Jim Van Gelderen: I’m recording here in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Last time we began a pursuit of pursuing God. We took our text out of Psalm 80. If you have your Bible, you may even want to turn there. In Psalm 80 verse 3, turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved.

I just want to talk about the presence of God. In our last podcast, we talked about the fact that often in the Bible, When the Bible talks about God’s face, it’s talking about His presence, but not just His presence, His manifest presence. We certainly know that God theologically is here. I like what the songwriter says everywhere that man can be, thou God art present there. We know that theologically.

But face is talking about more than just His presence. It’s His manifest presence. Could we say we know He is present? Because in the spiritual realm, there are no walls between us and God, and we sense that spiritual reality of His presence in our heart and life. I believe that’s what 1 John 1 is talking about when it says, fellowship with Him.

We mentioned that in the last podcast. But here in Psalm 80, we find that the psalmist is burdened and he cries out after that, us again, O God, cause thy face to shine. He cries out with three things that show us his great need. Verse 4. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

I don’t know about you, but it seems that there was unanswered prayer. He was puzzled by it, he was burdened by it. Friend, do you have answers to prayer? I believe we can have answers to prayer on a regular basis. Have the heavens seen brass, has God seen far away?

Perhaps you need the truth here in Psalm 80. Next verse, verse five. Thou feedest them with the bread of tears and givest them tears to drink in great measure. I don’t know about you, that sounds like despair. You know, are you in despair?

A lot of people are. God seems a million miles away. Christian life isn’t working. And there becomes a spiritual despair about their spiritual progress. They don’t know where to go.

God seems so far away. And then of course, verse number six, makest us a strife unto our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. You know what I see there? Defeat. Defeat.

You ever feel like the devil’s laughing at you? Maybe you’re looking at things you shouldn’t look at. Your mind is just defeated. You’re… just not having any victory in your heart and life, you’re not having courage and giving the gospel and ashamed when you miss a gospel opportunity, you’re defeated and the devil seems to laugh at you and kind of a hopelessness sets in. Well friend, if any of those three things are in your life, then Psalm 80 is for you because the answer is, God, turn us again, oh God, do a work in my heart, cause your face to shine, I need your presence, and then what does it say there?

And we, shall be saved. That’s delivered. Do know God can deliver you, friend? He can deliver you from your unanswered prayer, your despair, your unbelief, your defeat. He wants to deliver you.

Now what does that deliverance look like? Well, the earlier verses, I believe, begin to help us understand what does it look like when God shows up. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubins, shine forth. That very phrase dwells between the cherubins. That’s where God’s presence was.

So we’re talking about His presence. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, here it is. Stir up thy strength and come and save us. There’s three things that I believe epitomize the presence of God. Number one, supernatural strength.

It’s not our strength, it’s His. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. It’s not our strength, it’s His. You friends, supernatural strength is not physical strength, it’s spiritual strength.

It’s that strength to believe God in prayer. It’s that strength to give the gospel courageously in a gospel opportunity. It’s the strength to keep praying when heavens seem brass. It’s the strength to overcome despair and believe that God is in control and going to take care of the difficult circumstances you’re facing. It’s supernatural.

It’s God. It’s His presence. But not only that, it says, stir up thy strength and come. Okay, that’s, okay, God. He shows up.

And friends, again, as I mentioned last week, we’re not talking about that which is assimilated through the senses. It is that which is a spiritual reality. Oh, it affects our experience. As I mentioned last week, the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, hey, those affect our emotions. They affect our experience.

But there’s a deeper reality, and it’s the reality of Jesus. And I will tell you, friends, The Bible makes this very clear. God’s not playing hide-and-go-seek. Very clear, if you seek me, you’ll find me. That metaphor is found all throughout the scriptures.

Jeremiah chapter 29 verse number 13, and you shall seek for me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. No doubt there, you seek God with all your heart, you’ll find him. Trouble is we don’t seek him with all our heart. We get distracted with our culture, with our technology, with our entertainment. That is what we turn to to try to meet that void in our hearts.

And we don’t find God. But I will tell you, friend, when God shows up through supernatural strength, there’s a sense of his presence. And last of all, it says, and save us. Already alluded to this in verse number three, but there’s deliverance. He delivers you from whatever it is you’re struggling.

Some of you need deliverance. Maybe a young man needs to be delivered from lust, needs to be delivered from some of the garbage you’ve gotten addicted to. Maybe a young lady, you need to be delivered from worry, caring what people think. Perhaps not having a heart for God, you need to be delivered. I am talking to people I’m sure who need to be delivered.

What I’m telling you friend is He will deliver. Why don’t you open up Psalm 80, start praying that Psalm. Don’t forget verse number three, turn us again, oh God. In other words, God, I need you to do something in my heart. Turn me back to you.

I want your presence. Cause your face to shine. And what does God say? You’re gonna be delivered. You’re gonna be saved.

Delivered from whatever it is that is causing there a wall between you and God. Friends, I am absolutely convinced that the great need of American young people, or even worldwide young people, I know we got young people listening all across the world, is young people who walk in the reality of God’s presence. Hey, you can, young person, because God’s not a respecter of persons. Now, I conclude with what I started with on the podcast before. We were 10,000 plus feet just a week or so ago there in Colorado.

I watched an hour and a half of young people crying out to God, praying—and, how can I say it?—with an unmistakable sense of the presence of God. Earlier in the week I had asked the young men while preaching I said how many of you guys feel like God’s called you to preach about 40 guys not one hand not one I kindly looked out of them and said you know young people young men it’s not because God isn’t calling some of you it’s because you’re not responding he’s certainly calling more than nobody I remember in that prayer meeting we got well into it I don’t know how long since God was working there was brokenness there were tears And I asked the question, young men, how many of you believe that God’s called you to preach? I don’t know. There are multiple hands, so many that with just putting them up and down, I can’t remember how many. But I will tell you what made the difference.

I’ll tell you what made the difference. God showed up. And when God shows up, there’s an understanding, a spiritual reality. And those young men who’d been resisting now said, you know, maybe I can’t do it, but if God’s with me, I can do it. And I just want every young person listening, even adults.

Are you seeking the face of God? Are you seeking the presence of God? Do you want God? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s the great, great need and great theme of many passages of scripture. And I will tell you, friend, when God’s present, it’s not hard to be totally surrendered.

You want to, and it’s not hard to be totally dependent on His grace. We need God, friend. May God bless you in your search for God.