IN THE MIDST
Note: There is both a Vertical and a Horizontal dimension
to worship: 1) Worship God directly and 2) Praise God to one another.
As believers begin to share / sing / praise / worship the goodness
of God to / with one another, God moves in between their faces and they
experience the presence of the Lord in their midst.
OLD TESTAMENT:
Hebrew: midst qereb inward
part
tavek
middle
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Exodus 25:20-22 “And the cherubims shall stretch fort their
wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their
faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces
of the cherubims be…And there I will meet with thee, and I
will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between
the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony.”
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Exodus 33:3, 14-23 “The Lord said unto Moses, I will not go up in
the midst of thee (stiff necked people)…My presence shall
be with thee (Moses)…And Moses said unto Him, If thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence.
For wherein shall it be know here that I and the people have
found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us?
So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people
that are upon the face of the earth.
And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that
thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know
thee by name. And Moses
said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory…God said, Thou canst not see
my face: for there shall no man see me, and live…And it shall come
to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cliff
of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
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And
I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my
face shall not be seen.”
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Exodus
37:7-9 “And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one
piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat: One cherub on
the end on this side, and another cherub on the other side: out of the
mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered
with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to
another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the
cherubims.”
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Deuteronomy
5:4 “The Lord talked with you face to face in the
mount out of the midst of the fire, I stood between the Lord
and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were
afraid by reason of the fire, and were not up on the mount.”
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Deuteronomy
9:10 “And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone
written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to
all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of
the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.”
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Deuteronomy
23:14 “For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy
camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee;
therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in
thee, and turn away from thee.”
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Joshua
6:15f “They compassed the city seven times…at the
seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said
unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the
city…So the people shouted when the priests blew with the
trumpets and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound
of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout,
that the wall fell down flat…and they took the city.” Note:
Thy got Jericho in between their faces and gave shouted praise to God
and He was in their midst in a mighty way.
We too must speak to one another about the majesty of God and
He will stand in the midst between our faces in His power and glory!
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II
Samuel 6:17(I Chronicles 16:1) “And they brought the are of the Lord, and set
it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David
had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings before the Lord.”
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II
Chronicles 20:14 “Then came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst
of the congregation.”
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Psalms
46:5 “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad
the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God
shall help her, and that right early."
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Isaiah
12:6 “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is
the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”
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Jeremiah
14:9 “Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are
called by thy name.”
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Ezekiel
39:26-27 “I will make a covenant with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply
them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever.
My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their
God, and they shall be my people.
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Ezekiel
43:9 “I will dwell in the midst of them forever.”
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Daniel
3:25 “Lo, I (Nebuchadnezzar) see four men loose, walking in
the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the
fourth is like the Son of God.
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Joel
2:27
“And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that
I am the Lord your God, and none else.”
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Zephaniah
3:17 “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty;
he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his
love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
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Zechariah
8:3, 8 “Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city
of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.
And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst
of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in
truth and in righteousness.”
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Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof.”
NEW
TESTAMENT:
Greek: mesos middle,
among, before them, between
1.
Luke 2:46 “And it came to pass, that after three days they found Jesus in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and
asking them questions.”
2.
Luke 22:14f; (Matthew 26:20f(Mark 14:17f; John 13:1f)
“Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve and as
they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it…and the took the cup,
and gave thanks and gave it to them…”
3.
Luke 23:45 “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in
the midst.”
4.
Luke 24:30-36 “As Jesus sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed
it, and brake, and gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of
their sight. And the rose up
the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gather
together, and them that were with them.
And they told what things were done in the way, and how Jesus was known
of them in breaking of bread.
And as they (two on Emmaus) thus spake, Jesus himself stood in
the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”
5.
John 8:9 “And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”
6.
John 19:17-18 “And Jesus bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place
of the skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified
him, and two other with him, one either side one, and Jesus in
the midst.”
7.
John 20:19 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you.”
8.
John 20:26f “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas
with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
and said, Peace be unto you.”
9.
Acts 2:22 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did
by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:”
10.
I Corinthians 5:4f “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered
together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
11.
I Corinthians 11:23-34 “Jesus(in their midst, between them)gave thanks
and brake bread and said, This is my body…Also He took the cup, when He
had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood…”
12.
Ephesians 5:18-19 “Be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves (Horizontally) in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord (Vertically).”
13.
Hebrews 2:12 “I (Jesus) will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto thee.”
14.
Revelation 1:13f “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the
Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the
paps with a golden girdle.
15.
Revelation 5:6 “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the
four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had
been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth.
16.
Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
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