“For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with the joy of your presence.”
– Psalm 21:6
I want you to think about that last phrase of Psalm 21:6. You make him glad with the joy of your presence. Now, the psalm is talking about King David, and how he rejoices in God. And, basically, the psalm is talking about himself, so how God has made him blessed forever, and God makes him, the king, glad with the joy of God’s presence. So, I want you to think with me about what does it mean to be glad with the joy of God’s presence.
You have unhindered access to God through Christ’s work on the cross and are able to constantly commune with Him.
I think about a week ago I came back from some time out of the country, close to two weeks I had been gone. So I come back, and I see my wife and my kids, and the only way I can describe when I see them after being gone for close to a couple weeks is total joy in each other’s presence. I walk out of the airport and there are my kids in the car. They jump out of the car. They come running up to me, give me huge hugs. Their joy in my presence, my joy in their presence, I’ve missed them so much so I’m just hugging on them.
And then Heather, my wife, is there and she jumps out, and she comes and gives me a hug, and I’m giving her a hug. And I’m just thinking, “Oh, joy of being in one another’s presence.”
This Verse Reminds Us We Are Never Alone
Now with that picture, just the pure joy you can find in the presence of someone else, apply Psalm 21:7 to that. Now, apply Psalm 21:6 to our lives and the privilege we experience on a daily basis, when you rise in the morning you have, I have, the pure joy of spending time in the presence of God, with him, God. I’m talking the creator of the universe, the ruler of all, and his presence is with me.
I communed with him this morning. I was spending time with him. And I was listening to his word. I was talking to him. He was listening to me. I was worshiping him, exalting him. He was speaking to me, comforting me, encouraging me through his word and his spirit, the joy of being in the presence of God. And now, I’m walking with him all day long in his presence. Right now you are. If you’re in Christ the presence of God is with you right now.
Psalm 21:6 Thanks God For Always Being With Us
You make us glad O’ God with the joy of your presence we praise you for your presence with us. God, help us never to get over this. God, help us never to grow numb to this reality that you are with us, that right now we are in your presence. You are with us wherever we are right now, whether we’re walking, or sitting somewhere, driving somewhere, running.
God, help us to realize that we are not alone, that we are never alone. The joy of your presence is always ours, that this is possible through what Jesus did on the cross for us. All glory be to your name, Lord Jesus, for making this possible for us, just unhindered communion with God. So we say of ourselves, you make us glad with the joy of your presence, O’ God, we love you and we worship you in your presence. In Jesus name, Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
