PURSUING GOD’S GLORY (6)

“So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory” (Psalm 63:2 NKJV).

One of the places people expect to find God is in His sanctuary.  The sanctuary is a place of worship –a place where people gather routinely to worship God. The tabernacles of Moses and David, the temple of Solomon, as well as the Jewish Synagogues are examples of sanctuaries mentioned in the Bible.  In those days, people who were hungry for fellowship with God usually go to the sanctuary to do so. “Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp” (Exodus 33:7 NKJV). Thus, it was a biblical tradition for people to go to the sanctuary to seek God.  God honoured those who came to look for Him with His manifest Presence. Here was the testimony of Moses: “And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. Therefore, the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle” (Exodus 33:9, 11 NKJV). What glorious encounters Moses and Joshua must have enjoyed as they sought God in the sanctuary!

 Did you realise that while Moses and Joshua enjoyed a face-to-face encounter with God, the rest of the people were satisfied worshiping at a distance from the comfort of their tent doors. “All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door” (Exodus 33:10 NKJV).Here was God, available to all the people, but only two could step out of their comfort zones to seek God in the sanctuary. The mere fact of leaving your shop, office, or house to go to church to spend some personal time with God is a strong enough a signal to yourself  as well as to God that you mean business. While it is okay to pray at your tent doors, it will help greatly to go to church when there is no service going on just to hang out with God in His house.

I recall how I used to go to the church as a small boy to pray.  What motivated me then was the understanding that God was present in the Blessed Sacrament and would readily hear me when I pray.  Granted that I was not born again then, but most of the prayers I prayed then were answered.  Anytime someone takes time out of a busy day to seek God in His sanctuary, great blessings always accrues to such a person. When I came into Owerri newly, I used to go to the Holiness Evangelistic Church auditorium to pray in the afternoons when the noise would be at its peak at my office then at 197 Wetheral Road. Such personal times in the Presence of God in His sanctuary were most invaluable in my spiritual development.  The Psalmist therefore modelled a habit worthy of our emulation –making time to go to the sanctuary for a personal encounter with God’s Presence.

What was the dominant desire of David as he sought God in His sanctuary?  “So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory” (Psalm 63:2 NKJV). He desired to experience the power and the glory of God. He did not only want to have a right concept of God, but also to experience an encounter with His Person.  He did not want to be counted among those whom Paul described to Timothy as “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5 KJV).  To experience the power and glory of God in our lives as individuals in our time together in church for corporate worship would demand the manifest Presence of God. Power and glory flows from His Presence and not merely from having accurate principles about God.  Whenever God shows up, power explodes and glory is revealed.  Don’t come to church just for a rehearsal of the principles of God but to experience His manifest Presence. It is only as we encounter His Presence that we will see His power and glory. O God we need more of Your Presence at any cost in Jesus Name.