Finding Joy and Redemption in God's Presence

1) "God dwells with us wherever we're at, right? And David, in the lowest point of his life, God used that for redemption, did he not? Took that instrument of Gath and ended up writing a wonderful description of praise to the dwelling place of God. Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Most humiliating, most base parts of your life, those parts where you're afraid, those parts where you have been humbled, and he can turn around and use them for the high praise of his glory because in God's dwelling there is redemption, right? He can take the garment that's spotted and that's stained and he can make it white as snow. He can indeed, he will make all things new because in God's dwelling place there is redemption." [05:07] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Isn't dwelling with God a dear thing? Isn't it the sweetest thing that we have in life is to dwell with our maker, to hear his voice, to hear the voice of our shepherd? It is a lovely thing. When we come to church, it's no wonder our hearts, our lifted up, right? Because we're singing his praises. We're reading his word. We're fellowshipping with the saints, right? And God's dwelling place is not only redemption, but there's love. In God's dwelling place, we also find that there is awe. Look in verse one. How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord, Yahweh of host. The word, that phrase, Lord of host means the Lord of angel armies. The God that we serve." [06:38] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "You were made to worship God. You were made to experience Him, to dwell in His presence. And nothing else will satisfy you. But when you get to taste and see that the Lord is good, how satisfying that is. It's just like mother's milk, right? It satisfies the soul. In the dwelling place of God, we also find that there is significance and rest. Let's look in verse 3. Even the sparrow has found a home. In the Hebrew, the word sparrow designates any small bird. If you go through the Mideast even today, birds like to find their homes wherever they can." [12:18] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "The world may think that you are insignificant, right? But not God. In the dwelling place of God, God invites you to dwell with him. The insignificant is who he calls. What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 1? God hasn't called many noble. He hasn't called many mighty. He hasn't called many wise. Instead, he calls the foolish, things of the world. He calls the weak, things of the world. The base, things of the world. The things that are not. He calls us nothings, right? Compared to the world, the world thinks they're something. They think of us as nothing. He calls the are nots to put to shame those things that are, right?" [14:32] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "When we dwell with God, there is strength. Let's look in verse five. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. When we dwell with God, there is purpose. Some of your Bibles say, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. This is referring to the Jews who were rejoicing, At least the male Jews were required to go to Jerusalem three times a year. Some of your Bibles say pilgrimage to Zion. That's kind of supplying the meaning there. In alternate translations, some of your Bibles say, blessed is the man in whose heart are the highways. And what that simply means is his heart, his purpose is set on dwelling with God." [22:07] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "When we dwell with God, he shares with us his strength. We can lean on him, empowered by his holy strength, isn't that what Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter six? Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, right? When we dwell with God, there is strength. Let's look in verse five. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. When we dwell with God, there is purpose. Some of your Bibles say, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. This is referring to the Jews who were rejoicing, At least the male Jews were required to go to Jerusalem three times a year." [21:30] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "In God's presence, not only is there destiny, but there's help. He says in verse 8, O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob. There's help in God's presence. When we come before God, He hears our prayer, right? He calls on the God of Jacob to help him. Jacob was a man that needed a lot of help. Remember, he tricked his brother into selling his birthright. Stole it from him, basically. Tricked his father into giving him his blessing. And then what did Esau want to do but naturally kill his brother, Jacob. So Jacob left. He was running from his brother, right?" [31:09] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "In God's dwelling place, there is light and salvation. The Lord is a sun. What does a sun do? The sun shines brightly. What does brightness do? It distills darkness and ignorance. Is that not what Christ, the light of the world, does? He came to this world to become sin for us. So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He came to reveal to us the Word of God. He was the light that shone in darkness. God is a sun and He is a shield. He is our salvation, right? Think in the Old Testament. When God, through Moses, led the children of Israel out of captivity, what went before them and behind them? But a pillar of fire by night and a cloudy pillar by night." [40:14] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)