The Presence
The one thing that has always separated God’s people from the rest of the world is God’s presence. That is how you know if God is with someone or a church and if they have found favor in His sight. It is how you can identify the church and Godly people and if God is endorsing something or someone.
Exo 33:15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
Exo 33:16 “For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
One person that this was evident in their life was King David. King David longed for God’s presence and once prayed for that not to be taken from him at any cost. Here are three attributes of King David that led to God’s presence in his life.
1. He didn’t care what others thought. When King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem he worshiped so hard that he stripped down to his ephod or undergarments and danced before the Lord. When his wife, Michal, saw him she despised him for it in her heart. King David said,
2 Sam 6:21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel–I will celebrate before the LORD.
2 Sam 6:22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
2. He broke the rules to have the Presence. When Moses established the Tabernacle the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies and only the High Priest could enter into it once a year after he had been purified. King David set the Ark in the middle of an open tent, surrounded it with worshipers that worshiped God 24/7. Everyone could see it both Jew and Gentile. It was said that King David would bring his footstool and sit next to the Ark just to be close to the Presence.
3. King David knew that the Presence of God and worship would cost him something. King David once wanted to build an altar to sacrifice to the Lord and worship Him. The owner of the property wanted to give it to King David, but King David said,
2 Sam 24:24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
True worship and the Presence of God will cost you something, but it can be had.
God Bless,
Dave