Having looked at what are some obvious examples of throne room experiences what about one that isn’t obvious? Though I can use most bible translations there are some I have more confidence in that others. I personally use the NKJV for the textual basis underlying the translation and the more literal approach to translation. The NASB and ESV are similar in terms of their approach, they just translate from a different textual basis. An important note is that while most of the textual differences are in the NT they don’t change any major doctrine. More than the underlying text it is the approach to translation that determines what we receive in our current language. This is my long introduction to Psalm 63:1-2.
The importance of the theology of the translator comes into play when we read scripture in any but the original languages (the OT was written primarily in Hebrew with some Aramaic, the NT in common Greek). So, to Psalm 63.
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Psalm 63:1-2 (NKJV)
1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. 2 So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory. Psalm 63:1-2 (HCSB)
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Psalm 63:1-2 (ESV)
The most accurate translation above in verse 2 is blending the HCSB and ESV so we have, “So I gaze on You in the sanctuary beholding your power and glory.” This leads to two questions. Why is the tense important? What period did David refer to when he wrote this Psalm? David fled to the wilderness on two occasions, first when he was being pursued by Saul prior to becoming king. The second occasion was when Absalom rebelled against David and David fled into the wilderness for safety. In verse 11 David refers to himself as the king so this Psalm would have been written when he fled from Absalom.
The significance of the context and tense is that David refers to the sanctuary, yet there was no sanctuary in David’s day (the Hebrew literally refers to the Holy Place). David created a place of worship in Jerusalem when he set up the Ark of the Covenant on Zion, the high point in Jerusalem (it was where Solomon later built the temple). The previous sanctuary was the Tabernacle of Moses and it had a Holy of Holies but what made it holy was God’s glory dwelling between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, which was now in a tent on Zion in Jerusalem, while the Tabernacle of Moses remained in Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:1-4, 37-39).
So what is my point in all of this? David had a throne room experience while in the wilderness. The present tense tells us he was not using his imagination to gaze upon the Ark of the Covenant, a symbol of the true one in heaven, David was gazing at what Isaiah and Ezekiel saw. So can we do this? If we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us we can through an act of faith sit in His presence, open up our spirit and interact with our God who is a consuming fire! In this posture we can ask Him for a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17) and trust Him to change us from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18) and see more of His character revealed in our lives. While we may not see as David, Isaiah or Ezekiel did, we can be changed in ways they never were. What a privilege we possess!
