Psalms
16:11 “You will show me the path of life; In Your
presence is fullness of joy; At
Your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.”
This
shall be the first of a series of posts that examine the presence of the Lord
as it applies to the New Covenant believer in the New Heavens and Earth. I have
established over and over, in a series of posts from time to time here on this blog, that the new
heavens and earth are synonymous with the new covenant. This is made fairly
clear by Paul in Galatians chapter four (Gal 4:22-28.) The New Jerusalem, the
one coming down out of heaven is made up of all those made free in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the New Jerusalem is the New Heaven and Earth. It is clear
from this passage in Galatians that it is not something that will happen in the
future. It is in the present.
I
want to lay the groundwork in this post that explains why the current New
Covenant believer must realize that they are in the presence of the Lord all
the time. It is something that one could not escape if they wanted too, and
once one understands the significance of His presence, no one in his or her
right mind would want to escape it. David is a type of Christ, but is also a
type of Christian or believer. The Psalms prophesy about the person and work of
Christ, but also about the standing of the one united with Christ and therefore
“in Christ.”
Here is what David knew by faith: Psa 139:7-16 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee
from Your presence? (8) If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell,
behold, You are there. (9) If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea, (10) Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your
right hand shall hold me. (11) If I say, "Surely the darkness shall
fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me; (12)
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as
the day; The darkness and the light are
both alike to You. (13)
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. (14) I
will praise You, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
(15) My frame was not hidden from
You, When I was made in secret, And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (16)
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they
all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them”
David
knew well what we should all accept. You cannot escape the presence of the Lord…
not ever. David rejoiced in the fact. You DO NOT need some praise and worship
leader to usher you into the presence of the Lord. How can anyone take you
where you already are? You are always in the presence of the Lord twenty four
hours every day and every day of every year. It is a reality. I hope to use
this series to make you so aware of it that you will begin to receive the
benefits that go along with His presence.
"the current New Covenant believer must realize that they are in the presence of the Lord all the time."
ReplyDeleteYes, because "Christ in you" is the mystery!
We are in the presence of the Lord individually. I think the role of a worship leader is to remind us that we are not alone, and that as a community we are also to enter into the presence of the Lord in a way that we won't experience alone.
Hi Brian,
DeleteThanks for the comment. I am not trying to say that corporate worship is a bad thing. It is just that so many fellowships, especially of the Pentecostal variety, lead people to feel that worship is the only time that they are in, or can feel the presence of the Lord. I want to stress that the believer is always in His presence and cannot escape it ever.