Yes, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thy altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God (Psa 84:4-7).
Words cannot describe the blessedness of such a one who has made the presence of God his habitation. In His presence is the fullness of joy; David said in one of his songs: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psa 16:11). His presence is light and life. There is an excellent glory which our heavenly Father has prepared for His saints. But only those who dwell in His Presence will partake of it. This is the place of which David spoke in Psalm 91:1. Here any saint may enter and dwell. Any child of God may abide here eternally. The Lord Jesus has made the way for all. He Himself is the Door into the Presence of God and bids us enter into the secret place of the Most High.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb 10:21-23)
Blessed indeed are those who dwell in His house. Only those who dwell in the transforming presence of Christ will find His glory or know His secrets. The shadow of the Almighty is the secret place of the Most High. This is the place of which David spoke: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
These secrets we must know before we can enter into the presence of God. We must know that the door has been unlocked for us; the way is clear to enter in. We can go beyond the innermost veil that hung between the holy place and the holiest of all that hides the Shekinah Glory, the unspeakable Light of God’s presence, which no natural man can approach; into which only the High Priest was allowed to enter, and that but once a year. Into this realm our High Priest has gone in ahead of us and He is calling on us to come on inside. The Door is open for us that we may enter, by the new and living way, into the very presence of God.
It is only in the presence of God that man can enjoy eternal life; for in Him is life and this life is the light of men. The life of the branches resides in the vine. Except that the branch abide in the vine, it cannot flourish to bring forth fruit but will whither.
Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:4-8).
At the dedication of the first temple the presence of God filled the house of God with indescribable glory. The Shekinah presence of God was so much that the priest could not stand to minister. The Presence of God is beyond man’s ability to comprehend. Nothing on earth can substitute for the presence of God. No wonder Moses in Exodus chapter 33 and in the fifteenth verse prayed to God saying:
And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest (Exo 33:14-15 ).
As we make our pilgrimage in this Journey through this world, it is far too important to be attempted without His presence. We need the abiding Presence of Jehovah-Shammah.
We belong in His Presence. That was where man lived continuously before the fall. It was sin that took him out of the presence of the Almighty. We must not forget what happened to us at the dawn of creation. When Adam, who was filled with life, light and wisdom, fell from his original state, he became afraid, and in fear hid himself from the presence of God among the trees of the garden. “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen 3:8).
Man, fallen from the image of the heavenly God and cast out of the Presence of God, became as earthly as the trees of the garden behind which he hid. Since that time, man has been hiding from the Presence of God; even God’s people as well as sinners find themselves shrinking from its transforming presence as a worm shrinks from fire. But the time has come for him to return there, for that is where he belongs.
David desired, above everything else, to dwell in the Presence of God. He said: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
You may ask: Where is His house that we may dwell there? Is it a Temple or a Cathedral in some great country? Where is the place of His throne that we may make our abode there? What does the Scripture say?
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? (Act 7:48-50).
To dwell in His house, therefore, is to abide in His presence and minister unto Him: to function as His royal priesthood in His house and keep the incense burning in His Holy Place. What a privilege! What a blessed people we are that have the great opportunity to dwell in the house of Jehovah. No wonder David sang this beautifully in the Psalm saying:
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God (Psa 84:4-7).
They go from strength to strength because they wait upon Him in His house. Their strength is in God and therefore they are constantly being renewed like the eagles. For they that “wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” They go from strength to strength as they appear before Him in His House in Zion. They are constantly praising Him and offering up sweet incense unto Him in His holy Tabernacle, the Tabernacle not made with hands.
Let’s see an instance of this in the life of a man of God. A man who, at first was a child dwelling in the house of the Lord, grew into a mighty prophet of God.
Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, of the hill-country of Ephraim, had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Peninnah. The latter had several children while the former was barren. This man, Elkanah, was a devout man who went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto Jehovah, the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. On one of the visit, Hannah earnestly prayed to the Lord for a child and her request was granted.
And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. Hannah and Elkanah, Samuel’s parents, had given him unto the Lord to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life just as Hannah pledged unto Jehovah. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD and did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.
That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
The incidence above was Samuel’s first experience of hearing the voice of God. The lad could not recognize the voice of God, because the words of the Lord were scarce or precious in those days. Even Eli, the senile priest, did not immediately perceive that it was God calling the child until the third time. Let’s read on:
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. (1Sam 3:1-10).
Up until this time, Samuel had been ministering unto God in the Temple without ever hearing God speak. He did not know the Lord yet, so how could he be expected to know His voice? But he soon learnt to know the voice of the Lord and the more often he heard it the better he knew it. From the time of his call by God onward, his ministry changed from just serving in the Temple to the one who had a “thus says the Lord.”
The Lord revealed Himself unto Samuel by the word of the Lord and through his ministry everyone knew “that there was a prophet in Israel.” Samuel knew the mind and the will of God and therefore was established as a prophet in Israel.
We will serve Christ better if we dwell in His presence. If we dwell in His presence we will know His voice and will partake of His mind. If we dwell in His house He will, like with Samuel, call us, speak to us and reveal His mind to us. This will gradually develop to a relationship whereby we intimately know His voice and know His will.
By this we will be lifted to the realm where we live in His will and our prayers are always answered. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).
A significant proportion of our prayers are unanswered because we do not know the mind of Christ. Most of us never take time to get acquainted with the Lord whom we claim to spend so much time serving. We are too busy with much serving that we have no time for prayer and fasting, and no time to meditate on the word of the Lord. No time to quietly sit at His feet and learn his ways. Even if He’s calling us, the hurly-burly of activities around us is sufficient to prevent us from hearing. But those who would set time apart to listen to His voice and who would let His words abide in them would know His will. And His desire will be their guide. These ones would ask what they will and it will be granted unto them because they, like their Master, have no will but the will of God. They know His will and this has become their will also. They know His voice because they are acquainted with Him from much time spent at His feet listening to Him speak to them.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand (John 10:14; John 10:4-5; John 10:27-28).
How do you get to know someone? There is only one way by which we can know His voice and that is by hearing it. There is only one way we can hear it, and that is by listening to it. Blessed are those that know the joyful sound, the still, small voice of the Master. Those that listen to and know this voice will never be deceived. A stranger they will not follow. These ones are governed by His words; they are led by His Spirit and they are maturing into sons of God.
There are so many voices in the world today. Never in human history were there so many voices in the world all clamoring to be heard, all clamoring for attention and seeking for disciples to follow them. Every gimmick is been employed to gain our attention. Every imaginable scheme and device is put forth to arouse the masses, to gain public interest, capture the mind, and cause them to open their pocketbooks. Every conceivable artifice is being used to compel the attention of the unwilling ear. This clamor of voices is by no means confined to the advertisement of salesmen, but also the clamor of religious voices of the professing church. It is incessant, unceasing day and night. These voices are always seeking to grab us like the octopus’ arms from which it’s difficult to get away; you escape one arm and the other wraps around you and with the its suction cups pulls you in.
The only people who are safe and secure and will not be deceived are those who know the voice of Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep. These ones can shut out all these strange voices and hear the voice of the true Shepherd clearly and distinctly. These are His sheep and “a stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers.”
