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Day 33: The Joy of His Presence (SoS 1:4d)

"Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song  of Songs 1:4


The Bride here with the Daughters of Jerusalem says we will be glad and rejoice in you in relation to His chambers.

Note: it's chambers and not chamber because many attributes of our Beloved Jesus define His person. Each chamber encounter exposes us to each of these many attributes of His person.

She was saying: in your presence, we will be glad and rejoice. I'd rather this verse was translated as “we will be made glad and rejoice in you”. Why? Because the word translated glad here in its simplest form means to spin around under the influence of a violent emotion: usually joy.

The Bride was saying that our intimacy, and fellowship with Him,  make us exceedingly joyful/glad and we express it by rejoicing in Him. David says about himself in Psalm 21:6:

“For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.”

The Amplified Version says:

“For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence.”

One of the many pursuits of the carnal man is happiness. Happiness however is fleeting because it depends on things that are almost always subject to change. God does not offer us happiness. He offers us joy and this joy is found only in His presence. In joy we find happiness but we can never find joy in happiness.

One of the most popular words in David's Psalms is in Psalm 16:11. It says:

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Another thing man chases is pleasure. Something to delight His heart. However, every pleasure we experience on earth apart from God, apart from intimacy with Jesus the eternal One has an expiry date because nothing in this world is eternal. David says at God's right hand are pleasures forever more.

When we read Psalm 16:11, we often isolate the first phrase from the rest of the verse. But David was saying here that both joy and pleasure are found in God's presence and this is the manner we are to tread life: in pursuit of His presence.

When we spend time with and encounter Jesus in His chambers, the beginning, process, and product of it is joy. It's why David says in Psalm 100:1-2,5

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

We are to approach God rejoicing, serve Him rejoicing, and leave His presence rejoicing. Constant rejoicing is the way we carry His presence out of the chamber.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, today I commit to pursuing your presence all the days of my life instead of pursuing happiness and pleasure. Let me experience greater joy and pleasure in your presence as I go after you. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:
  • The pursuit of pleasure is often seen in the littlest of things, like watching an extra episode of your favorite show when you should be praying or reading your Bible. Do you sacrifice eternal pleasure for fleeting ones? Determine to make adjustments today.
  • How do you go into, be in, and leave God's presence? Is it with joy?
  • Meditate on Paul's command to us in Philippians 4:4:
“Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!” (AMPLIFIED CLASSIC)








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