I was wondering the other day, if we are really desperately hungry to enter the presence of the Lord. Psalm 27:4 describes "being in The Presence of The Lord" as the one thing David desired. It was what he sought, it was what he inquired about, and it was his singular quest. We need to remember that this was far outside the availability for David's time because Jesus' blood had not been shed; which gives us access into His Presence after Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was poured out. In other words David was in the Old Testament era but really hungered for something that was far ahead of his time, making God give him his heart desire. It's a bit like us desiring daily flights to the moon, making that our life quest, and God blessing us with that ability! It may happen one day but it's certainly not done today! But that was how hungry David was for The Lord's Presence. Being in The Lord's Habitation or Dwelling place was his driving desire, such that He was blessed with it and enjoyed it. God responded to this deep hunger for Him. Also David didn't just want it for a couple of days, David said he was going to pursue this from God, for the rest of his life, meaning he wanted it and was going to do everything he needed to do so he could enjoy it throughout his existence because life was incomplete without it. It's possible that David felt the insatiable nature of God's presence, in that the more you have, the more you desire. So David was convinced this was the most important thing in life - maybe next to breathing!!
Remember too that David was a King who would have been very busy, also could pretty much have had anything he wanted - money, fame, relevance, power, jobs, political appointment, physical beauty, influence - and much more. These are material things that we run after these days! Yet what David wanted most of all was to spend time in The Lord's Presence. You may be asking what David's reason for desiring this was and we see the answer in the rest of that verse (Psalm 27:4b).
"To behold the beauty of The Lord which encompasses the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness and to inquire of The Lord."
In other words, in His Presence, we get transformed more and more into His likeness, and as we respond to His love for us, we come into a unity of Spirit and oneness. Also this is where we get our answers to life challenges.
You may be wondering what the outcome of this pursuit was... The next verses Psalm 27 (vs 5,6) explains how Our Lord becomes our protector, He hides us in the secret place of His tent for intimacy and we are elevated upon a rock, out of the reach of some, but also an example to others. But as we joyfully worship Him in praise and adoration, the atmosphere or situation changes and God's glory comes.
In Psalm 27:8, David makes us understand that this was not his original idea, but rather The Lord's, who instructed that spending time in His Presence was a vital need for us, and the Word commands it. So it really is not us doing God a favour, but our lives have been wired such that to succeed, we need to spend time in His Presence.
We also see that Jesus our model, lived like this. Spending a lot of time in His Father's Presences, He told us in John 5:19. He only does what He sees His Father do.
Dear Ones, doesn't this call for a big shift in how we do life. Should we not ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to prioritise getting into His Presence as the most important item on our daily agenda?
In Psalm 26:8, again we see David saying "Lord I have loved the Habitation of Your House, and the place where your Glory dwells"
And 1 Corinthians 3:16 asks, "don't we know that we are the Temple of God, and The Spirit of God dwells in us?" So, communing with God's Spirit (being in His Presence) is what empowers us to do the impossible thus walking in obedience as modeled by Christ Jesus. So let us invite the Holy Spirit to reorder our lives, such that our greatest and highest desire, like David and Jesus, is to spend time in the pursuit of His Presence.
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