The Royal Etiquette Complication

I'm sure you're aware that there rules/guidelines for meeting w/ a monarch, right? Say you were going to meet the ruling monarch of England: there's protocol on what to wear, how to enter their presence, what to say, when to say it, how to leave their presence, etc… 

I've been thinking about this lately in correlation to worship.

If you look through the Bible, there's countless verses on God's presence & the proper protocol on how to “enter in” but did you notice there's zero verses on how to exit His presence? Zero. I cannot find one verse on the proper protocol for exiting God's presence.

Now that's mind-blowing.

In my online conversations w/ different worship leaders across the country, no one has been able to answer this. Perhaps there's zero verses on exiting God's presence because He doesn't want you to exit it.

There's an implied mindset/attitude that you obviously do [exit God's presence] because most every Sunday in every fellowship across the globe you hear about “entering His gates w/ thanksgiving in your heart, entering His courts w/ praise” but then what? If you can tell the exact the second you enter in would it not also stand to reason that you could tell the exact second you leave His presence? Do you leave His presence at the closing prayer? In the parking lot? At the restaurant? When you awake from your Sunday afternoon nap? Monday morning when you're getting ready for work? 

So the question is this: 

Just when do you leave His presence 

 (that you have to enter in again at some point) 

& why would you even leave it?

I've really been pondering this… 

• if you're “joined to the Lord & one spirit w/ Him” (1 Cor 6:17) & 
• He said He'll never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6, 8, Heb 13:5) & 
• He's w/ us always (Matt 28:20)

Then where does “entering in” fit in?

Now, I've been saved for 43 years & been in worship ministry for 30 years, so I'm familiar w/ the presence of God, the manifest presence of the Lord, the shekinah glory, etc… so I'm not a novice when it comes to Biblical things/concepts but the more I study the Word, the more I soak in worship & the more I dwell on Him these questions/concepts challenge me in regards to what I do & why I do it.

Lately I've been so much more aware of my identity in Christ, my position in Him & His constant presence in my life, so much so that once I “enter in” (per se) I tend to remain “in”. Even in the daily conversations, interactions & business of life my thoughts, my mind, my heart, my spirit is in a state of continual praise & worship that I often feel as if I have never left His presence.

Under the Old Covenant, God's Spirit came & went... His presence came & went… Moses even said “unless Your presence goes w/ us we won't go”(Exodus 33:15). Under the New Covenant we can go because Christ is w/ us always & where Christ is, His presence is. 

I love what the Psalmist wrote recorded in 139:18, “If I could count them (God's thoughts [toward me]), they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You”. Now here's someone under the Old Covenant who had a New Covenant revelation of the constant presence of the Lord.

According to Psalm 22:3 does God inhabit the praises of His people? Absolutely He does. 

The Hebrew word for inhabit is yâshab (yaw-shab') = to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry...

According to Psalm 34:1 are God's praises continuously in the mouths of His worshipers? Absolutely they are (or should be).

The Hebrew word for continuously is tâmîyd (taw-meed) = constant/constantly; the regular (daily) sacrifice: always, continual, daily, evermore, perpetual.

Look at these words: dwell, remain, marry, always, continual, evermore... are these words that denote coming & going, entering & exiting?

How would your life/Christian walk change if you focused not so much on “entering in” but on “remaining in” knowing that because there's no protocol for leaving His presence that perhaps He doesn't want you to? Perhaps He wants you to be so God-conscious, so aware of His presence that it changes everything in you & everyone around you... 

Questions? Comments?