Joy in His Presence

"You hide them in the protection of Your presence" (Psalm 31:20).

I know I've read these words many times, but at the same time I feel like I've never seen them before. This morning the idea of being hidden in the protection of God's presence filled my heart and my mind with a holy sense of wonder. I held the thought in my mind until peace penetrated my soul, and my spirit and heart filled with joy.

I believe that you can read the Bible dutifully and find it to simply be words that lie flat on the page. That is why before I open God's word I ask the Spirit of Truth to reveal Himself to me. This morning I felt like I was drinking living water. When I meditated on hiding myself in the protection of God's presence, I felt like I was having Holy Communion and eating the bread of life.

Next, I opened a book I am reading by Charles Spurgeon on Joy and Redemption and found these words. "Amid a stream of troubled thoughts, there stands an island of rescue and redemption which supplies standing room for wonder and worship, while the music of the words sounds sweetly in our ears like the murmuring of a river. Read the entire psalm carefully and it will arouse your sympathy (Psalm 89), for the author was bearing bitter reproach and was almost broken-hearted by the grievous calamities of his nation. Yet his faith was strong in the faithfulness of God. So he sang in that night of his sorrow. Greatly does it glorify God for us to sing His high praises in storms of adversity and on beds of affliction. It magnifies His mercy if we can bless and adore Him when he takes as well as when He gives. It is good that out of the very mouth of the burning fiery furnace there should come a more burning note of grateful praise."

Something beautiful happens when you find your protection in the presence of God. When you hide yourself beneath the shadow of the wing of the Almighty you find more than security. When you find your resting place close to the heart of God, even if the circumstance of your life remain the same, you are changed. All who anchor themselves in the Lord become strong and courageous.

Not only do I find protection in the presence of God, I find redemption. There is a great exchange. The heavy garments of sorrow are exchanged for the festive garments of praise and joy.