Psalm 73:27-28
27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
He was just a little lad, and on a Sabbath day
was wandering home from Sunday school, and was dawdling on his way.
He scuffed his shoes into the grass; he found a caterpillar;
he found a fluffy milkweed pod and blew out all the "filler".
A bird's nest in the tree overhead, so wisely placed and high,
was just another wonder that caught his eager eye.
A neighbor watched his zig-zag course and hailed him from the lawn,
asked him where he had been that day and what was going on.
"Oh, I've been to Sunday school" – as he carefully turned the sod
and found a snail beneath it -- "I've learned a lot of God."
"A very fine way," the neighbor said, "for a boy to spend his time.
If you'll tell me where God is, I'll give you a brand new dime."
Quick as a flash his answer came, nor were his accents faint.
"I'll give you a dollar, Mister, if you'll tell me where God ain't."
God is Omnipresent.
There are certain truths about God that are so fundamental and foundational that they are often taken for granted.
One of those truths is the fact that God is Omnipresent.
He is everywhere, all of the time. The One who describes Himself as "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" (Isaiah 57:15),
says furthermore, "Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. (Isaiah 66:1).
In Jeremiah (23:23-24) God declared that he was at hand, and not afar off.
He went on to say “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
The atheist wrote: "God is nowhere," but his little daughter read it: "God is now here,".
God is here. Wherever we are God is here.
Everywhere we are God is here. God is HERE.
There is no place, where he is not.
Jonah discovered this when he tried to flee from the presence of God.
He found, that even out on the uncharted waters of a storm tossed sea, God was there.
You can’t get away from Him. Wherever you go, He is there.
David, also, must have discovered that you cannot outrun the presence of God.
The eloquent prose of the Psalmist records his search:
Psalm 139:7-11 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
The first thing that I want you to understand this evening is that we serve an EVER PRESENT God.
He is HERE, wherever here is!
If you leave here and go there, wherever there is he will be there too.
As a matter of fact if we all left this sanctuary this evening and traveled as fast and as far as we could in different directions, when we all reached our destinations we would each discover that we could all say, with equal conviction that GOD IS HERE!
Any time you need Him, He is here.
Any time you call on Him, He is here.
Any time you seek Him, He is here.
Wherever this life may take you God will be there.
Paul preached to the people of Athens in Acts 17 that God is never far from us, for in Him we live, and move and have our being.
He is an ever-present God.
That’s why the Psalmist can say in the 46th Psalm that that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
We will not fear. Why? Because God is a present God!
He is here! He is an ever-present God.
You can draw nearer to him.
In light of this knowledge, the Psalmist presents us with a carefully crafted dilemma.
Psalm 73 (27-28) passes judgment on those that are “far from God.”
And declares that it is a good thing to draw near to God.
This begs the question, how can you draw near to a God that you can’t get away from?
If it’s impossible for me to flee his presence, how is it possible for me to get closer to him?
The second thing that I want you to understand this evening is that your distance from God is not measured in miles.
It is not measured in space and geometry.
Your distance from God or closeness to God is measured by your experience with God. Let me try to explain…
Jacob said in Gen 28:16 “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”
God is present everywhere, even when we are completely unaware of him.
Jacob illustrates to us the fact that it is entirely possible to be in the presence of God and not even know it.
However, the moment you become aware of Him, He begins to reveal Himself to you.
Regardless of the time and place, regardless of the circumstances or situation, when men become aware of God,
God makes himself known to them.
When men seek God, the scriptures teach us, they will find Him.
Because he’s never far away.
When men turn their attention to God, they will discover that He has been right here all along!
The Psalmist tells us (Psalm 145:18) The LORD is near to them that call upon him.
God reveals his presence, makes himself manifest, draws near to those that call upon Him.
Therin, lies the answer to the question.
In order to draw nearer to a God that is always present, I must Seek him.
As I seek Him, he will make his presence manifest in my life.
If it is your desire, this evening, to draw near to God then you must turn your attention towards Him.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you
As you seek Him, He will draw near to you.
The more you seek Him, the more He will reveal Himself to You.
I need to tell you this evening that God wants you to be closer to Him.
God wants to reveal Himself in your life.
The Psalmist said (in our text) it is good for me to draw near to God.
It is the desire of the Lord in this house this evening that you would become uncomfortable with the distance between you and God and
determine to draw near to Him.
God wants you to know Him.
The Bible presents, as a basic premise, the fact that man can know God.
The Bible further reveals to us the fact that God wants Himself to be known by man.
God is looking for the opportunity to draw you nearer to Him.
God wants his presence to be known.
He wants His presence to be made manifest.
Right where you are.
He has never hesitated to reveal Himself to those that would turn their hearts towards Him and seek Him.
He wants to make Himself known in your life.
There is, and has been for some time, a clarion call going forth to the people of God.
He is calling us to draw nearer to Him!
“Drawing” Nearer
The problem in so many Christian lives is that we are satisfied and content with just a little manifestation of God in our lives.
I need to tell you today that to draw near to God is not one isolated act.
The expression used in our text is “draw” near.
It is not a single act; it is the drawing, the coming, the habitual walk.
Growing closer and closer to God and further and further from this world.
Can I tell you this evening that, in terms of nearness to God, it is not possible to stand still.
If you are not “drawing” nearer to God this evening, you can mark my word, you are drifting further from Him.
Just because you once had an experience with God, doesn’t mean you are close to him now.
Your distance from God, this evening, is determined by your hunger for God right now and is measured in terms of your present experience with god.
How HUNGRY are you for a move of God in your life?
Your present experience with God, your nearness to God will be framed by your hunger for God.
It is time to cast off complacency and luke-warmness and determine to draw near to God.
The greater our nearness to God, the less we are affected by the attractions and distractions of this world.
Some of us have become so content with the things of this world that we have neglected our relationship with the creator of the world.
It is time to cast off our love for things, and renew our first love, our love for God.
It is time to turn our hearts back to Him, to draw nearer to Him.
The nearer I get to Him, the less all of this other stuff really matters!
As I get nearer to Him, the more I hear the cries of a lost world.
As I get nearer to Him, this world sees less of me and more of Him.
I must draw nearer to God!
If I don’t know anything else, I want to know Jesus!
It is a good thing, the Psalmist said, to draw near to God.
The trap of Complacency
The problem this evening is that it is somewhere within the heart of man to quickly grow content with our current position.
There are some under the sound of my voice this evening that know God.
You are walking close to God.
You have an experience with God.
But you are content with it just as it is.
The raw edge of hunger has been replaced by familiar comfort of contentment.
God revealed Himself to Moses. Moses walked with God.
From the burning bush, to the pinnacle of Mount Sinai Moses talked with God face to face.
Many of us would be content with that kind of experience with God.
If God would hover over our home in the morning with the glory cloud & call to us from the midst of it to come up into his presence we would be satisfied with our nearness to God.
But let me tell you something about Moses.
Although He had a relationship with God that was unmatched since Abraham, he wasn’t satisfied!
Exodus 33:11 tells us that “the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” It wasn’t enough for Moses.
Standing there, at the top of Mount Sinai, as the people waited below,
Moses used the fact that he was close to God as an argument for getting closer to Him.
In Exodus 33:13 he said to God: “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”
And when the Lord replied: I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 33:17
Moses saw his chance, building upon his closeness to God, he made a passionate plea to get even closer yet to God.
“I beseech thee,” he said, “Show me thy glory.” Exodus 33:18
I’m not satisfied, I want to know you more.
I want to be closer to you, show me your glory!
The Psalmist said, it is a good thing to draw near to God.
the heart of a seeker said, “God I want to get closer to you” God never hesitated. He didn’t have to be convinced.
Moses didn’t have to plead his case.
They that hunger and thirst… Shall be filled.
I believe God was delighted with Moses’ request.
I believe God Wanted to show Himself to Moses.
Without hesitation, when the request left the lips of Moses, God answered:
19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. It is good to draw near to God!
20And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, There is a place beside me, a place near me
There is a place beside God, and he is drawing you nearer to him!
He wants to put you in that place where He can show you His glory!
21 Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
God wants to draw YOU closer to him!
God wants your experience in Him to be multiplied this evening.
God wants to reveal Himself to you.
Paul said in Philippians 3:10 (Amplified Bible) [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him…
I want to become progressively more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him.
Would you get closer to him?
There was a group of Greeks that came to Phillip in John chapter 12 with a simple request, “We would see Jesus.”
I believe God is looking for a people in this house this evening that would make up their mind.
I’m not satisfied where I am, “I would see Jesus!”
I’m not satisfied with the distance between me and God.
I want to be nearer to Him.
Thy face, Oh Lord, Will I seek!
The final thing I want you to understand this evening, is that there is no limit to how close to him you can get.
Enoch, the Bible tells us, walked with the Lord.
But I don’t believe He was satisfied.
I believe every day he sought to draw nearer to God.
I know from scripture that when you seek God, he always responds.
I believe one day they were walking together and Enoch said God I’m just not satisfied, I want to be closer to you.
And God said Enoch the only way I can get you any closer is to bring you to where I am.
And the scripture tells us (Genesis 5:24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Are there any among us that are not content with your lives as they are??
Is there anyone that would make it your prayer this evening, “I would see Jesus!”
Closing
In an often quoted passage of Psalms 27 starting with verse 4, David said:
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
I want to point out to you this evening that the key to that passage lies two verses further into the text, where David said:
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
Can I tell you this evening that there is a call going out to the people of God, from the presence of God, Seek my face!
How will you respond?
I believe every hungry heart needs to find a place of prayer this evening and affirm the fact, Thy face, Lord, will I seek!
