Longing for God's Presence: A Journey of Faith
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Sometimes we might look at other people's lives on like social, I don't have social media, but like, well, I have Facebook. I don't use it a lot. But you look at it and you see people posting pictures of, you know, their vacations or what's something great they've eaten, right? Or Instagram, right? You see all these things and you think, man, I wish I was there, right? I would like to go there. I would like to do that. I would like to eat what they're eating. I wish I can go there." [00:12:39] (24 seconds)
"Other times, it's just our situation in life, our circumstances, right? Maybe they're not, maybe our life is not going the way we had hoped or the way we had planned. That life is not going, life is not going according to maybe our career, maybe relationships, maybe just financial stability is not in that situation that we would have hoped or we would have liked. And we just want to get away, right? We just want, we just pray, God, change our situation. Take me to a better place in life, right? We have this longing to be in a different place, a different circumstance, a different situation." [00:13:03] (34 seconds)
"The psalmist in Psalm 84 is expressing his longing, his desire to be at the temple of God, right? To be in God's presence at the temple. And it's just this intense desire, this intense longing to be there. So if you have your Bible, if you turn to me to Psalm 84, that for the psalmist, there is no greater place to be than in the presence of God. And for him, that meant to be at the temple. So if you have your Bible, Psalm 84, if not, you can follow along here on the screen. Psalm 84, verse 1 says this, how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty." [00:13:50] (34 seconds)
"My heart and flesh cry out for the living God, right? The dwelling place, the courts of the Lord. The psalmist here, again, is speaking about the temple of God in Jerusalem, the temple, the place of God's symbolic presence, right? The temple where they would come to worship, right? And we see how strong this desire is to be at the temple, right? It says his soul yearns, even faints. His heart and flesh cry out. His whole being longs to be there. This is more than just, man, I would love to go there. This is no, like, this is this strong, persistent desire, this feeling that doesn't go away, right?" [00:14:39] (35 seconds)
"Here in verse seven, it says they go from strength to strength till each appears before God and Zion, right? Strength to strength until they reach their destination, appearing before God and Zion, being in the presence of God in Jerusalem, right? Because in verse five says, their strength is in God. Blessed are those whose strength is in you who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Their motivation to be at the temple, to be in his presence, is what brought them through this difficult journey. It was their strength for this journey." [00:19:20] (30 seconds)
"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. He's saying, I would rather stand at the door in the house of God in this lowly, servant, humble position than dwell in the tents of the wicked. I would rather have this lowly position if it meant that I am in God's presence rather than a life of ease and comfort if it meant that I was without the presence of God in my life. He's saying just one day being in his courts is better than a thousand days anywhere else." [00:20:22] (33 seconds)
"Why does the psalmist long to be at the temple? Why does he long to be in God's presence? Because God is good, right? He is our provider, our protector. He gives life. He shows us grace, right? And as I read this psalm, I have to ask myself, do I long for God's presence the way the psalmist does, right? When I'm in need, maybe, I probably do. I pray for God's presence, but is this a constant prayer in my life? Is this a constant attitude that I have? Where is God on my mind in this way throughout my day, throughout my week, right?" [00:22:32] (32 seconds)
"Now, we know that God's presence is not limited to the temple. It's not limited to a particular place. The presence of God is not confined to a building. It's not confined to this church, right? Acts 7 48 says this, however, the most high does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things? He's saying that God is not confined to any particular place. God is omnipresent." [00:23:12] (33 seconds)
"And so we don't need to go somewhere to be in the presence of God. But when we're talking about longing for the presence of God, we're talking about bringing us an awareness of God's presence in our life at all times. Wherever we're at right now, it's being aware of God's presence in our life right now. See, the psalmist was not where he wanted to be. He was not at the temple. He says, my soul, my flesh cried. I yearned to be there. He wanted to be at the temple, but he wasn't." [00:23:54] (27 seconds)
"When we're not where we want to be in life, instead of praying for the place to change, we need to pray for the awareness of his presence to change, right? See, we don't always need God to move us into a different place, into somewhere better. We need to realize that his presence with us is better than any circumstance we might find ourself in, right? God's presence in our life is better than any place we might find ourself right now. And so we can pray for better circumstances. I'm not saying we don't pray for those things. We can pray for better circumstances, but he may respond with better awareness of his presence is what we need in our life right now, right?" [00:25:30] (39 seconds)
"We become more aware of his presence in our life when we are worshiping him, when we are finding our strength in him, and when we are trusting him, right? Wherever we are at in life, in good situations and bad, we worship him. We praise him, not just for what he does for us, but for who he is, right? We worship him. We're ever praising him. Wherever we're at in life, we find our strength in him. We continually are dependent on him as we are moving toward him. He is our destination. A better place, a better situation, a better life is not our destination. He is our destination." [00:27:11] (33 seconds)
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"Other times, it's just our situation in life, our circumstances, right? Maybe they're not, maybe our life is not going the way we had hoped or the way we had planned. That life is not going, life is not going according to maybe our career, maybe relationships, maybe just financial stability is not in that situation that we would have hoped or we would have liked. And we just want to get away, right? We just want, we just pray, God, change our situation. Take me to a better place in life, right? We have this longing to be in a different place, a different circumstance, a different situation." [00:13:03] (34 seconds)
"The psalmist in Psalm 84 is expressing his longing, his desire to be at the temple of God, right? To be in God's presence at the temple. And it's just this intense desire, this intense longing to be there. So if you have your Bible, if you turn to me to Psalm 84, that for the psalmist, there is no greater place to be than in the presence of God. And for him, that meant to be at the temple. So if you have your Bible, Psalm 84, if not, you can follow along here on the screen. Psalm 84, verse 1 says this, how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty." [00:13:50] (34 seconds)
"My heart and flesh cry out for the living God, right? The dwelling place, the courts of the Lord. The psalmist here, again, is speaking about the temple of God in Jerusalem, the temple, the place of God's symbolic presence, right? The temple where they would come to worship, right? And we see how strong this desire is to be at the temple, right? It says his soul yearns, even faints. His heart and flesh cry out. His whole being longs to be there. This is more than just, man, I would love to go there. This is no, like, this is this strong, persistent desire, this feeling that doesn't go away, right?" [00:14:39] (35 seconds)
"Here in verse seven, it says they go from strength to strength till each appears before God and Zion, right? Strength to strength until they reach their destination, appearing before God and Zion, being in the presence of God in Jerusalem, right? Because in verse five says, their strength is in God. Blessed are those whose strength is in you who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Their motivation to be at the temple, to be in his presence, is what brought them through this difficult journey. It was their strength for this journey." [00:19:20] (30 seconds)
"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. He's saying, I would rather stand at the door in the house of God in this lowly, servant, humble position than dwell in the tents of the wicked. I would rather have this lowly position if it meant that I am in God's presence rather than a life of ease and comfort if it meant that I was without the presence of God in my life. He's saying just one day being in his courts is better than a thousand days anywhere else." [00:20:22] (33 seconds)
"Why does the psalmist long to be at the temple? Why does he long to be in God's presence? Because God is good, right? He is our provider, our protector. He gives life. He shows us grace, right? And as I read this psalm, I have to ask myself, do I long for God's presence the way the psalmist does, right? When I'm in need, maybe, I probably do. I pray for God's presence, but is this a constant prayer in my life? Is this a constant attitude that I have? Where is God on my mind in this way throughout my day, throughout my week, right?" [00:22:32] (32 seconds)
"Now, we know that God's presence is not limited to the temple. It's not limited to a particular place. The presence of God is not confined to a building. It's not confined to this church, right? Acts 7 48 says this, however, the most high does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things? He's saying that God is not confined to any particular place. God is omnipresent." [00:23:12] (33 seconds)
"And so we don't need to go somewhere to be in the presence of God. But when we're talking about longing for the presence of God, we're talking about bringing us an awareness of God's presence in our life at all times. Wherever we're at right now, it's being aware of God's presence in our life right now. See, the psalmist was not where he wanted to be. He was not at the temple. He says, my soul, my flesh cried. I yearned to be there. He wanted to be at the temple, but he wasn't." [00:23:54] (27 seconds)
"When we're not where we want to be in life, instead of praying for the place to change, we need to pray for the awareness of his presence to change, right? See, we don't always need God to move us into a different place, into somewhere better. We need to realize that his presence with us is better than any circumstance we might find ourself in, right? God's presence in our life is better than any place we might find ourself right now. And so we can pray for better circumstances. I'm not saying we don't pray for those things. We can pray for better circumstances, but he may respond with better awareness of his presence is what we need in our life right now, right?" [00:25:30] (39 seconds)
"We become more aware of his presence in our life when we are worshiping him, when we are finding our strength in him, and when we are trusting him, right? Wherever we are at in life, in good situations and bad, we worship him. We praise him, not just for what he does for us, but for who he is, right? We worship him. We're ever praising him. Wherever we're at in life, we find our strength in him. We continually are dependent on him as we are moving toward him. He is our destination. A better place, a better situation, a better life is not our destination. He is our destination." [00:27:11] (33 seconds)
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