SEEING AND EXPERIENCING GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Psalm 63:2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In order to truly see something, several actions need to happen.

First, you need to have your eyes open. Closed eyes will block your vision and blind you to the things around you.

But it isn’t just enough to have your eyes open. You need to focus on the thing you want to see. Open eyes allow you to view what is around you and target the things you want to see most.

I know you’re maybe asking yourself, “Where are you going with this Mark?” Let’s look at the second verse from the 63 rd Psalm and I’ll explain:

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

The writer, David, is speaking to God in this verse. Notice what he is saying.

First, he had seen God in the sanctuary.

David was a man who consistently worshiped God. He was a man after God’s own heart who always sought to be in His presence. Consequently, David could see God because his eyes were always wide open and focused on Him. When we seek to be tuned into God like this, we too will see Him all around us and especially in the sanctuary when we worship.

Second, look what happened when David opened his eyes, sought, and saw God. He was left beholding the power and glory of His Maker and Creator.

The awesome nature of God will produce this result every time that someone opens their eyes to see Him. For the power of God is limitless and the works of that power testify to the glorious nature of His goodness and majesty.

Question. Are you experiencing God’s power and glory in your worship experience?

If so, then your eyes are wide open to seeing Him and experiencing all that He is. If not, then you need to look at why you are in worship in the first place. For the sole reason of worship is to commune with the living God. It’s not just a social gathering of people who are like minded. It’s just not a place to come and hear someone lecture about the Bible. No, you must first be coming to worship because you want to see God, experience His power, and be moved by His glory. And all these things happen when your eyes are open to see Him.

So what results from a worship experience like this? What is the outcome when a person sees God, feels His power alive in and around them, and thus catches a full glimpse of His glory? The Bible tells us in the following verses:

1. We will worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

The worship God desires is the worship that is done in spirit and in truth. Our worship will be just that when we seek, find, and experience God in the sanctuary as David did.

2. We will worship in the splendor of His holiness. 1 Chronicles 16:29

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

When we worship in spirit and truth, we fully experience God’s glory in and around us. We see and feel the splendor of His holiness. After all, He is the King of glory (Psalm 24:8).

3. We will worship in gladness. Psalm 100:2

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Cross references:

Something awesome happens within the believer who sees God, beholds His glory and power, worships in spirit and truth, and experiences the splendor of His holiness.

They find their hearts and minds filled with joy and gladness – a joy and gladness that brings them to a place of praise as they lift their voices in jubilant songs.

4. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

The product of a worshiper who seeks and finds God, experiencing Him fully, is a life dedicated fully in sacrifice to Him and His will. Thus, the way we live our lives outside the sanctuary is an extension of the worship we experience within. That life is one that mimics the holiness of the God who commands us to be holy as He is and this is a life that is pleasing to Him.

So where you are in your worship experience? Have you gained the full measure of what God longs for you to have? Is your life in the way you live it a reflection of the God who created you? Do others see your life as being sacrificial just as God sacrificed for you by giving His Son Jesus as a living sacrifice to pay the price for your sins?

If so, then it’s because you, like David, have seen God and have beholden His power and glory.

If not, then open your eyes to all that God is, to all that He wants you to experience. When you do, your worship and your life will never be the same.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com