Dwelling in the Presence of God

“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever” Psalm 52:8.

This psalm was written when David was running for his life from the deranged king Saul. He was hiding out in caves in the wilderness.

To read the entire Psalm, click here.

Dwelling in the House of God

When we are in the house of God, which is a metaphor for God’s presence, we are abiding in Him (John 15:4), or “dwelling in the secret place of the Most High”(Psalm 91:1). And when this is true of us, we will flourish, according to this verse.

In essence, to be “in the house of God” means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So then, that begs the question, how do we know we are in the “house of God”?

We get filled with the Holy Spirit by faith. And faith is expressed by obedience. As we obey, we get filled with the Holy Spirit. And the harder it is, the more of a sacrifice it is, the more painful it is, the more we get filled with the Holy Spirit and flourish.

Pain Alone Won’t Change Us for The Better

I began to get filled with the Holy Spirit to a greater degree when I chose to stay in a miserable marriage to a man I never loved. And even more so when it became extremely painful. But pain alone won’t change us for the better.

It wasn’t until I chose to be thankful, and not angry, grateful and not full of self-pity and hopeful and not depressed that I began to change.

Let me quickly add, this pain really had a lot more to do with my unresolved childhood trauma than it did my marriage. I just didn’t realize that at the time. My husband was not a bad man. In fact, he had many admirable qualities that would be attractive to women.

I just was trying to find my father who had abandoned me many years earlier in that relationship. No man could have lived up to my unrealistic standards.

The Secret To Transformation

It wasn’t the pain in itself that filled me with the Holy Spirit and transformed me. It was the pain coupled with obedience. If I had chosen to stay in the marriage, but be angry and full of self-pity and depression, that disobedience would have kept me from being filled with the Holy Spirit. And from being transformed.

So, we flourish, we become healthy and strong and fruitful (which is to say filled with the Spirit whose fruit is love), as we abide in God’s presence. But this always requires sacrifice. It’s by obedience, which is how we express faith, that we get filled with the Spirit.

And obedience usually will involve some degree of pain, sacrifice, or death to self. If it doesn’t involve these, I’m not sure it will transform us.

That’s why God is always bringing us to places of new challenge, new levels of obedience. Because unless obedience requires sacrifice, it will not usher in a greater degree of the Holy Spirit. And thereby transform us.

Dwelling In the Presence of God: A Fruit Bearing Tree

On a related note, if we are dwelling in the presence of God, if we are abiding in the “house of God”, then we will be a fruit-bearing tree. This is important because if we are filled with the Spirit of God, we will have the fruit of the Spirit, which is love.

To the degree we are healthy and strong and wise, to this degree we are filled with the Spirit of Love. This is true because health, strength and wisdom proceed from love.

Also, compare this verse to verse 5b: “he will uproot you [the wicked] from the land of the living”. The righteous flourish because they are a “tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3).

The root of the righteous is constantly nourished and given a continual supply of what it needs to be healthy and strong and fruitful. The wicked, on the other hand according to verse 5b are uprooted.

God Watches Over the Root of the Righteous

God nourishes, provides for and watches over the root of the righteous. But He pulls up the root of the wicked, so it inevitably dies because it is deprived of nutrients. The wicked might look like they’re flourishing and prospering.

But we’ll see what happens to them when God pulls them up by their roots. God gives the righteous what they need to produce healthy abundant fruit. And that fruit is love.

The wicked, however, do not bear fruit. I don’t think it’s that they don’t bear anything of any value to anyone. But they bear more rotten fruit than good fruit. And so, they are uprooted. For a similar post to Dwelling in the Presence of God, see The Link: Dew of Heaven and Earth’s Richness.

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