God's Presence
An appropriate place to begin a study on praise and worship would be with God's presence. We need to understand that the purpose of praise and worship is two-fold. First, to glorify God, and second, to enter His presence.
Is there anything more wonderful than entering into the presence of God? The definition of presence is "being within sight or call, being in company with, personal attendance". It means to sit and worship at His feet, and be overcome with His love. After all, we were created to fellowship with the Father.
The Hebrew word K'vod is translated chabod or kabod, and means weight or weightiness. "Glory" is the definition we most often attribute to this word, but it also means "honor, power, dignity, authority, splendor, and magnificence". The word K'vod comes from a root word meaning "to be heavy, to be glorious, to be honorable". When we pray and praise the Lord asking for His glory and His presence to dwell in our midst, we are asking that His presence, His magnificence, His splendor, His power would be displayed among us.
In Exodus 29:43-45 God says, "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.
And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God."
In this passage of scripture the Lord is saying that the tabernacle will be consecrated by His glory; that He himself will dwell in it and make it holy by His presence. We have become the tabernacle; the temple of God. We are His sons and daughters, and have assumed the priest's office. We are the Bride of Christ. He desires to dwell in us, in each of us; to make us holy, consecrated, and set apart by His presence.
Stop and think about it. Isn't that awesome? God loves us, and nothing delights Him more than for us to spend time with Him. May we learn to spend time apart with Him, our loving Father, entering into His presence. Our lives will be forever changed by doing so.
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