I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. -Psalm 63:2
The Holy Spirit brought Psalm 63 to me in a dream last night. When I woke this morning it’s words were on my lips.
Oh, the glory of it!
I have seen God and beheld His power and glory in the gathering of His people. There are at times, such tangible manifestations of His presence, that it seems as if the whole room, the whole sanctuary, is filled with His glory!
But a second meaning from the psalm captures my heart as well…
When I did a study of the Hebrew word translated as “sanctuary”, I learned that it has the sense of “consecration” or “set-apartness”. It’s rarely used in an abstract way, so it would signify a place that is set apart for God, which is, of course, the sanctuary.
I don’t want to stretch the meaning of the word too far because I trust the work of bible translators far more than I trust my ability to do a word study! But I had a thought to just translate it like this, “I have seen you in the set-apartness”. And, of course, there is a very great truth in that.
It’s only when we are set apart that we truly see Him as He is, and behold Him in His glory!
The failure of many when it comes to experiencing the LORD is right along these lines. There is no consecration, and thus no vision!
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” -Matthew 5:8