Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, who hear the joyful call to worship, who know the festal shout (NIV, NLT, ESV). The Passion Translation says it this way: “O Lord, how blessed are the people who experience the shout of worship, for they walk in the radiance of Your presence” (Psalm 89:15). However you translate this verse, the truth here is that if you have learned to proclaim the Lord, if you worship the Lord, that you will be blessed to walk in the presence of God.
If we have learned to proclaim God, if we are in a relationship with Jesus and lift our voices to declare His name, if we participate in worship of the Lord— if we do these things, our focus is away from the world and on our heavenly Father. We declare the space we stand upon as holy ground. We are blessed to know God and we are blessed to be in His presence, to be in His light — to seek His face and find it.
We know that if we draw near to Him, He draws near to us (James 4:8). This means as we draw near to Him in worship, He will draw near to us and we will experience His presence. This we can do anywhere. It is all about pouring out our praise and worship, declaring His name — His goodness, His power, His strength, His grace, His faithfulness — calling upon Him — and the fruit of this is the radiance of His presence.
What a blessing it is to invite Him to be among us, when we make room for Him to be in our presence. If you haven’t felt His presence, maybe you haven’t extended Him an invitation. If you want to experience the blessing of His presence, remember you invite Him through worship and prayer, praise and thanksgiving. You call upon Him — wholeheartedly — and the blessing is in finding Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Now this isn’t a snap your fingers and He shows up. Again, you seek Him with all your heart. He knows the desires of your heart.
I pray that you may experience the blessing of God’s light in your life today. I pray that you humble yourself before the Lord, that you lift your hands to Him in praise and worship, and are met in the space you are by our Father. May His goodness and love shine upon you today.
Tania Gutekunst 