Restoring a Reverence for God's Presence

"Do you quietly bow your head in reverence when you step in the average church? I would be surprised if your answer is yes." A.W. Tozer

God's glory brings a reverent fear with it. It causes men and women to run to the altar, fall upon their face and repent of the sin in their life. We, as the church have lost the reverence for God. We have allowed His temple to be defiled. Sin will cause the glory of God to depart. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) We need the fear of God restored in our lives--that we would have a hatred of sin. That we would see God as He is--in His holiness. "If we are to become God chasers then we will have to learn how to properly reverence, handle, and steward the holiness of God." (God Chasers by Tommy Tenney)

"A.W. Tozer was deeply concerned about our loss of holiness in the Church. He noticed that the average church was losing the sense of sacredness in their worship services, and it grieved him. To him, that lack of reverence meant that people didn't think God's presence was in the church. (And it probably wasn't)" (God Chasers by Tommy Tenney)

Uzzah found out first hand what happens when you do not reverence God's presence. When David went to restore the ark of the covenant, (it had been taken by the Philistines 20 years earlier because of the sins of Eli's sons), he put it on a new cart and had it carried by a selected group of men. "And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error..." (2 Samuel 6:6,7).

Too many times, we allow the sacred things to become common. "Before God brings His power into the earth, in His mercy He first restores our respect and awe for His glory and the things that are holy. We need to regain a deep and personal respect for the power of God's glory on unrepentant flesh." (Tommy Tenney)

In his second attempt to move the ark of God to it's proper place, David gave the priests a solemn warning that applies to the high priests in the Kingdom of God today: "And (he) said unto them, You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of God to Israel to the place I have prepared for it. For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order." (1 Chronicles 15:12,13)

The Hebrew word for sanctify is "qadash" which means to "separate" or "make holy." God is calling us to be holy even as He is holy. He wants to use us as vessels to transport His glory and power. His Word tells us that no flesh will glory in His presence. We need to crawl upon the altar and allow the fire of His Spirit to purify our hearts. We need to cleanse ourselves with the water of the Word. We need to pray that we would begin to walk in the fear of the Lord--that we would hate sin and abstain from the very appearance of it. Then and only then will the manifest presence of God be restored in our lives.