Abide || October 10
The Presence of God — “paniym”
The world will spend all week telling you who you need to become. Every Saturday morning, we’ll remember who you already are in Christ. Friends, welcome back to Abide.
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” —Psalm 16:11, NIV
We all know there is a difference between knowing someone is nearby and actually being with that person. We have all sat in the same room with someone while both on our phones, answering emails, texting, scrolling, daydreaming, or thinking about a dozen other things. Technically, you are together. But there is a different connection when you actually turn toward one another, look someone in the face, and give them your full attention. That is the personal way in which the Bible often describes the presence of God.
The Hebrew word paniym appears more than 200 times throughout the Old Testament and is most literally translated as “face.” Depending on the context, it can mean face, presence, before, or in front of. The word comes from the idea of turning or facing toward someone. To be before the paniym of another person is to literally be before their face—to be near them, seen by them, and within their full attention.
So when we read about the presence of God—we are reading not only about where God is, but about a relationship. That relationship is the difference between simply acknowledging the existence of God somewhere and living as though you are standing before his face.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see that being in the presence of someone important carried tremendous weight. To come before a king was not a casual affair—you had to approach with respect because you were entering the attention of someone with authority. How much more significant, then, is the idea of coming before the face of God—the one true King?
Amazingly, the Bible does not describe God as a distant King who refuses to be approached. Time and time again, we see a God who draws near to his people and longs to be with them.
When the Israelites were suffering under slavery in Egypt, God heard their cries. He told Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers” (Exodus 3:7, NIV). Their suffering was not happening somewhere beyond God’s attention—He saw them, heard them, and he came near.
As they left Egypt, his presence literally went with them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:20-22). Later, when Moses was unsure how Israel could possibly continue forward, God answered him with a simple promise: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14, NIV).
I will go with you.
That promise echoes across the pages of Scripture. God tells Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9, NIV). David writes, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4, NIV). Isaiah records God’s words, “Do not fear, for I am with you…I will strengthen you and help you” (Isaiah 41:10, NIV).
The comfort in each of these passages is not that the difficult circumstances will disappear—it is the promise of the presence of God within them.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7, NIV).
If you read on, you see that David’s answer was essentially nowhere—Heaven cannot take us beyond God’s presence. Neither can the depths. Darkness cannot hide us from him. There is no place we can travel and no circumstance we can enter where God suddenly loses sight of us.
God is physically everywhere; he is omnipresent, but he also desires to be relationally present with his people. The God who cannot be contained by the heavens, much less anything made by human hands (1 Kings 8:27), chose to come impossibly close to each of us.
We can see it—Jesus walked the dusty roads through Judea; he entered people’s homes, ate with sinners and tax collectors, sat at tables with society’s rejects, allowed people to interrupt him, allowed people to question him, allowed people to touch him, and he welcomed those who sat at his feet. The God who created and holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) stepped directly into ordinary human life.
That shows us the true heart of God—he does not simply want us to believe in him from a distance…he invites us to live with him.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You will fill me with joy in your presence.” Exodus 33 connects his presence with rest. Psalm 23 connects it with comfort. Isaiah connects it with strength. Again and again, what we are all constantly searching for is found not merely in something God gives us, but in God himself.
Abiding in God’s presence does not mean somehow getting God to come closer—he is already near. It means we become increasingly more aware of the presence of the One who is already with us. It means choosing to remember his presence in the quiet and chaotic moments: driving to work, sitting in a waiting room, washing dishes, making a difficult decision, celebrating something wonderful, walking through something painful, etc. We do not step in and out of God’s presence depending on whether we are sitting in church, reading our Bible, or like it only exists in some weird spiritual box we have drawn with chalk.
We live before his face.
That awareness should change us! Living in God’s presence brings comfort because we know we are never abandoned. It brings courage because we never face anything alone. It brings accountability because the God who loves us also sees us completely. And it gives every moment eternal significance because there is no part of our lives where God is absent.
Even when we do not know what to pray, Romans 8 tells us that the Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans. Even there, in the moments we cannot find the words, God is present. The invitation is simple— turn toward him, remember that you are seen, remember that you are known, and remember that the God whose presence fills heaven and earth has chosen to draw near to you—and then live today before his face.
This Week’s Reflection
Ask yourself: Where have you been moving through life without really noticing the presence of God? Ask God to show you a place in your routine, a worry, a decision, or a difficult season, where you have been acting as though you were carrying it alone.
Read Psalm 16:11 and Exodus 33:14, and notice the attributes connected with the presence of God: joy, guidance, and rest. Ask God to help you become more aware of him in one ordinary part of your day. It may be during your morning routine, on your drive, while you work, or in a quiet moment before bed. As you practice turning your attention toward him, remember that you do not have to “find” your way into God’s presence—he is already near, waiting for you to turn.
Keep walking with Jesus, friends.
bytaylormcgee
