“For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods,” (1Ch. 16:25).
The soul sees and observes this presence of God manifesting itself and beholds it. David says, “That I might dwell in thy house to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple,” (Psalm 27:4). As the ordinances of God are the glory of a people, so the presence of God is the glory of the ordinances, and the soul that enjoys communion with God. It eyes and sees the glorious presence of God in ordinances.
William strong said, “There’s not only an act of beholding, but there’s an act of adoring the presence that we do behold, doing homage to it. The angels, that have a more immediate communion with God than we have, fall down before God and adore him. And so the prophet says, “Then said I, woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts,” (Isa. 6:5). “And the twenty-four elders cast down their crowns at his feet and fall down before him,” (Rev. 4:10).” William Strong, The Saint’s Communion with God.
How do you see God work in your own life? In your own devotions? What do you behold of Him day to day that allows you to fall down and adore Him with prayer and praise?
The Christian ought to take every opportunity to see God manifest before him day to day; even every moment of every day. What will you do tomorrow in your worship of God that causes you to have high thoughts of him, and praise him in the manner he deserves?
Contemplation:
O God the author of all good, I come to You for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without You I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Your power. Hold me up and I shall be safe.
Preserve my understanding from subtlety of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Your blessing, and in which I cannot invite Your inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny You and say with Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord?” or be poor, and steal, and take Your name in vain.
May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Your will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to You be the glory.
