“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
July 22 2026
Do you know what it means to enjoy the presence of God? This is not a spacial experience for God is everywhere present (Jer. 23:23,24). It is a relational matter. The truth is that “God can be present to punish, to sustain, or to bless” (Wayne Grudem, System Theology). It was David’s persuasion that fellowship with God was to enjoy God. When God withdrew His “blessing presence” from Israel when she went out to battle her enemies, she was defeated (Num. 14:42). Churches can exist without the blessing of Christ (Rev. 3:20). Sin is the great interrupter. To experience the presence of God is “As a child may cry out in pain even when sheltered in its mother’s arms, so a Christian may sometimes know what it is to suffer even in the conscious presence of God” (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). There are dividends in the enjoyment of the Lord. A close look at Psalm 16:7-11 reveals delight in the guidance of God, and stability in carrying out our responsibilities with staying power. Special blessing and power does not exempt the believer from affliction, but sweetens the pathway to heaven with hopeful happiness. Pain, suffering, and death do not defeat us, but show forth the glory of God’s magnificence.
H
“God is in heaven, in regard to the manifestation of his glory; in hell, by the expression of his justice; in the earth , by the discoveries of his wisdom, power, patience and compassion; in his people, by monuments of his grace; and in all, in regard of his substance.” Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God