Hosting the Presence of God Psalm 27:4NKJ
Psalm 27:4Amp. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
The primary issue in David’s life was to live in God’s presence and by His purpose. Hear this: “The anointing is a person.” It very important that we all find the “One Thing” that becomes the reference point for the rest of the issues of life. And that “One Thing” is the Presence of the Almighty God, resting upon us.
Listen to Paul’s one thing. Philippians 3:13NKJ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead...
***Abraham hosted God, Moses, Elisha, Elijah, Esther Etc.
We need to cultivate godly desires. David spoke of his desire to worship in God’s house, and to enjoy the sweetness and grace of God’s presence there as long as he lived.
“So what’s your ‘one thing’; what do you desire?”
Leonard Ravenhill once said: We do well to ponder the fact that revival comes as a result of a cleansed section of the Church, bent and bowed in supplication and intercession. It views an age shackled with false religion and sickened at the sight of perishing millions; then they wait—perhaps days, weeks, and even months until the Spirit moves upon them, and heaven opens in revival blessing.
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The enemy of multiplication is stagnation. When believers lacking births become burdened, and when we pulsate with holy fear, and pray with holy fervor, and produce with holy fertility. At God’s counter there are no “sale days,” for the price of revival is ever the same—travail!
“Hosting the presence of God means, “to be aware of Him, place Him at the forefront in everything. I mean everything, that’s hosting God.” P. H.
Listen, you can’t hide behind the “one thing.” If it’s Christ, He will be seen, if it’s something else, it will be revealed.
Psalm 27:1-3NLT The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?
2 When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
David cries in verse 1, the light of redemption is the contrast to the darkness. “The Lord is my light!”
In his classic devotional book titled The Saint’s Everlasting Rest, English Puritan pastor and author Richard Baxter (1615-1691) wrote:
“Why are not our hearts continually set on heaven? Why dwell we not there in constant contemplation?…Bend thy soul to study eternity, busy thyself about the life to come, habituate thyself to such contemplations, and let not those thoughts be seldom and hasty, but bathe thyself in heaven’s delights.”
Again, David cries out in Verse 1, “The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”
Verse 2-3a speaks of what David’s enemies desire. However, it’s all null and void because of David’s truthful confession!
Psalm 27:3bNKJ... my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
Why? Because David cried out, “This one thing I do.”
It is said that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once had captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, “What will you give me if I release you?” “The half of my wealth,” was his reply. “And if I release your children?” “Everything I possess.” “And if I release your wife?” “Your Majesty, I will give myself.”
Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all.
As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, “Wasn’t Cyrus a handsome man!” With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, “I didn’t notice. I could only keep my eyes on you—the one who was willing to give himself for me.”
Psalm 27:4TM I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.
Hosting God’s presence means: Devotion, God first, Worship, Leaving everything for His sake, Steadfast in God’s word, stability Etc.
Benediction.
