In the Presence of the LORD

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You,
who walk in the light of Your presence, LORD.” –Psalm 89:15

I was just reading—actually I was listening to the Bible read aloud on DAB—and I was listening to the end of Luke, chapter 24. It’s that part when Cleopas and the other (or is it others?) walking along the road to Emmaus, and Jesus joins them and starts talking to them. It says in verse 16, “but they were kept from recognizing Him.”

When I heard it this time, I was struck by an idea about the end of that part,

“When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.”

I was listening to this video that Claudia from “Sowers of Hope” posted the other day—actually a few months ago. It was a guy who was talking about modesty and about headcoverings. I can’t remember exactly how he said it, but he said something about how, when we pray, we are going into the presence of God, going into His throne room; it is important, therefore, to show our complete respect for Him. We are in the company of the Most High, in the presence of the Creator of the Universe. And one way we can show our respect, show that we put Him first in our lives is by uncovering our heads, if we are men, or covering them, if we are women.

What he said about how we are going into the presence of the Most High, it really has stuck with me quite a lot! I think I’ve known about that for a long time, but its funny how it takes just one time, one person to say it, and then suddenly it just kicks in. It’s like, yeah! We really are in God’s throne room—we really are talking one on One with Him! And, although I don’t always act like it, I try to respect that, I try to think in terms of, my spirit is talking to the Holy Spirit. And that thinking has opened up ideas for me.

I’m an artist, so I usually think in images. (I don’t know how the rest of you do it, but that’s how it happens for me) I imagine the Throne room of God, in His Heavenly Realms, and then, I imagine that suddenly, my Heavenly body appears before God, and before His angels and saints. Since I am in the presence of God, His Holy Spirit has already purified my soul and made me fit to be in His presence. That person, my soul, she is perfected, glorified by His redeeming blood, by Jesus taking my sins away. And that thought got me thinking… what if, while we are in His presence, we are sort of glorified, sort of show God’s Spirit a little more? What if?

So when I heard that section read the other day in Luke, I realized something. When did Jesus become visible as Jesus to those people? He became visible when He prayed, when He went specifically before the Throne of His Father. I don’t think that we are always in a more glorified state when we pray, but isn't it awesome that He chose that moment, when He was talking to His Father, having a One on One conversation with Him, it was then that He became visible to them? It makes you think, doesn’t it?

I just love that Psalm that I quoted at the beginning, and I also liked another translation so I’ll end with that. Psalms 89:14-18,

“Righteousness and judgment [Are] the fixed place of Thy throne, Kindness and truth go before Thy face.

O the happiness of the people knowing the shout, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy face they walk habitually.

In Thy name they rejoice all the day, And in Thy righteousness they are exalted,

For the beauty of their strength [art] Thou, And in Thy good will is our horn exalted,

For of Jehovah [is] our shield, And of the Holy One of Israel our king.”

 

Shalom