When Moses went into the place of meeting with the Lord, all the people stayed in the safety of their tent doors. We only hear of one – Joshua, (who had the heart of a servant and the life of a worshiper) who lingered in the presence of the Lord. Even after Moses left, Joshua stayed in God’s presence:
Ex. 33:9-11 And it came to pass,
when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood
at the door of the tabernacle,
and the Lord talked with Moses.
10 All the people saw the
pillar of cloud standing at the
tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door.
11 So the Lord spoke to
Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the
camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from
the tabernacle.
It is in the process of being worshiped
that God communicates
His presence to men.
C.S. Lewis
The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines
linger: “to remain or stay in a place longer than is usual or expected; to
continue to exist as time passes; to be slow in parting or quitting something;
to be slow to act; to pass a period of time slowly; to remain alive though
gradually dying…”
In most of our churches, there are set
times for the worship. Worship leaders tend to fill the entire time with songs
and give no time to waiting in the presence of the Lord and listening for His
voice. We rarely experience time passing while we remain still – being slow to
act or speak.
I encourage you to wait in the
presence of God this Sunday – Stay longer than is “usual or expected.” Just as
we long to linger in His presence like Joshua, the Lord also loves to linger
with us. Throughout their Wilderness journey, they were never without the
presence of the Lord, as He lingered with them in a cloud by day and a fire by
night:
Ex. 40:36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over
the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not
taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.
David tells us…
Ps. 37:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of
him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to
pass.
The NLT translates this: be still in the presence of the Lord and
wait patiently for Him to act…
I love that – think about being still
in His presence. Quiet your mind and make your heart still.
David calls on us to do three things
that will help us to linger in God’s presence:
-Rest in the Lord
-Wait patiently for Him
-Do not fret
Being released from fretting can only
come as we rest in Him and wait patiently for His will.
Look for His glory in this place of waiting
Smell His beauty in this season of expectancy
Listen for His presence in this time of stillness
Taste His goodness in this moment of fruitfulness
Touch His garments in this sanctuary of His presence
Look for His glory in this place of waiting
Smell His beauty in this season of expectancy
Listen for His presence in this time of stillness
Taste His goodness in this moment of fruitfulness
Touch His garments in this sanctuary of His presence
The word “rest” in Hebrew is: damam. It means to be silent, to be quiet, to wait,
to grow dumb (no speak), to be still, to die.
Interestingly, the Hebrew for "waiting
patiently" is the word chuwl which
means to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, tremble, fear, travail, to be born, to
wait…So, it seems that our waiting can bring on a dance, and a “birthing” of the things God has purposed for us. Wait on Him – linger for a while and listen to His voice – turn your prayers into a dance if that is a way you can communicate with Him.
Just remaining quietly
in the presence of God,
listening to Him,
being attentive to Him
requires a lot of
courage and know-how
Thomas Merton
