"Finding His PResence In Pain"

Finding His Presence In Pain

Read Psalm 73:1-17 (NKJV)

I find our text very peculiar. David starts out this Psalm by getting his eyes on all the wicked in the world. Let’s pick out the highlights of this text:

Verse 2, David starts out this Psalm feeling sorry for himself. “I know God is good, but as for me, I have it really bad.” Poor David! Let us see what David had his focus on:

Verse 3, I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Verse 4, these wicked men are strong.

Verse 5, they are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men, in other words, these men have it made.
Verse 7, their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than a man could ever wish for. Oh, how I long to have it as easy as all these other men.

Verse 12, these ungodly men are always at ease, they always increase in riches.

Verse14, they always increase in riches, but I am plagued and tormented all day long. The Lord corrects me every morning.
Verse 16, when I tried to think about those evil ones that prosper, it is just to painful for me. David was saying, I try to do things right, but I just can’t get ahead in life.
David cannot seem to get his mind wrapped around all of this injustice. But I want you to notice our text this morning. In verse 17, there is a big shift of focus. How does this shift come to be? David begins to realize that even though it seems as though all these wicked men are prospering, it is not as it seems.
Read Psalm 73:17 (NKJV)
“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.”

Sanctuary actually means “Presence.” David says after I entered into the presence of God, I finally understood their end. Listen to the difference in David’s perspective from before he entered into the sanctuary and after he comes out.

Read Psalm 73:18-28 (NKJV)

Before David enters into the Presence of God, he says, “When I think about the evil ones that prosper, it is just too painful for me.” After he comes out of the Presence of God he says, “I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me, You are my strength, I have put my trust in You. There is no one else that I desire more than You.” It looks as though David needs to be on medication, not the King of Israel. It looks as though he suffers from some split personality disorder.
But we all know that he doesn’t need medication, he just needed a good dose of the presence of Jehovah. We need the presence of God evident in our lives. When you enter into His presence it changes your perspective and it totally changes your focus. Let’s look at a couple benefits.
#1 – Brings Fullness Of Joy
Entering into His presence requires us to push past our flesh, our feelings, and our mind. When you are in His presence, all other things seem to fade away as you are consumed with Jesus Christ. When you are in His presence, nothing else matters. When you are in His presence, your problems seem to become less important to you and He becomes more important.
Read Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

David knew this Scripture. He wrote it before he started venting about all the evil people in the world. David realized in the middle of Psalm 73 that he was heading in the wrong direction. So, I am sure that he made a choice to enter into His presence. Have you ever noticed someone who has spent time with the Lord all day? They have a smile on their face and a bounce in their step. They have just come from meeting with God and their hearts are full of joy. If your heart is not full of joy after leaving His presence, then I don’t know whose presence you were in. But it wasn’t His presence that you were in because in His presence is fullness of joy.
In His presence, in His holy presence; the weary can find perfect rest, the broken are restored. In His presence, In His holy presence; there is nothing like the presence of the Lord.

We can learn from our text that something happens when we get into His presence. We need a fresh dose of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We have been too long living our lives void of His presence, it is time to get back in His presence again.
When David came out of the presence of the Lord he says:
Read Psalm 73:25 (NKJV)
Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

The thing about God is the more you have, the more you want. Not only is there fullness of joy in His presence, there also comes…

#2 – A Sensitivity To His Voice
We need more joy in our lives. And we also need to hear His voice more clearly.
The closer you come to Him, the easier it is to hear His voice.

I heard a story of an elderly man who thought his wife was going deaf. He decided to test her hearing, so he walked across the room, turned his back, and said, “Can you hear me?” There was no response. So, he backed up a little closer to her and repeated the question, “Can you hear me?” Still there was no response. He backed up again until he was standing near his wife and said, “Can you hear me now?” This time he heard his wife say, “For the third time, I can hear you!”
This man thought his wife had a hearing problem, but he was the one going deaf!
If you are having problems hearing from God, then you need to get into His presence. The closer you come to Him, the easier it is to distinguish His voice. It is not Him with the hearing problems, it is you. He wants to commune with you. He wants to have fellowship with you. He wants to help lead and guide your life, but you must be close enough to Him in order to hear.
In Psalm 73, David began to compare himself with the world. Although he was trying to serve God and do the right thing, he ended up looking at the heathens and got frustrated with God. The heathens appeared to be more blessed then David and seemed to be getting ahead of him. However, something happened in verse 17 when he got into the presence of God. After he comes out of the presence of God he says:
Read Psalm 73:28 (NKJV)
“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 Your works.”

David understood that he needed the presence of God in His life. We must draw near to God in order to really put our trust in God and the only way to draw near to God is to get in His presence. We cannot expect to live a victorious life by just coming to church on Sundays. It doesn’t work that way. We need to draw near to God.
Read Psalm 27:4-6 (NKJV)
“One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: 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 inquire in His temple. 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.”

One thing David desired and that was to dwell in the presence of Jehovah all the days of his life. He cried out to the Lord time and time again, “Lord, I need Your presence more then I need anything else.

Closing Illustration – How Long Is Your Video
Imagine at the end of your life you’re welcomed into the presence of Jesus. In the midst of all the wonderful things we will experience, we’re ushered into our own “media room.” As you enter your personal media room, you’re told that you get to sit on a cozy couch with comfortable pillows, eating as much popcorn and pizza as you want and that you’re going to watch a video of your life. The video is a compilation of all the moments in your life when you were fully immersed in God’s presence, all the moments when you weren’t numbed-out or distracted by media technology—TV, the Internet, cell phones—all the moments when you were fully attentive to God.
Now imagine this video playing in your personal media room and ask yourself these questions: How long is your video? How many scenes will depict you sitting at the Master’s feet in solemn solitude basking in His glory, not numb or distracted by life? And as you think about your life’s video, how many scenes will show you completely ready to hear what Jesus is trying to say to you?