1 Samuel 4
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here as George just said we're in the book of First Samuel we're in chapter 4 today so you can go ahead and turn there we going through the whole chapter today uh we're in a section of 1 Samuel that's often called The Ark narrative It Centers on the Ark of the Covenant now some of you may have been here a couple of years ago when we were going through the book of Exodus and you remembered as we we got to the very end how sad you were that it was coming to a close and how excited you were that we got to walk through the.
Construction of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant so this may be really clear in your head others of you maybe not so much some of you may uh had a first experience with the Ark of the Covenant that I had uh when I was around 7 years old I uh I watched this uh this documentary called Indiana Jones Raiders the Lost Arc and I didn't know what the ark was but that was a big part of the movie and the Nazis are trying to get a hold of the Ark.
So they can harness its power so they can win World War II so when it gets to the end and they finally find the ark uh I was not prepared for what happened next I uh and I've been told that I that I ruin a lot of older movies which I think is more your fault than mine because if it's older than 10 years old I I I feel like I get to ruin them but I won't ruin it cuz if some of you may have not seen it.
But let's just say the ark is very serious and using it and misusing it for personal power and gain goes very very poorly for the Nazis and it left it seared an image in my head at 7 years old that very much scarred me for years to come and understanding this is a very serious object and a lot of times if you have any background in uh biblical background that is attached to a movie or a book when we're preaching we're having to undo some of that.
Because a lot of times it's like well that actually isn't what happened well that's not actually what if if your first encounter with the ark was that movie we can build upon that that actually does it takes it very very seriously and that's what we're going to see in this story today but before we jump into this story in a section called The Ark narrative I want to to help help us remember what the ark uh is so I got a picture that we used in The Book of Exodus this is a artist uh rendering from the description that we get in the book of Exodus of what the Ark of the Covenant would have.
Looked like it was made of gold and acacia wood uh you see there's gold rings and and poles that would carry it because you could not touch the ark because if you did you would die uh it is a box that has contain stuff contained in it it had the uh the the The Ten Commandments on the stone tablets it had the jar of Mana it had um Aaron's staff it had these objects that reminded them of what God did and bringing them out of slavery into the promised land.
But it also on the very top uh had what's called The Mercy Seat this was the seat where uh the presence of God resided uniquely amongst his people and this was uh in the uh innermost part of the Tabernacle called the holy of holies and there was great separation from the people uh and the Ark of the Covenant because this is where God's presence resided it was such a holy place that only once a year could a high priest go in there on the day of atonement it's called yam kapor and there are a lot of rituals he had to do to even enter into uh the presence of the.
Lord to minister and do his duties and if he didn't do this correctly he would die and we see some history that points to that as well that the Ark of the Covenant was a very holy holy object because God ruled and reigned from amongst his people and really this is the centerpiece that really the nation of Israel comes to to Worship the Lord that wherever the ark is in the Tabernacle that's where the Lord the people come together to Worship the.
Lord so this is very Central to their identity as Israelites as belonging to the Lord this is Central to their worship and it is is very holy we need that understanding because what we're going to see today with that kind of knowledge makes this story a tragedy in fact it's one of the most tragic stories in the Old Testament so we're going to see that play out but also we're going to see the importance of God's presence with his people and my hope is is that we as we.
See this in the story we'll be able to reflect and see how important the presence of God is for us today as Christians so we pray and we'll walk through this together heavenly father I pray that you would help us see clearly your word we would see the wonderful truth that our whole life should be aimed at being in your presence at seeking your presence and that would change us but Lord give us ears to hear and eyes to see we ask this in.
Jesus name amen all right we're going to pick up in the second half of verse one when it says now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines okay first time we've seen the Philistines show up in 1 Samuel we're going to see more of the Philistines this is one of the the biggest enemies of the people of God they are a see people that migrated that that settled on the coast and started to conquer different parts of the promised land and they're going to keep showing up as they're at war with the Israelites which is where we pick up it says they encamped at Ebenezer this is the Israelites and the Philistines encamped at.
Apek the Philistines Drew up in line against Israel and when the battle spread Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about 4,000 men on the field of battle so Israel suffers a big defeat now when you read the book of Joshua which precedes this book it tells the story of how they settled the promised land uh one of the things that's very clear is that when the people of God are in right relationship with the Lord it goes well for them on the battlefield.
When they are not in right relationship with the Lord it goes very poorly for them on the battlefield which leads them to question and wonder what happened in verse three when the people came to the camp the Elders of Israel said why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines so they rightfully understand the Lord is the one that gives victory in battle and the Lord is the one who sovereignly ordains defeat in battle so they understand based on their history this is what.
God does what happened why did this happen and it seems that they believe the reason they lost to the Philistines is because they did not have the ark it says let us bring the the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh that it may come Among Us and save us from the power of our enemies so they think wait wait the real reason we lost is we didn't have the ark if we had the Ark of the Covenant.
If we had God's presence with us we would have won this battle they don't for a moment consider the possibility that maybe they have sin that needs to be repented of they don't consider their history remembering they would have known the stories that come from The Book of Joshua they would have known the story of how they won at Jericho and then they lost at the Battle of AI because there was sin in the camp amongst the people they don't consider that.
For a moment what they want to do is they want a shortcut to Victory they don't want to do they don't want to do the tough work of examining their own lives in their heart and examining the people they want a shortcut they're looking for the cheat code when I was a kid I played video games and I played a game called Mario Kart and I thought I was good at it and I had friends that would come over and we' be playing on N64.
And then I would be going off doing the race and they would just run into the wall over and over again and I was like what are you doing and then all of a sudden there was a glitch in the game they hopped over the wall and they ended up winning and I was like what is this you violated the spirit of the game it's not the way it's supposed to be and that's the that's human nature we want shortcuts we want a cheat go we want a way to to to do not do the tough work.
But do the easy route in order to get what we want and that is what the Israelites have done they are so wward they they choose the shortcut and in arrogance their their idea is we will barge into the holy of holies we will take the ark from the holy of holies bring it out of the Tabernacle and bring it to the battlefield which remember remember how holy that place was remember that only once a year a high priest could go in there.
If he did all the right rituals they bypass all of them because what they have done is they've reduced the presence of God and the Arc of the Covenant down to a good luck charm if we have this good luck charm on the battlefield that's what's going to help us win verse four so the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubin and the two sons of Eli half n and Phineas were there with the Ark of the Covenant of.
God when you get more context and we begin to see really how Wicked This is because if you remember a few weeks ago when chat was explaining the story of the two sons of Eli we saw how Wicked their actions were in corrupting the priesthood that they were uh disobeying the Lord and showing contempt for the offerings the people would bring their sacrifices and they were taking the fatten portions which were meant for the Lord and they were seizing it by force from the people not only were they showing content.
For the Lord they were abusing their power as priests we also read that they were sleeping around with the uh with the women who served at the Tabernacle we saw this picture of how corrupt the priesthood had gotten how corrupted worship had gotten and the Tabernacle and these men are now leading the charge with the Ark of the Covenant so we see how Wicked This is and we're about to see that God is not a good luck charm and the Ark will not be misused.
For personal gain they are invoking the power of God in a way that is a Blasphemous reduction of God and his presence down to a good luck charm and that is going to go poorly verse 5 as soon as the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the Earth resounded and when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting they said what does this Great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean they had just won the battle they were victorious and they're wondering why are they.
So confident says and when they learned the Ark of the Lord had come to the camp the Philistines were afraid for they said a God has come into the camp and they said woe to us for nothing like this has happened before woe to us who can Deliver Us From The Power of these Mighty Gods these are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness take courage and be men oh Philistines lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you be men and fight.
So they kind of know the history history of Israel they miss on some details they know that the ark is Holy they know that with the ark with God and his people that they defeated the Egyptians they get it some of the details wrong they think it's many gods they misunderstand it's one they think it happened in the wilderness you know it happened in Egypt but they understand this is a big deal but they also the Philistines to their credit are courageous men and they're like we're going to fight not going to be slaves let's go.
Verse 10 so the Philistines fought and Israel Was Defeated and they fled every man to his home and there was a very great Slaughter for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell and the Ark was captured and the two sons of Eli hafni and Phineas died so God finally enacts this judgment this prophecy that Eli's Sons would die and I appreciate how the pastor ALG uh summarizes this he says the Israelites thought they could trust in the presence of the Ark while paying no attention to God's demands they thought they could trust in his presence and do it their own way and not heed the Commandments of.
God the teachings of God the demands of God and they blaspheme the presence of God and it ends up in a massive defeat and more to the point the ark is captured which means that the unique presence of God amongst his people has departed verse 12 a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head which that's a sign of lament he would have torn his clothes he would have put dirt on his head this is lamenting and morning.
Verse 13 when he arrived Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching for his heart trembled for the Ark of God Eli knows how big of a deal it is that the ark left that he's trembling in fear awaiting news and when the man came into the City and told the news all the city cried out when Eli heard the sound of the outcry he said what is this uproar then the man hurried and came and told Eli now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were set.
So that he could not see so Eli is very old at this point 98 years old he's blind which means he's at the roadside he's just listening just trying to hear any bit of news that's coming in and the first thing that he hears is a loud lament a loud cry and you have to think in that moment that his stomach just drops what has happened the benjaminite comes to give him the news in verse 16 it says the man said to Eli I am he who has come from the battle I fled from the battle.
Today and he said how did it go my son he who brought the news answered and said Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people your two sons also half and Phineas are dead and the Ark of God has been captured as soon as he mentioned the Ark of God Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate and his neck was broken and he died for the man was old and heavy he judged Israel 40 years.
So Eli gets three sets of bad news the first Israel suffered a massive defeat tens of thousands of Israelites are dead on the battlefield second second his two sons which they all we see is is the their lack of character their wickedness but they are his sons he remembers them as children he remembers them growing up his two sons are gone but the news that really moves him the the news that deeply affects him and deep distress is the fact that the Ark of.
God is gone and that new overwhelms him so much that he falls out of his seat and being old and heavy and commentators have noted this and I think they're on to something that he's probably likely heavy because he too participated in the wickedness of eating the fatten parts of the sacrifices that he was not supposed to that he permitted by letting his sons corrupt the priesthood that he participated this and the irony of this is that all of that weight that he carried in Rebellion against.
God descends upon him as he falls backwards and his neck hits the ground and he breaks his neck and he dies and then God also fulfills the prophecy that we saw earlier that when Eli's Sons die he does too and after 40 Years of judging with poor leadership and permitting sin in the priesthood God has brought his judgment and it's devastating for the entire family which is where chapter 4 actually takes a really unique turn it it it goes in a direction that you wouldn't expect that I wouldn't expect and it zooms in on something very specific amongst all the different things that are going on the thousands of Israelites that are dead in the.
Battlefield Eli and his sons dying it focuses on the wife of one of the sons of Eli verse 19 now his daughter-in-law the wife of Phineas was pregnant about to give birth when she heard the news the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead she bowed and gave birth for her pains Came Upon her so upon hearing this news she goes into some type of complicated labor where she is actually going to die verse 20 and about the time of her death the woman attending her said to Hero not be afraid.
For you have borne a son but she did not answer or pay attention and she named the child kabad saying the glory y has departed from Israel because the Ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured and that's how this story ends now kabad literally in the Hebrew it just means no glory and it's this picture of the glory has Departed.
Now names are significant in the Bible they they intentionally their names have meaning and kabad captures the in this tragic birth the greater tragedy that has unfolded and really the biggest tragedy that's happened in Israel since they settled the promised land hundreds of years ago but just as Eli was mainly concerned with the Ark of God being captured that is the most shock shocking part for her and the most tragic part for she names her son iabat the glory has departed and she is in death acknowledging this great tragedy.
Now it's hard for us I think to picture the loss of this and I tried to think of what it would be like to lose something like that in our own culture I talked with Chad about this I like is there anything that that would help us understand what losing the ark meant and there really isn't try thinking through the Declaration of Independence being stolen the Constitution being stolen for some of you maybe it's Howard's Rock like I just but there really is nothing that would devastate us like what's happening here this is a massive event it's huge.
And if you remember the book of Exodus and how it ended the final passage of the the book of Exodus if you remember this the glory of the Lord this wonderful event where it fills the Tabernacle and how beautiful and how wonderful how glorious this was and now the glory of God has departed has left meaning meaning the presence of God has departed meaning that it's very likely it's very likely they believe God has abandoned them in judgment and I think they would be right to believe that that is why this is such a devastating scene I mean it's.
So devastating that this is also the the the Tabernacle has been here in Shiloh for almost 400 years Shiloh is no more after this we don't know what happened we catch hints that it was destroyed historically they think possibly the Philistines came in and burn it down possibly the people just in lament tore it down but this the end of Shiloh so this is a devastating event and yet in the midst of this Devastation it focuses in on a nameless woman and you might think.
Okay well I mean we get this Cliffhanger about kabad I wonder how he's going to show up later he doesn't he's not important at all he gets mentioned one other time and it's just in relation to his brother just to help Orient the story he's insignificant but the reason that it focuses in on this ending is to show how utterly devastating it was for the presence of God to leave the people this is a massive event and it is a tragedy.
So what I want to do for us is I want for us to reflect upon that reality the importance of the presence of God and I want us to think about this in a few different ways here's the first if you are not a Christian My Hope Is that that we can compel you to see how wonderful and how glorious the presence of God is that we can help you see how beautiful it is to live a life seeking the presence of.
God that we have a God that took on human flesh and dwelt Among Us that Jesus embodied a life that we could not live and he died to death on the cross that we deserve he rose from the resurrection to conquer death so that we could be ushered into the presence of God in part now but in full later and the journey of seeking the presence of God is wonderful it is beautiful so much so that if you didn't have this presence it would be devastating have you ever had a friend or a family member that died that you just I mean you felt their absence like you you get together.
For a meal and you see that empty seed and you just you feel it you feel their absence the reason that you feel their absence is because when they were with you their presence was so good you're just you're reminded of just how wonderful it was to have them in your life that right there is a small picture of what life with God is like like that his presence is so wonderful that you don't want to imagine life without him you don't want to imagine what it would be like to not.
See how wonderful he is to experience his comfort and his strength and his power and his Mercy to experience that when you sin when you fall short that his blood covers Us that we have fellowship with him because of what he does for us that his presence is that good the Theologian a w toer once said nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleas pleasure of experiencing the presence of God and the reality is is that we come into this world trying to find that pleasure in.
So many lesser things and the reason we move from thing to thing to thing to thing from activity activity activity from person to person to person is because they can never satisfy but the presence of God does that's how huge this is and as Christians we only get to experience that in part now but as we saw as we finished the book of Revelation just a short time ago that our entire lives are aimed at making it before the presence of.
God to see him in full that that eternity that awaits us is far better than anything this world has to offer so my hope is that as you walk with us and I hope that you do that you will begin to see how wonderful the presence of God is that he is worthy of your life and your faith and your surrendering to leave this life behind to find your hope in him in seeking his presence that's the first thing I want us to.
See the second is that if you are a Christian I want us to receive the warning do not use the presence of God for personal gain God is not a good luck charm he's not a good luck charm to get what we want in this life that is blasphemy that is taking the Lord's holy name in vain and the Heart posture that exists and existed in the Israelites that they would arrogantly barge into the throne room they would barge in and take from the holy of holies the presence of.
God for their own personal gain that posture still exists today how often do we see politicians that invoke their faith and talk about Jesus and hold up Bibles in order to get votes and I'm not saying that every politician that's ever talked about their faith isn't genuine but boy oh boy it's clear a lot aren't that there is no fear of there's no fear of God in that approach to to misuse the presence of God in your life and speak up about in a way to gain it's Insidious it's evil Christians do this in a lot of different ways one of the ways that I.
See it happen is someone who's making a decision for their own personal what they deem as a gain for their own personal benefit when other people are trying to counsel them and they say no no no God told me no no no the the Holy Spirit showed this to me told no no God would never he he would want me to be happy with fill in the blank and the name of God and a relationship with God and therefore the presence of.
God is invoked as a means to get what you want not thinking about wait a second that the Holy Spirit embodies the Church we have this individualist individualistic mindset that we it's just us and God that's not how it is that we are amongst the body when you have other Christians that are trying to counsel you especially when they're pointing to his word and you say oh no no no I know God is cool with what I'm doing woe to us.
When we do this Christians do this when they live a good moral life for the sake of gaining blessing that I want to do the commands in order that I might be blessed and again you're invoking following his Commandments which is calling upon your relationship with him and his presence in order for personal gain see Prosperity preachers do this the false prophets who sell out Arena tours dangling faith in front of people for cash there's no fear of God in them and this awful heresy that's.
So widespread in this culture of people that pedal pedestal the word of God and dangling Faith out in front of others for Earthly gain I'll give you one more one of the things that I've noticed is that there are in the South particularly parents when they become parents start to take Faith in Church very seriously and then the moment the last kid graduates from high school they begin to f fade away and what that shows often not going to speak for every person that's ever done this.
But what that shows often is is that Church and God was a means of raising good moral children and the moment that you've done that God is useless to you we should be mindful of that there I could go on and on there are lots of different ways that we misuse the presence of God for our own personal gain and we need to understand that's blasphemous that is as arrogant as them going into the holy of holies and taking the ark.
So we should consider our own heart in this and here's the third thing I want us to see today some of you may right now feel abandoned by God some of you may feel that God's presence in your life has left with no certainty of his return and if you've been following Jesus long enough this is going to sound familiar there are times when we feel like the presence of God and everything that I've been talking about just feels so distant there are times times.
When you talk to the Lord when you're praying and you just wonder am I just throwing empty words into empty air there are times where God feels so distant there are times where the name kabad feels so appropriate because it feels like his glory feels so absent and if you follow Christ long enough you will experience likely that a marathon long faith that we have on this journey there will be times where you feel the distress of God God just feeling distant and the next question that I get.
When I talk to folks that are feeling this is why why does God's presence feel so distant why can I feel the presence of God if God loves me why does he feel so distant why does he feel so foreign I want to feel his presence I want to know him and there are certainly a few different biblical reasons that I can point to for Why God might act like this in certain seasons of life but the reality is is very often I don't know why and sometimes you might get that answer later on and sometimes you might not get that answer at all I don't know why.
But as opposed to using the rest of our time to try to understand why I'd rather be more practical and tell you what to do if you're in that state if you're in that state now or if you will end up in that state in the future I want to give you three very practical things that I picked up from a pastor I used to know that I think are helpful if you're in a season where the presence of God As a Christian feels.
So distant the first is seek seek though sometimes God feels distant it feels like his presence has been removed from us we as Christians are still called to seek him and you might respond and say why would I seek a God who doesn't want to seem found right now why would I seek after God I feel so lonely right now in the aftermath of the devastation of Jerusalem the Prophet Jeremiah has these words from the book of Lamentations chapter 3 he says.
For the Lord will not cast off forever but though he cause grief he will have compassion according to the abundance of a steadfast love for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men says he will not cast off forever though it feels like that right now because that may be the reality that he is distant in a way that you can't see him like you want to Behold Him you want to see him you want to experience him.
When you pray you want to feel feel his presence when you read his word you want to feel something you want to be right here but he's not cast off forever he's right here with you and I so appreciate that he he does mention though he causes grief and our God does this sometimes in ways we don't understand he will have compassion according to his steadfast love and I appreciate this verse 33 I Love Actually what the csb the Christian Standard Bible says it says.
For he does not en Joy bringing Affliction or suffering on mankind God doesn't enjoy this he has Sovereign purposes for you in this but it does not bring him joy and you will not be cast off forever I love what the pastor Matt Smur says he says here's the point if you're going through a rough time the God of Heaven is not messing with you he's not playing some cruel Cosmic game he finds no joy none in watching you suffer Christian believe that I don't know why this is happening right.
Now but God finds no joy in it and he has greater purposes in it and you may not feel his presence but he is with us God May indeed as David says in multiple Psalms hide his face from us hide the better part of his presence from us in ways we don't understand but David also says in Psalm 137 where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presence if I Ascend to Heaven you are there.
If I make my bed and shol you are there he knows that though sometimes we can't clearly see God as we seek him as we seek to savor him to love him to worship him he's right here the whole time and yes I hope hope that he comes to the center of you in a way that you feel his presence but don't for a moment think that he has abandoned you cuz he hasn't our God is with us and as David says in Psalm 30 weeping may t.
For the night but joy comes in the morning I am Telling You for the Christian that is true I don't know how long the night is going to be but I do know that the morning is going to break and you are going to feel this compassion against you are going to feel his presence again and if you're in the middle of a season like that seek Him seek Him don't stop seek Him do the things that are good for your soul read the Scriptures even.
When you feel nothing seek him pray talk to God even when it feels like you don't even know if he's listening as doubts and lies come in that says he doesn't care pray seek him sing worship even if your heart feels nothing sing seek the Lord the second thing to do is to self-examine self-examine there may be reasons that God feels distant that you do not know there are some times though there are some situ situations where the presence of God feeling distant is self-inflicted that you have done things that have has led to this that was the story of the Israelites it was by their actions that the presence of.
God left them so we do things sometimes that lead to this in a way that pursuing sin and keeping it hidden numbs our soul to where we really can't sense God and the reality is we should self examine we should look at our own Hearts we should try to see as Psalm 139: 23- 24 say David says search me oh God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any Grievous way in me and Lead Me in the way Everlasting we should we should pray pray that like search me oh.
God know my heart see if there be any Grievous way within me and if there are Grievous ways expose them bring them into the light confess them before the Lord confess them to other Christians in your in your group begin to walk in the light because sometimes the choices that we make and the sin that we hide numbs us in a way where we can't see God very clearly and we should take account of that and we should repent and we should run back to.
God but let me be clear sometimes and a lot of times it's not hidden sin you're doing all the things Faithfully following Christ I'm sure you've got sin but you walk in accountability you repent of it and God still feels distant here's the third thing you can do is stare I'm made these all S's so you could remember that super Baptist of us seek self-examine stare stare deeply into the truths of God even when he doesn't feel present stare deeply into.
God because he's always present if you are in Christ Romans 3 8: 38-39 is true for you this is true for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our lord there is nothing that separates you from the love of God he may not be in full Focus view right.
Now but he's right here and he's not going anywhere he still loves you the God who gave up his life to bring you into his presence nothing will separate you from him he's here and though he feels far and though his love feels far the objective true reality in spite of our feeling is that he is here the love that saved you the love that redeemed you the love that's holding you on right now now and the love that will carry you home is still present in your life.
If if you're a Christian if you're a follower of Christ and you're in a season where you cannot sense his presence I don't know why he's hidden the better parts of his presence from you but I know good and well from the Scriptures he is with you so stare don't stop stare deeply into the presence of God you know sometimes uh if you're in a place like this if you're a season like this that trying to stare deeply into God is like looking at one of those magic eyes one of those Magic Eye posters do you.
Remember those did I put did I put a picture in there on the slide is there a magic gu poster put that up there if I did yeah I did okay I did the right thing okay so if you're not familiar with these these were like at every elementary middle school classroom that I was ever in and the point of these is if you stare at it long enough or Chad said there's some way of doing it look at your nose I don't know.
But I never figured these out so I would look at these kind of posters and I would just see nothing I still see nothing and then all of a sudden someone says oh I see it it's a whale and it's like really I got nothing I just I mean I see nothing and sometimes when you're in a season where you can't sense the presence of God you be in community group and someone's got the Scriptures open they're just saying oh isn't.
God so good look at this truth look how wonderful he is our God loves us so much he's so powerful he's so mighty he's so Sovereign and I'm open up the Bible and you're just like I don't see it right now I don't know I I just can't see God clearly right now and sometimes that's what it feels like but what I'm here to tell you is don't stop staring you belong to God you are marked by him and one day he's going to break through and one day you are going to.
See him clearly you're going to feel his presence you're going to feel his love you want to feel his power God is going to break through so keep staring seek self-examine stare and you will see him clearly again the bad news for the Israelites is that their sin led to the presence leaving the good news is in a few chapters the presence of God is going to return the better news for us as Christians is that though we may be in a season where he feels far and distant he never left.
So keep persevering and stare deeply until we experience his presence again Matt's going to come up and we're just going to sing one song This Is A Hymn that we don't often sing It's called I stand amazed and I want us to stand I want us to sing this and you may be a Christian right now that is so feeling the presence of God and everything I just said just feels foreign it's no I just he feels so present I'm so ready to sing what I would encourage you do is to sing.
But in the moments where there's pauses between the words would you pray for the rest of your Church family would would you pray for the Christians in this room right now that want to feel the presence of God but they just can't and if you're one of those Christians right now I I want you to sing you may not feel the joy of the Lord in your heart you may not feel his presence the part of staring until you see his presence again is singing.
So I want you to sing and if you're not a Christian I want you to hear the message in this song and I want you to surrender your life to the God who's worthy of your life so that you can experience the presence of God from now into eternity let me pray Heavenly Father may you go to work on our hearts right now may you heal may we feel your presence may we worship and Delight in you Lord would you work mightily by the power of the Holy Spirit in us we ask this in.
Jesus name amen.