At the Presence of the Lord

When Israel went out of Egypt,

the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

Judah became His sanctuary,

and Israel His dominion.

Psalm 114:1-2, NKJV

I'm not a big fan of preaching Biblical symbolism, but there are some illustrative pictures painted by the Grand Designer of all that are inescapable. Take this one for instance.

Israel--God's Chosen People--was enslaved in a foreign land, but when the cried out to the LORD, He sent a deliverer to break the power of the of the captor and lead Israel out of Egypt into their promised land. He led them through the Red Sea, and ultimately across the Jordan River, removing every obstacle from their path and providing for their every need along the way.

Israel is you and me, before we knew the LORD, before Jesus came and made us whole.

Egypt is the world of sin into which we were born, in which we lived.

Sin is the enslavement, and Satan is the enslaver of souls, holding us as captives in need of deliverance.

Christ is the great and awesome deliverer, the prophet greater than Moses, the embodiment of all Divine Power, who forgives and forgets all of our sin when he saves us and brings us out of Egypt's bondage.

The Exodus from Egypt is a picture of salvation, coming out of the world of sin into the land promise.

The Red Sea is a picture of Water Baptism.

The Wilderness is a picture of Sanctification.

The Jordan River is a picture of Spirit Empowerment.

The Promised Land is a picture of Victorious Living.

And I could go on, but I think you get the picture. And that's not really my point anyway. What grabbed me about the 114th Psalm was the Presence of the Lord in the believers life. When He brings us out of sin and puts His Spirit in us, we become His kingdom, His dominion. We submit ourselves willfully to the wonderful rule of the King of kings. We are His Israel, not that we have replaced the Chosen People, but rather we have been joined to the Chosen People. We have become people of God.

The tribe of Judah produced the great Kings of the Bible, the lineage that led to Jesus Christ. But the name Judah means "praise", and the Psalmist also wrote that God inhabits the praises of His people. When we lift up the high praise of God in our lives, we build for Him a tabernacle where He can dwell and be worshiped. We ourselves are a sanctuary of praise, a living tabernacle, the temple of the Holy Ghost. Peter says we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people who sing the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into marvelous light. When we are brought out of sin into salvation, we are transformed into the sanctuary where he dwells, and we are meant to worship Him.

When His presence fills our life of praise...

The sea will flee.

The rivers will roll back.

The mountains and the hills will skip away before us.

When His presence fills our life, He makes the way where there seems to be no way, going before us and coming behind us in the power of His might. He speaks and the universe surrenders to His will. Every obstacle is made surmountable, every weakness becomes an opportunity of glory for God. And why? the Psalmist asks. It is because nothing can stand before the presence of the Lord, the God of those who are His.