Abiding Before God

 

Elder Mark Green


Psalms 61:7 "He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him"


David has been speaking of himself in the third person: "Thou wilt prolong the king's life." So, he is expressing the expectation and hope that his situation will be as he expresses. He desires to be "before God for ever." What a blessed situation! That which every child of God most longs for is that exalted state in which we shall stand in the very presence of God in glory. That is not our condition here, but we are able to enjoy his felt presence so that we can say with Jacob, "Surely the Lord is in this place."


I was blessed to be in two remarkable meetings over the last two weekends. The Spirit of God was manifest, and I heard men preach with great ability. I enjoyed the privilege of being in some wonderful Old Baptist homes where the kindness and hospitality were exemplary. I was the recipient of a signal instance of God's providential care when I had car trouble. In every aspect of those meeting I could say, "God was there." If we thought that we had to go through this life without being able to feel God's pr be! How much sweeter, then, is the prospect of abiding with God "for ever."


Yes, my dear friends, there is coming a time when we shall enter into the immediate presence of God, never to depart from it. We "shall abide before God for ever." It will be a place of the most intense and outstanding of joys; there will be no alloy of sorrow or frustration in them. Not only will we never have to leave God's presence, but we will know that wonderful fact; so our joys will not be dampened by the thought of an impending separation. We will not be as those disciples on the Emmaeus road, whose hearts concluding exhortation burned within them for a little while before Jesus withdrew his presence. We will always be with him, so logically our hearts will be forever burning with love to our Savior as we abide before Him. Happy day! May it come quickly!