It was King David who wrote most of the psalms and his son Solomon who wrote the Song of Songs and the proverbs. It says in 1 Kings 4:32 that along with Solomon’s proverbs he also wrote 1005 songs. Unfortunately, the Song of Songs is the only one we still have with us. Both Psalms and the Song are rich in describing the glorious attributes of God. Both David and Solomon noticed the beauty of the Lord in all their walk of life and not just in the Temple services. We see this in their writings. King David said that he wanted to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of his life. What did he mean? Did he want to stay inside the Temple every day, all day? I don’t think so. What he was saying was that he wanted to dwell in God’s presence every day of his life – all day. He wanted to be conscious of God’s presence not just in the Temple but all day long. He also said.
“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:6 KJV “I am always thinking of the Lord.” Psalm 16:6 The Living Bible
How can you do that when there are so many other things clamouring for your attention? It may have been fine for David when he was a shepherd boy out in the fields, but what about when he was a King? Kings get busy and it would require a lot of discipline to still keep your mind on God all through the day. What about us in this day and age, when we are literally bombarded with distractions and images all day long? Not only that but the busyness of modern day life? I am told that we are exposed to over 3000 adverts a day through the media, all vying for our attention on television, the internet, radio and magazines. If this is the case then we more or less need to have a quiet time in the morning and then say ‘bye, bye’ to the Lord until we get back home again at the end of the day. I believe King David learned how to practice the presence of God all the time and in the Song of Songs you can see how his son Solomon also did the same.
I believe all the elements are in place already for us to practice His presence; we just need to have our eyes opened to see them and know His word. David made this his priority.
“One thing I ask from the LORD , this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 NIV
“Here’s the one thing I crave from God, the one thing I seek above all else: I want the privilege of living with him every moment in his house finding the sweet loveliness of his face, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to live my life so close to him that he takes pleasure in my every prayer.” TPT (The Passion Translation)
“I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.” ” The Message
“The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory, “ The Living Bible LTB
I believe it can be done, by the help of the Holy Spirit. To be conscious of the presence of God every day of your life, and even in a big city like London. I know this because I pastored there for 6 years and enjoyed the presence of God on those busy, dirty streets of Wood Green. You don’t need to shut yourself away in a monastery or take on a shepherding job in the outback’s of Australia, to enjoy His presence. Our wonderful God is more present than we think, and He is wanting us to notice Him. The problem is we have our eyes closed. In Proverbs it says that wisdom is shouting out to us on the busy street corners for us to notice. It says that Jesus is made unto us wisdom so He can be seen even in the busyness of life.
“Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: … Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.| Proverbs 1:20-23
One of the problems we have in this Laodicea Church Age is that we are blind and don’t know it. I personally believe that we are in the last Church Age and the spirit of Laodicea is the prevailing spirit of this age, it’s something we battle with every day. Have a look at my booklet on the 7th Church age of Laodicea.
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” Revelation 3:17-19
The spirit we grapple with is a spirit of materialism and deception. The Laodicea Church boasts of being able to see, but God says they were blind and needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit on their spiritual eyes to see clearly. It’s so true, for in this age we can see things like never before, from watching a football match live on the other side of the world to being able to see a baby inside a mother’s womb, along with amazing things at the bottom of the ocean. No other generation has had this privilege even from the comfort of their lounge chair. We can see the farthest reaches of space, all in full HD colour on our 50” flat screen TVs or on even on our mobile phones. And yet in all this we can’t see God anywhere. We worship the creation rather than the Creator. In the previous generation called the Philadelphia Church Age they were told that they would be kept from the ‘hour of temptation’ that would come upon the whole earth.
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,* which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10 KJV * It says an hour not a day or time so this age isn’t for long.
That time of great temptation is with us now and has been created by the industrial revolution, the theory of Evolution, Atheism and two world wars. We can overcome this spirit and are promised the greatest blessing of all the Church Ages – to sit right up close to God in His throne.
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21 KJV
We have more blessings available to us now than any other generation in history, yet the Devil has been distracting us, and blinding us to the presence of God. We can’t see it. Isaiah the Prophet wrote 600 years before the cross, that the Angels of God then declared that the whole earth WAS filled with the Glory of the Lord even back then. They were not prophesying of days in the future.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:4