Then Moses stood, trembling earlier than the dwelling God and cried, “If Your Presence doesn’t go together with us, don’t carry us up from right here!” What use is a promised land with out the presence of the Lord? What use victory with out the Victor? Higher to die within the wilderness with His presence than to dwell in palaces void of His presence. Moses didn’t crave gold or glory—solely God. “How will they know we’ve got discovered grace in Your sight except You’re with us? For it’s Your Presence that units us aside from all of the peoples of the earth!”
This plea got here after the disgrace of the golden calf. God had mentioned, “I can’t go in your midst, lest I devour you on the best way, for you’re a stiff-necked individuals.” Judgment hung heavy. However the individuals responded with brokenness, they stripped themselves of their ornaments, the very gold they as soon as used to craft an idol. What was as soon as an object of riot would now be set aside for worship, given for the constructing of the tabernacle. Out of ashes, one thing holy would rise.
God, moved by the daring and damaged cry of His servant, mentioned to Moses, “I’ll do that factor that you’ve spoken, for you have got discovered grace in My sight, and I do know you by title.”
Oh, the surprise of being recognized by God, not simply as a face within the crowd, however as a beloved baby. Your title, spoken from His lips. The identical voice that fashioned the celebrities is aware of your title.
However Moses was not happy. He wished extra. “Present me Your glory!” he cried. The cloud wasn’t sufficient. The hearth wasn’t sufficient. The voice on Sinai wasn’t sufficient. He longed to see God Himself. Can we? Do you lengthy for His presence with such desperation? Is that this one want the hearth that burns in your bones?
David knew that longing. “I’ve set the Lord at all times earlier than me; as a result of He’s at my proper hand, I shall not be moved… for in Your Presence there may be fullness of pleasure.” Not a style, not a whisper, not a portion-fullness. The very lifetime of the soul. Like a deer pants for the water, so our souls ought to pant for Him. We can’t go ahead except He goes with us. We’d like the cloud by day, the hearth by night time, and the glory that modifications every little thing.
David cried once more in Psalm 27, “One factor I’ve desired of the Lord, that can I search: that I’ll dwell in the home of the Lord all the times of my life, to behold the great thing about the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” His coronary heart was not set on fame or fortune, however on this one factor—to dwell with God, to see His magnificence, to be close to Him. Within the time of bother, God would disguise him, elevate him excessive upon the Rock.
To Moses, God replied, “I’ll make all My goodness go earlier than you… however nobody can see My face and dwell. Nonetheless, there’s a place by Me. Stand on the rock. I’ll disguise you within the cleft of the rock and canopy you with My hand. You then shall see My again.” What a mercy. What a present. Moses stood on the Rock, hidden within the cleft, shielded by God’s hand, and he noticed the glory of the Lord.
Pricey brothers and sisters, do you stand upon the Rock? Are you hidden within the cleft? Has the hand of God lined you, and have you ever glimpsed His glory? Has it modified you from the within out? Like Isaiah, who noticed the Lord and was undone. Like Jeremiah, who burned with His phrase. Like Ezekiel, who fell earlier than the wheels of glory. Has His fireplace touched your lips?
That is no strange stroll. That is the baptism of fireplace. For Jesus mentioned, “I’ve come to forged fireplace upon the earth, oh, how I want it had been already kindled!” Our God is a consuming fireplace. He burns away the flesh, the delight, the idols, and divulges His glory within the soul that longs for Him. Let that fireplace fall.
