2 Chron. 5:11-14 (ESV) And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
I read this passage this morning and was struck by the overwhelming presence of God. Why don’t we often experience God’s presence in such a powerful way? Imagine that God’s presence was felt so strongly that the 120 priests present could not remain standing. I want some of that, don’t you?
The way my mind works when I see something in Scripture that intrigues me is to look more deeply into the passage and seek what might have caused this wonder. So, I thought, how about the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever:” how often does that appear in Scripture? It appears 38 times in the ESV and only in the Old Testament. Most of those appearances are in Psalm 136, where it appears in every one of the 26 verses. It must be important. God dedicated an entire Psalm to it, listing a series of reasons Israel should be grateful to Him. Why? Because, as the passage above says, “For he is good.”
We are to praise Him and thank Him because He is good. In Psalm 136, God lists things Israel should be thankful for. These range from creation, to defeating their foes, to God’s material provisions. Maybe, just maybe, our praise of God and the things He has done in our lives are the key to His overwhelming presence.
What I get from this is that it is God’s goodness that must cause us to thank and praise Him. How can we do otherwise? The other day, I was listening to a woman give her testimony of God’s enormous deliverance from her terrible situation. Though she was certainly grateful to God for delivering her, she wanted to emphasize God’s interest in even the little everyday things in our lives. We’ve all wondered if maybe God has made us lose our keys for a few minutes to keep us from a possible traffic accident, or if if His hand was in the seemingly banal events that led us to some tremendous blessing or other.
God is interested in every little thing in our lives. He may not affect every event, but because of His love, He seeks to celebrate the grand ones with us and weep with us over the bad.
Why is this important?
Maybe God doesn’t overwhelm us with His presence very often because we would be little good to Him unable to stand as were the priests.
Have no doubt, God is present. Jesus Himself promised this. Does Jesus lie?
Matt. 28:20b (ESV) “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christianity isn’t based on feelings; it is based on the absolute fact that God loves us, even celebrates us, and died for us. We are His; there is nothing in our lives He is disinterested in. Because of this, we know He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever.
How should we respond, then?
Phil 4:4-7 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Through the response of praise and thanksgiving, God will make Himself known. Follow the Psalmist’s lead from Psalm 136: think of a list of things God has done in your life over the years and praise Him for them. You can be certain of God’s presence. Psalm 22:3 says the Lord inhabits praise.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 