Filled to Overflowing with the Glory of the Lord

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Scripture:

2Chr. 5:13 It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
    “For he is good,
        for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,
2Chr. 5:14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

Observation:

Solomon had prayed his prayer of dedication over the temple.  All of the people were praising and worshiping the LORD.  As they praised him, his holy presence came and filled the place and once again the people of God saw the cloud of his glory.  The entire house of the LORD was filled with this presence and it was so thick that the priests couldn’t even stand to minister.  The place had become filled to overflowing with the glory of the Lord!

Application:

There have been moments in time when I have had the opportunity to sense the Lord’s presence in a very powerful way, when it just seems almost palpable.  When God’s people focused all the attention of their worship on the Lord, then God came and filled the house.  Nothing about this worship service had to do with the people that were worshiping or the way in which they liked to have a worship experience.  Instead everything that happened was focused on and toward God. 

The song that was sung reminded them of the very enduring nature of God.  God is good and his love endures forever!  This is what the praise of God focused on for the people of God.  As their all-out attention was placed on the one they had come to love and adore, he came to dwell with them.  This was now the dwelling place of God on earth and God came to settle in with his people.

God still wants to come and dwell among us today.  We, today, are now the living stones of the new temple.  As the people of God come together the dwelling place of God continues to exist here on earth.  Each person should focus their life and attention on the worship of God.  Every part of the human experience should be infused with the desire to worship God and a worship that is pleasing to him, not necessarily to us.  In worship the presence of God enters our being so that there is no room for me to continue to stand — for he becomes all in all!  When God’s people come together as his people and they are all filled with his presence the overflow is stunning.  The world looks on and sees the glory of the Lord among his people.  This is God’s desire for us.

What would it cost us in our personal lives for our focus to be so completely on him that there would no longer be room for us to stand for his presence and his glory had filled the place?  It may cost us our own personal wishes, but we would gain all of him and we, too, could be filled to overflowing with the glory of God.

Prayer:

Lord, may your steadfast love endure forever and may your presence fill your people so that your glory may overflow into our world.  Amen.




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