Finding God’s Presence ~ When I Need to SEE God

I have opened my eyes to see Him.

I often read Psalms when I’m seeking solace or when my emotions are a tangled mess and I can’t make sense of them. Do you? I love David’s honesty with God and I garner much from his imagery as I am a visual learner. Sometimes when life is just plain hard and disappointing it’s hard to understand where God is in the mix — it’s hard to put the spiritual into the physical.

But then there is King David in the Psalms.

He gives me the tangible reality of God’s presence and the explosive passion for His child in need.

And that blesses my soul.

This morning, like David, I cried out to the Lord. About everything. About nothing. Mostly about this dark cloud hanging over my head that has been relentless. I need reprieve.

My guess is that many of you do also.

The following is David’s reflection on how the Lord heard his cry and delivered him from the hands of the enemy. This is taken from The Message because of it’s powerful visual interpretation. To read it from the New King James Version, click here:

Psalm 18:6-24.

⁶ A hostile world! I call to God,
    I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
    my cry brings me right into his presence—
    a private audience!

Look at how God responds! Honestly, in my mind I keep picturing Pete’s Dragon (don’t judge **wink**). Remember how close Pete and the dragon were? And every time Pete was in trouble or had a need, the dragon lifted it’s head to listen for Pete’s cry. Then he rose from his lair, great powerful wings unfolding, and swooped down to rescue Pete.

Now read the next few verses and tell me you can see that too.

^7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches;
    huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves
    because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;
    his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out;
    he lowers the sky.

He steps down;
    under his feet an abyss opens up.
He’s riding a winged creature,
    swift on wind-wings.
Now he’s wrapped himself
    in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
    spraying hailstones and fireballs.

Then God thundered out of heaven;
    the High God gave a great shout,
    spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
    He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
    the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
    let loose your hurricane anger.

And then the remarkable faithfulness of our God.

^16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
    from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
    the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
    but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
    I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

 

 

All because of His passionate love for us and His tender watchcare.

^20-24 God made my life complete
    when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
    he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
    I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
    I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
    and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
    when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

Can you see Him? Can you imagine His magnificence? Did you experience God’s power and explosive passion to help us in our time of need?

This morning, after crying out to the Lord in my distress, He reached all the way from sky to sea to pull me out of the enemy chaos. Enemy chaos. That’s a perfect way to describe it, isn’t it?

I’m so thankful He did.

I’m asking Him to do the same for you.