruling in our hearts for He is “enthroned upon the praises of His people.” He releases His anointing in us when as an act of faithful abandonment, we praise Him regardless of the situation or circumstance. We are proclaiming our trust and adoration for Him and He is then able to be Lord in our lives and in every situation! The tougher and more impossible the situation, the greater the praise should be! No matter what happens to us, God wants us to be able to praise Him for it. By doing so, we release even more faith IN HIM, who works on our behalf. “Stand and see what the Lord will do!” It is when we are in this position in Christ that we may “ask what we desire and it shall be done for us.” (Jn 15:7) There is an amazing promise in Psalm 91 that “no evil shall befall us... if we “have made the Lord, who is our refuge, even the Most High our Dwelling Place” (v.10,9). God reveals through the Psalmist that we are to “love the habitation of His house and the place where glory dwells” and we are to “...tell of all His wondrous works” (Psalm 22:8,7).
Psalm 92 and 93 teach us to thank and magnify the Lord and acknowledge His Lordship; to “sing praises unto His name” and exalt His loving-kindness and His faithfulness. Psalm 93, proclaims His majesty and His regal attributes. Psalm 94 is a request for God to judge the earth and reveal Himself to us and to the world. (We need Him to continuously reveal more of Himself to us and in us... more of Jesus and less of “me”).
After the plaintive requests of Psalm 94, Moses extols us in Psalm 95 to come and sing and make a joyful noise before the Lord and to “come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.” In Psalm 96:8, we are encouraged to “give unto the Lord the glory due His name.... worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness...” While we are abandoned in His wonderful presence, the worship gets intense, we forget about ourselves... His glory sanctifies us and we are lifted to a higher place. Those that have truly entered into His presence cannot compare Him in words to anyone or anything else. Words cannot describe what its like to come before Him. Burdens are lifted and bondages are broken by His anointing and our spirits can again soar like the eagle. “In His Presence is fullness of joy at His right hand, pleasures forevermore”.
“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”. (Ps. 27:4) We are instructed by the Apostle Paul to “come boldly before His throne” (Heb. 4:16) for we are all called to the priesthood. “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, A HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 2:4,5) We are to constantly offer up the “sacrifice of praise.”
In Psalms 97-99, the psalmist is still lifting up the name of the Lord and His Kingship over the earth. Jesus reigns! Hallelujah! Psalm 100 is an invitation for everyone to “come before His presence with singing....enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name.” At this point, using the pattern in these 11 Psalms, we have been encouraged to dwell in the presence of the Lord through praise and worship.
The Lord clearly encourages us to come boldly into His presence with child-like exuberance and abandon. This is the kind of love that He wants from us! Does Jesus make your heart jump? Does the very thought of Jesus often make you melt inside? When the little children all rushed to Jesus and just wanted to touch Him, be near Him and climb up into His lap, Jesus rebuked the adults who tried to stop them: “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven... whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 18:3,4). We must lay down all of our sophistication, our “methods” and our preconceived ideas and come to Jesus as innocently and purely motivated as exuberant little kids. As Jesus held and blessed the children in Matt. 19:14, He warned His disciples; “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” The greatest saints that I know, all have this same quality about them; a child-like loving abandon for Jesus that keeps them eternally young! You can’t fake this kind of love! It is difficult to have this kind of love for Jesus and carry around any burdens or be depressed or angry or bitter towards anyone! These kinds of saints love others with Jesus’ love, an unconditional, inviting, infectious love that people are attracted to. This is the kind of love that we receive only by spending time in His glorious presence and abandoning ourselves to Him like little children who haven’t seen Daddy all day! It is not our theology or knowledge that will cause people to flock to Jesus but when they see His overwhelming loving presence in us, people will be drawn to Him. This kind of loving abandon is a willful reaction to the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Children don’t have all of the baggage and pseudo-sophistication, which prevents many proud adults from abandoning themselves to Jesus. Millions of men and women spend a lifetime seeking for the kind of innocence and joy that they had when they were children. It is that kind of joy---- except better, that we can experience when we abandon ourselves to the Lord! “... I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly!” Jn 10:10
The Psalms written by Moses show us how it is that we can enter into God’s presence. They reveal to us God’s intimate plan and destination for us and our need to proclaim His attributes; extol His virtues; thank Him for His lovingkindness; and enter into His very presence by praising and worshiping Him. We begin by praising and singing about Him and then we enter His presence and sing to Him. This is not some esoteric or charismatic idea, this is the pattern and command of His Word!!
“How lovely are thy dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” (Ps. 84:1,2) I often find myself aching to be in His presence and constantly longing for Him, which is His will for His Bride. “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.” (Ps. 84:4) The Gospels and epistles of Paul, reveal our position in Christ. When we are truly dwelling and abiding in Jesus, we are increasingly becoming His dwelling place: “Christ.....in Whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:21,22). If we are “abiding in Him and His word abides in us (we may) ask what we will and it will be done for us!” We don’t have to go into any building to enter His courts, it is His will that we stay before Him, and walk in His Spirit of joyous worship. “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.....strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...” (Eph. 3:12,16.) We are not in the Spirit all the time (though His Spirit is always in us if we are born again) but when we are in the Spirit, we have become His Holy Ground... the Most Holy Spirit floods our entire temple with His presence! (His ‘Qodesh,’ “Be ye holy, for I am Holy!”). The more continuously that we praise and worship Jesus, the more that we will walk in the Spirit, the more constantly we are His dwelling place! This is when we are of particular use to God! We have been given the privilege to come “boldly before His throne.” “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Ps.84:10,11).
All that are born again have access to the outer court of His Heavenly Temple and a right to access the Holy of Holies. The outer court in the Old Testament, is where all of the priests prepared to minister unto the Lord and fulfilled various duties of preparation for sacrifice and worship in the temple. But not all of them had the right to enter into the Holy of Holies. The outer court is where we first enter in spiritually, to offer up ourselves but it is by His doing, through His Spirit, that we may then enter the Most Holy Place of His Tabernacle and offer God our sacrifices of adoration and praise. We are able to remain in His Presence because He has made His abode in us! His Spirit within us, is our direct link to the Holy of Holies. Though, He doesn’t constantly deluge His temples with His presence as when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated, His Spirit is always in us. But it is our pursuit of Him and willingness to obey His word and bringing our flesh to be sacrificed daily upon His altar, that will cause Him to visit us and fill our temples with His glory. Because no flesh can glory in His presence, only that which has been born of the Spirit!
Only those who have been brought to a place of desperation for Jesus will pursue Him and wait on Him and abandon themselves to Jesus and enter into HIM. For me, Jesus is synonymous with the Holy of Holies, for Jesus is the Holiest of all Dwelling Places. Jesus is our Secret Place where we can hide and find shelter! We are able to enter the Holy of Holies (intimate fellowship with Jesus) when we are IN the Spirit. This is the place where we become ONE with Jesus and the Father! We must strive to enter into intimate union with Jesus, nothing must hold us back from abiding IN HIM, “for apart from Him, we can do nothing!” Unfortunately, not everyone that is born again seeks this kind of intimacy with Jesus, nor is willing to daily lay down all of their sin, pride and selfishness to be able to steadily abide in Him.
I am only beginning to consistently enter into intimate oneness with Jesus. I spent many years struggling in the outer court and still feel that I’ve got a long way to go but I now know in my heart that Jesus is the Way. I failed in my attempt to live the victorious Christian life, only when Jesus is enthroned in me, am I walking in complete victory! It is God’s will that we enter in and remain before Him. I also believe that this is the threshold or entrance to walking in the Spirit and is also the Place of Rest that Paul talks about in Hebrews ch. 4, that is worth laboring to enter into. The GLORY of His Presence is incomparable. The Glory of His Presence, transcends our emotions and is much deeper than our thoughts.
The Glory of His Presence that wells up within me when I have truly entered in before Him, is indescribable. I have experienced the shear joy of the living water that Jesus promised would bubble up and become a river within us! Sin in my life, has prevented me at times from being able to enter into anointed worship. I can only say that I long for His presence and His touch but this happens only when I have truly laid down every bad attitude and sin at His feet. For me, His presence and anointing also releases my deepest emotions but this is only a byproduct, not the experience which I seek. Entering His presence, is a much deeper and more profound biblical privilege, than it is an “esoteric” or emotional experience.
There is however, a counterfeit that is built only on emotion and not the truth of His word, that we must guard against. There are some shallow charismatics and others that bypass the full truth of His word and begin to create a theology and mode of worship that revolves primarily around experience, emotion and the supernatural instead of the truth of His word and His anointing. This kind of worship is often soulish and fleshly, although it may seem deep and real. Though we are to offer Him our souls, we are to worship in Spirit and in TRUTH. Soulish worship is not hard to discern for those with that gift. Soulish worship, can be quite emotional but is identifiably superficial because it lacks the truth and anointing that deeply ministers to the Lord. Soulish worship, usually accentuates a style or method over ministry-- form over substance. The counterfeit these days is sometimes very subtle to detect and we should not be fooled. Entering into His Presence is His command to us, not an option and can only be done in Spirit and in truth! There is no way to understand the truth of God’s word without it being revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and there is no deep Holy Spirit anointing, without the revelation of His word and obedience to His truth! God graciously draws us to Himself and reveals Himself to us without us having earned it! That is unmerited grace!
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened...” (Ephesians 1:17-18)
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