The Blessing of His Presence (2)

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16.11

The good blessings of the Lord
What do Christians mean when they say that God has “blessed” them? We all say this, and we sincerely rejoice with one another to hear the blessings of God reported. We even seem genuinely grateful to know the blessings of the Lord.

But what do we mean when we say this?

Typically, we associate the blessings of the Lord with whatever contributes to making our lives easier, more comfortable, and more filled with happiness. When we count our blessings, we tend to think in terms of such temporal and material goods as food, work, possessions, health, friends, family, favorable outcomes, our church, and so on. Or even, should bad come to worse, we hold on to the blessed promise of going to heaven when we die.

For Christians today, blessings are mainly counted in terms of the good things God does for us, for which we are genuinely grateful, but in the absence of which we tend toward anxiousness, sadness, depression, or fear. When we are abounding in blessings, we feel happy, and this state of being happy becauseof favorable external conditions is an indication that we are making idols of God’s blessings, and failing to receive and appreciate them as He intends.

Christians are called to the Kingdom and glory of God so that we might bless the world with the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (Jn. 17.3). But if the only blessings we share with the world are those of things, friends, and fun, well, they have plenty of that as it is, thank you, and you can keep your religion to yourself.

One of the great mistakes of the people of Israel in the Old Testament was to seek and wallow in the temporal blessings of God so much that they missed the great blessing of God Himself. We are in danger of doing the same today.

Blessing to idolatry
For nearly all the period of the Old Testament, including that which led up to the invasion of Canaan and the settling of the land of promise, the people of Israel did not have a heart for God (cf. Deut. 5.29). In spite of all they had witnessed of God’s power, and all the words and warnings issued by His prophets, when push came to shove, all the people wanted from God were His blessings, not Himself.

They whined for water, moaned for meat, longed for the leeks of Egypt, scurried to Him for safety from foes, compromised His Word in order to accommodate their unbelieving neighbors, made league with worldly powers rather than trust in the Lord of all power, and in general sought their joy and wellbeing in all the best conditions and things. They failed to understand that the presence of the Lord Himself is the greatest blessing, the one true source of holy pleasure and joy. The motto of God’s covenant, “I will be your God, and you shall be My people,” came off sounding to the people of Israel like, “I will be Your divine Sugar Daddy; just let me know what you want.”

Having failed to pursue the presence of the Lord, Israel ultimately came to despise His many blessings, attributing them instead to their own prowess or to the false idols and pagan deities of their unbelieving neighbors.

Yet God promised that their highest pleasures and most lasting joys would be found in Him, and not in the conditions of their lives. Not in His blessings, but in Him. Israel completely missed the mark, and we today are in just the same place.

The blessing of His presence
As long as we continue to seek our happiness in the blessings God provides rather than in the God Who provides blessings, we will be in danger of falling short of the exceedingly great and precious promises of God. “Come to Me,” Jesus insisted, “and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11.28). We will never know complete contentedness in the presence of the Lord as long we count our blessings primarily in terms of conditions and things.

The Lord promises that in His presence are fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore!What is it about this promise that we do not find alluring? Is it that we just don’t believe this to be true? Or have never experienced it as such? Has no one ever showed us how to engage this greatest of all blessings? And have we never considered that it is the blessing and rest of Jesus Himself that He aims for us to share with the world?

Fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore – all the blessing anyone could ever want – are only to be found in the presence of the Lord of glory. Until seeking Him, knowing Him, dwelling with Him, walking with Him, delighting in Him, and partaking of Him is the greatest blessing, richest pleasure, and surest joy we know, we will be in danger of falling into idolatry and failing at our Kingdom-and-glory calling from the Lord.

But how may we enter the presence of the Lord? What is required of us, if we would truly know fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore?

For reflection
1.  Is it wrong to appreciate the temporal and material blessings of God? How does God intend us to respond to these?

2.  Is there a difference between having a heart for God and having a heart for God’s blessings? Explain.

3.  What does it mean to know the presence of the Lord? How does one enter the Lord’s presence? What can let us know that we have arrived there? Or are dwelling there?

Next steps – Conversation: Talk with a Christian friend about what it means to know the presence of the Lord. How might you help one another in this matter?

T. M. Moore

This is part 5 of a 5-part series, Living toward the Promises. You can download this week’s study as a free PDF, suitable for personal or group use, by clicking here. You can learn more about living toward the promises of God by ordering a copy of the book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).

We invite you to register for the free online course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview. In this course, we provide a sweeping panorama of how life in the Kingdom of God unfolds in an age in flight from God such as ours. Set your own schedule and study at your own pace. Learn more, and register for One in Twelve, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.