Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
This was a prayer of David, who lived during the Old Testament time frame. David is a man of God who experiences God’s presence in a variety of ways.
God anointed him over the people of God, and ever since he had to flee from his enemies, he has always sought God’s will, and thus his life has been preserved by God’s presence.
He always wanted to have a clean heart before God, to keep God’s presence in his life, because he knew that if God’s presence was not with him, he would be in trouble.
King David knew he couldn’t survive without God’s help.
Gods do not cast anyone in his presence.
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37
God has said that we are graven in God’s palms.
There is a promise from God, we are given in his palms, no man can pluck us out of God’s hand, but if we depart from God, God cannot preserve us.
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” John 49 :16
If we remain in God’s presence, he will preserve us.
Man was created to be in the presence of God. If we look at Adam’s life, we can see that God created man to be in his presence. but what did man do?
“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8
Adam and his wife hid from God’s presence. God did not cast them out, but they hid from God’s presence.
They lost the presence of God as a result of their disobedience.
Even gods speak to us in mysterious ways; when we obey the god, we preserve God’s presence; when we disobey, we forfeit God’s presence.
Let us obey God so that his presence is preserved in our lives. The nature of obedience helps us preserve God’s presence with us. When God’s presence is present in our lives, we will have perfect peace, as God promised Moses when he was in the wilderness.
“And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Exodus 33:14
Wherever we go, we must take God’s presence with us; where God’s presence is with us, we have rest in our soul.
Let God grant us the grace to always be in his presence.
Source: A paraphrase of a sermon presented by a preacher.