Still in Your presence

"You will fill me with joy in your presence." The opposite then is that outside your presence there is not the same guarantee. Of course, He causes His rain to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous, so surely there is still blessing outside His presence, but I would venture a guess that joy remains elusive. Without the context of His presence I wouldn't doubt that a thrill may be accompanied by uncomfortable question, or shame, or even fear. Standing face to face with God's majestic creation, yet un-acknowledging of Him, breeds awful dischord and disconnect. Instead, with each breath, with each question, with each discovery we ought to step into His presence and let our minds be still and know that He is God. Then all that remains is to breathe in His joy. He will fill us. We will know His joy. It's not a question of whether His presence will envoke love - it's a done deal. The joy is there.

You will fill me with joy in your presence. - Psalm 16:11

"Here in Your presence we are undone.  Here in Your presence heaven and earth become one.  Here in Your presence all things are new.  Here in Your presence everything bows before You."

How do we come into YOUR presence?  How do we find ourselves lifted out of the dreary and into the majestic?  Through the reading of the Word - by meditation of the heart - in making a joyful noise to the Lord - by dancing in praise before His throne.  And then - YOU will fill us with joy.  Straight from YOUR cup, into ours which will spill right over.  Joy filling up every little dark corner and pushing out any shadows of doubt.  Absolutely full.  With joy!  Not merely contentment.  It's not simple sweet rest.  Joy is an active, celebratory state.  Joy must be proclaimed from the rooftops.  All from being in YOUR presence.  YOU have invited us.  YOU woo us in.  YOU usher us through the gates.  Dare we refuse?

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

*delight - (v) to take great pleasure - to give keen enjoyment - (n) a high degree of gratification - extreme satisfaction

How do we delight ourselves in the Lord?  We must choose to take great pleasure in Him.  Like anything else, we can take note and savor or we can shrug off and belittle.

*keen - intellectually alert - having a characteristic of a quick penetrating mind - extremely sensitive in perception

Keen enjoyment goes hand-in-hand with loving Him with our mind.  We must know - we must observe - we must ponder - we must discover.  And then in our choice to take pleasure in Him, we will find enjoyment in our observations.  The gratification - the satisfaction - comes from Him.  And hope does not disappoint.  When we commit to delighting in the Lord we invite Him to be the desires of our heart.  Then just watch: He will deliver Himself with more wonder and majesty than we would have imagined.