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PSALM 63

This past Wednesday I preached at my home church. The church where I was saved and baptized and dedicated my life to the Lord and preached my first sermon— which by the way my first sermon was when I was 12 years old— the Scripture reading, the opening prayer, my comments and the closing prayer were less than 2 minutes long in total. The people were so sweet on Wednesday night and when I got all done preaching one of the older ladies who is new leaned over to one of the other older ladies who is not new and she said did he grow up here? And the sweet white-haired older lady who had been one of my Sunday School teachers said no- he never grew up while he was here—he didn’t grow up until he went to Bob Jones University. I thought hmm that’s what you get when you go to your home church, right? They used to change my diapers and everything. What joy to serve the Lord.

This morning we’re starting— and you can be turning in your Bibles to Psalm 63— we’re looking at what I believe is maybe on of the most vital elements of our spiritual life that we could cultivate if we want to do what you heard in the Elder prayer this morning and that is to impact Tulsa. And that spiritual quality of life is thirsting after God and as we thirst after God finding that the Lord satisfies all who thirst after Him. Did you know that all around us there are thirsting people that are unsatisfied? And when they find someone who is satisfied, who is contented, who is completed, who is fulfilled they look at you and they turn their head and they say how do you do that? I’m never satisfied in my job. I’m never satisfied in my career. I’m never satisfied in my marriage. I’m never satisfied in my personal what ever, I just—– how are you satisfied and contented and complete? The secret of a life that is satisfied in God at all times—- A heart that thirsts for God will always be satisfied. That is the summary of the Life of David.
THE BEST KNOWN MAN IN THE BIBLE

David is the most well known man in the Bible; David has more chapters of God’s Word written about him than any other person in the Bible! He is the one of whom so much is said:

  • In the Old Testament Jerusalem God’s city is the city of David.
  • In the New Testament David God’s servant is called by Paul in Acts 13:22 “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
  • And amazingly, Jesus the incarnate Son of God is called the Son of David.

We need to pay attention to a life like that, a life that God praises, in spite of failures. I like that—David is so real. He was a colossal failure and yet he’s a man after God’s own heart. I think that life demands attention and I believe you do, too.

What was the essence of David’s life? What was the passion of his heart that made him godlike?

To find out, turn with me please to his personal testimony in Psalm 63. Here in this song, or Psalm, David distills down the secret of his god-heartedness and he distills it down to one little essential quality: HIS HEART THIRSTED FOR GOD. He had a thirst for God that filled his life.
As the 8th son of Jesse, born and raised in Bethlehem, David was a fearless giant-killer. As an Israelite, and son of Abraham, David was a true worshiper of God.

As a mere mortal man, David was truly, so much like us. He faced life and all its problems with a fervor and gusto that thrills our souls 3,000 years later.

As a creature seeking and finding his Creator, David is such a true model for us in how to seek and find the God who can satisfy our every need.

From the bleak deserts of Israel comes a passionate longing from this man so real. He was a soldier, a father, a statesman and a king. But when he writes for us his testimony he has just come off the most difficult time of his life. As David writes these words:

  • He is alone and afraid out in a desolate wilderness.
  • He has fled from the murderous plot of King Saul, his own father-in-law who sent soldiers to kill him.
  • Fleeing the country David finds himself captured by the Philistines, the fierce enemies of Israel.
  • Escaping them, David runs to hide in a cave and finds himself surrounded by 400 angry, complaining, coarse vagrants who follow David and make his cave life miserable.
  • After surviving that ordeal, David is hunted down by Saul and finally escapes to the wilderness alone. There as I Samuel 22:5 tells us the background of Psalm 63, he rests and writes these incredible words. Let’s read it together and ask God to open our hearts to the message of a life that thirsts after God.

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. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. 9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10 They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. Let’s bow before the Lord. I pray this morning that if nothing else touches our heart that the singular passionate heartbeat of David—that one whom you said was after your own heart O God. That his passionate heartbeat thirsting after You will become the pursuit of each of our lives— each of us that know you this morning. Lord I pray for any who are dissatisfied with life and have never found the satisfaction that comes— because there’s joy in drinking of the water of life freely. I pray that they who don’t know You Lord Jesus, that through the Word of Truth that they hear this morning and through the conviction of Your Spirit— that they might be convicted and drawn to the Savior. But Father for us who know You I pray that we would want to emulate Your servant and that we would make a conscious choice in the privacy of our wills and our heart of hearts make a decision this morning that we will become one who thirsts after You and is satisfied by You, O God. Open our eyes, open our hearts, let us respond to Your Word this morning we pray in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN.

DAVID’S SECRET
Did you know that God has carved the life of David in the bedrock of His Word? Did you know that the Lord recorded 31 songs or Psalms directly from the daily life of David. David wrote 73 of the Psalms, but we’re sure of what was going on in his life when he wrote 31 of them. I’m just going to list those for you real quickly this morning. These 31 Psalms flow from the most wonderful and the most wrenching hours of David’s life. I mean David was—- we’d call him bi-polar today I mean either he was utterly depressed in his words in Biblical words—his soul was cleaving to the dust or else he was exuberant— he was whirling around in dancing and jumping up in the air and waving his arms in excitement to God. I mean he was bi-polar. But you know what? The Psalms show him at the exceeding limits of human experience and from those far poles of his emotional experiences he writes songs that magnify God. He magnified God from the pit. He magnified God from the cave times. He magnified God from when he was utterly gripped with fear so much that he would let his saliva drool down his face and he would scrape on the wall— he was so afraid and yet he wrote Psalms that extol and magnify the name of the Lord above any other words written on this planet. David was an amazing man. These 31 Psalms are songs that flow from a life that thirsted and found God and found his encouragement in hard times, in good times and in all times. That’s why a life that thirsts after God is so important in our world because it works anywhere because when you thirst after God he said you’ll always be satisfied. That’s the joy. Well let’s first find David’s Psalms—songs he sang in his early life.
FIRST WE FIND DAVID’S PSALMS FROM HIS EARLY YEARS

  • In First Samuel 16 out of that experience David is the shepherd boy writing Psalms 19 and 23. You say how do you know that? Well the Jews wrote an entire background to what we have in our Bible— they have all kinds of traditions and ever since David was king they have attributed the 19th and 23rd Psalms to his early days as a shepherd. So David out of those great days, the youngest child, the overlooked child, the child the father didn’t really care for—– out of those days that most people would say were oppressive and he was abused he writes probably the best known part of the Bible: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The next time you read the 23rd Psalm think about a boy whose dad didn’t care about him. When the greatest leader in the world of David came to his home and his dad wanted to honor Samuel the prophet, he didn’t even invite David to come into the house. He made him stay outside and work because he wasn’t important enough to see the prophet. But David was the one who was following the Lord as his shepherd and that didn’t abuse or ruin his life; that made him write that he would not want and that’s the 23rd Psalm. The 19th Psalm about the glory of the Word of God.
  • In First Samuel 17-18 David is the giant killer and writes Psalms 8-9. Those two Psalms talk about the song of the heart of one who has defeated his great enemies and who attributes all of the glory to God. The next time you read Psalm 8 and 9 look at the shadow of Goliath falling and look at David the fearless teenage giant killer who gives all the glory to God. Well then we find that David wrote some songs during his struggling years.
    THEN WE FIND DAVID’S SONGS FROM HIS STRUGGLING YEARS

This is just in chronological order:

  • In I Sam. 19:11 as Saul tries to murder him, David writes Psalm 59. Do you want to know what someone feels like when they’re being hunted down like an animal and sought out to be murdered, read Psalm 59 sometime. It’s the confession from the heart of a very fearful and yet very trusting man who is satisfied that God will protect him.
  • In First Samuel 20:35-42 as Jonathan warns him of the danger of Saul’s wrath, David writes Psalms 11 and 64.
  • In First Samuel 21:1-9 as he flees to Ahimelech the priest, David writes Psalm 52.
  • In First Samuel 21:11 as he fled from Saul to the Philistine city of Gath, and there was captured by his own fearsome enemies, the Philistines, David wrote Psalms 56–you know what Psalm 56 says? A little song that I sing to my children— you know last night we had the endless lines of occultist figures coming to our door that come you know on Halloween night and the sweet children were there with candy and tracts and little Joseph and Jeremiah with their little faces pushed against the glass of the door looking and all of a sudden their eyes got this wide and Jeremiah just disappeared— there’s a monster coming to our house and he ran up and put his head under his pillow. Joseph just sat on his bed crying and said I wish I never would have seen that. Do you know what I said to him? Psalm 56. The same thing that David when he saw the monsters of the Philistines at Gath as he wrote in Psalm 56: 3Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. 4In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. You know that’s written every coin—our currency in America has Psalm 56 on it— In God we trust. When I am afraid—no matter whether it’s Halloween monsters coming to the door as a 3 and 5 year old or whether it’s the monster of uncertainty with the corporation or with the health. God says the song of one who thirsts after God is a song that when I am afraid I will trust in Thee. and 70.
  • In First Samuel 22:1 as he fled from Gath and the Philistines, David wrote Psalm 34. He says 3Oh, magnify the LORD with me, -He has delivered me— what’s the song of a heart that has just escaped great danger? It’s gratitude to God.
  • In First Samuel 22:1-2 as he moved into a cave at Adullam with an incredibly difficult group of men, David wrote more Psalms than at any other time in his life. And I thought of this you know and I try not to be too funny you know and I don’t know if I’m funny at all but I try to not be you know too much levity. I remember my first Sunday at Quidnessett Church the reigning Elder came to me after my first sermon and said you have too much levity. I’ve been working on it ever since. Do you know what I thought about David’s cave time? David moved in with a bunch of men that were very hard to live with. I think that these Psalms would be great for ladies getting married to some of these men who are very hard to live with. There are more Psalms that David wrote from the time of living with those hard to get along with men. Let me just list off what he wrote from that cave. David wrote from the cave Psalms 4, 13, 40, 57, 141-142. We’re going to go through Psalm 142 in it’s entirety as a part of this series and that—– and it’s really wonderful—– it’s a caveman—– do you ever wonder if there are cavemen? Yes, we know one very well. David lived in a cave. He lived with 400 coarse, vulgar, smelly, complaining, sharp-sword-tongued men who gave him a hard time. And what did he do? Did he have a break down? Did he go off and quit? No- he wrote some of the most beautiful Psalms about God and do you know what he said? Do you know what the essence of David’s struggle in that cave—–if you could distill down his whole cave experience it can be said in one little sentence through those most difficult times he made great discoveries about God. You know when I go to hospital beds, when I go to homes of people that are shut in, when I go to those who have been catastrophically set aside and they can’t explain it and they just say why is this happening to me? Did you know my heart is always drawn to these cave Psalms. Because when God sets us aside, when He puts us out from our normal life, when He takes away our ability to do the normal life that we are so used to, do you know what He gives us the opportunity to do? To make great discoveries about Him. And a heart that thirsts after God thirsts and finds satisfaction even in the cave times in life. And David as he was hiding in the cave writes these Psalms of satisfaction in Christ. ü In First Samuel 22:5- that’s where our Psalm is from this morning and 23:14-16 as he was hiding from Saul in the Wilderness of Hareth, David takes time to write Psalms 63. Now he had run from the cave, Saul had found his hideout and Saul had brought his 3000 men so David scampers off deeper into the wilderness and as he’s out in that wilderness instead of finding time to reinforce his position and get more military advantage you know what he takes time to do? To write the 63rd Psalm and you know what he does? He looks out in the desert and he looks at what’s around him in that wilderness and he writes—–look back in Psalm 63- he says: 1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; – I’m not going to sleep in and try and forget my troubles, I’m going to get up early and I’m going to meet with You, God. I’m going to seek after You because my heart seeks after You and I’ve found the more I seek for You the more I’m satisfied. Do you know that’s one of the evidences of salvation? An evidence of salvation is the more pressure comes on our life and the more trials come and the more adversity hits us the more it squashes and squeezes us upward toward God so that we seek after Him and the more that we seek after Him the more He satisfies us. Are you satisfied? Christians are to be satisfied. Jesus said if you come to Me you’ll never thirst. If you thirst after Me I’ll always supply you. Are you satisfied? If you’re not satisfied you may not be a Christian. You ought to examine yourself whether you’re in the faith. Are you seeking after God? When things squash you— when your marriage squashes you— when your job squashes you— when your family or your social life—what ever it is when it squashes you does it squash you upward toward God or downward toward the flesh? Do you try and drown your dissatisfaction with more pleasure seeking? More substance seeking? More kind of hide yourself shopping or what ever gets you going? What is it that pressure life——–see we’re going to have pressure in our lives. God says that life is hard and it’s just like a moment; it’s like a vapor and it’s very difficult. Man that is born of a woman is short lived and full of troubles. But what does it squash you toward? God and satisfaction? Or self and dissatisfaction? Psalm 63, Psalm 17— the song of a heart thirsting and being satisfied. Well after this event–
  • In First Samuel 23:10-13 as he escapes from Saul at the town called Keilah and goes into hiding in the mountains of Ziph, and from that writes Psalms 31 and 54 and that’s a couple more Psalms.
  • In First Samuel 24:1-16 after he spares the life of his mortal enemy King Saul, David records his heart’s thoughts in Psalm 7. Do you remember Saul’s laying there asleep and he has a spear by his head and Joab says just take that and _________ you know kill him and David said no I won’t. David spares his life—- actually twice—–another time when Saul’s in relieving himself in the cave and from that time David records his heart in Psalm 7. Then he goes from there–
  • In First Samuel 23 and the beginning of 24 as he hides in the cave at En-gedi, David writes Psalms 35-36.
  • In First Samuel 25 in the Wilderness of Paran as he faces the danger of his anger—he’s been so troubled all these years of fleeing for his life and having to send his family out of the country and having all these struggles that finally he meets a man who really mistreats him so much that David gets angry at Nabal this man whose name means “the fool” and he’s going to kill him. He would have committed murder right there on the spot he was going to go and just kill this guy. And David is delivered by God from his anger. And it that moment he writes Psalm 53. Do you ever struggle with anger? Read Psalm 53 and read about what David writes as he sees God deliver him in this struggling time in his life.
  • Finally in First Samuel 27 as he is grieved and endangered over the raid on his family and city of Ziklag, and his own life is endangered because his troops are angry that their families were taken from the city of Ziklag in this most crucial time when even his closest friends are upset at him David writes Psalms 16, 38 and 39 which talks about how to go through grief and danger and how to triumph through the Lord. Well the last 3 areas of David’s life are the songs from his closing years. He writes those songs in his early years— David and Goliath, shepherd boy—- then he writes all these fleeing songs from all the pressures of those hard years in his middle life. But at the end of his life, David writes 3 series of Psalms.

FINALLY WE FIND DAVID’S SONGS FROM HIS CLOSING YEARS First of all:

  • From the depths of conviction after his fall into sin with Bathsheba, David writes Psalm 32. It’s a confession of God’s chastening.
  • From the pain of chastisement that leads to repentance and restoration, David sings of his faithful God in Psalm 51. That’s a song of Great is Thy Faithfulness as we sang to the Lord this morning. Great is Thy faithfulness, God, even if you afflict me and chasten me and spank me until I come back.
  • And finally, at the end of his magnificent life, and I want you to turn back there with me— David extolls his Master and King in Psalm 18. Especially note his life long praise to God in Psalm 18:46—you see his life-long praise to God and look what it says— this is at the end of his life— this is kind of like his parting words– his epilogue, his closing comments on life, he takes a moment and before all the nation of Israel that has seen him—- has seen all the problems he had with his children. A murderer in his family and incest in his family and rebellion and his sons trying to kill him I mean he had every kind of problem imaginable. He had problems with his wives. He should have only had one. His adultery, the defection of his key leaders—you know Joab in the end turns against him and some of his sons— all those things the nation of Israel had gone through his whole life with him and had seen him through all those times and so the man who had a heart after God writes a song and sings it to them. You know what he says? Psalm 18 just at the beginning, verse 1- I will love You, O LORD, my strength. How have I made it through everything from being neglected as a child to fighting giants to running for my life all those years and now to make it to the end– 2The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, — horn speaking of the source of power—He is my stronghold. 3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. Look at verse 46: The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. The God whom I have hungered and thirsted after my whole life—who has satisfied me all my life. Let Him be exalted.

WHAT IS THE LESSON OF ALL THESE 31 PSALMS THAT DAVID WROTE?

What do we find as we examine the life of David? DAVID was always THIRSTING AFTER GOD. Always—he always thirsted after God. And this is THE SECRET OF A LIFE THAT IS SATISFIED AT ALL TIMES is made up of. In this little overview of the key moments in David’s life, we find that every time when David thirsts for God and God satisfies him. You know when we thirst for God like David did

WHEN HE WAS AFRAID, we find that the Lord comforts us. When we thirst for God like David did-

WHEN HE WAS ALONE, we find that the Lord meets our needs. When we thirst for God like David did-

WHEN HE WAS DEPRESSED, we find that we can be quickened. You know Psalm 119:25 says- my soul, my emotions cleave to the dust—I’m stuck down here, I’m totally wiped out emotionally. You know what the next part of that verse says? Quicken me according to Your Word. David said I’m depressed, God quickens me. (I though Ezra wrote Psalm 119?)

WHEN HE WAS DEFEATED by sin God convicted him–

WHEN HE WAS REPENTANT AND WHEN HE WAS RESTORED and so David was satisfied.

If you’ll just hold on, we have just a couple more minutes— Let me quickly survey all of these moments with you briefly just so you know where you’re headed and show you the five key moments in David’s life that we’re going to focus on in this Thirsting After God Series. I just kind of did a broad thing in 31 Psalms but we’re going to look at five Psalms in depth.

 

FIRST, DAVID SINGS OF THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I HAVE SINNED

Psalm 139 really captures what David knew so well. It’s all about the danger of our lusts and David thirsted and found God when he sinned. In Psalm 139 the last verse he says 24And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. David’s encounter with Bathsheba was time when he saw the wicked ways that were in him and it was a time when he thirsted after God because of his lust that he had not learned to flee from. In this look at David’s life— the look at David when he sinned— the lesson we learn is that when we thirst we can find God even when we have sinned— when we learn that God says that our insidious nature– our flesh always is trying to pull us down. And there’s only one way we deal with our personal lusts. We don’t pray about them and we don’t try and work with them; we flee them. That is the only Biblical response to lust— fleeing lust. SIDE ONE ENDED HERE AND SIDE TWO STARTED HERE: We mortify the lusts of our flesh but we flee when they come straight at us. This is what James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. What did David learn in this time in his life?

David learned that when you stay around lust it DESENSITIZES OUR CONSCIENCE AND WE STOP OBEYING GOD COMPLETELY II Sam 5:13

Then we RELAX OUR GRIP ON OUR PERSONAL PURITY II Sam 11:1 ü

Then we FIXATE OUR HEART ON PHYSICAL DESIRES v. 2 ü

Then we RATIONALIZE IN OUR MIND ABOUT WRONG DECISIONS v. 3

And then when we stay around our life DECENDS INTO LUSTFUL SIN v. 4 And what happened to David?

David DESTROYED HIS TESTIMONY BY THE SIN OF A MOMENT OF STOLEN PLEASURE. Death, deceit, murder, immorality and spiritual oppression, poverty and famine of the soul are only a few offspring in his life of this act of momentary pleasure. Psalm 139:24—we should tell ourselves often as we pray to God, Lord I know that there is lust in my heart and when I see it I will flee it and I will seek for You by Your Word to mortify it. That’s what we’ll see in the life of David.

SECOND, DAVID SINGS OF THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I HAVE FAILED

This is the second in our in depth look at this heart that thirsts after God and David sings a song of Psalm 32 of thirsting and finding God when he had failed. And this Psalm comes directly from his failure with Bathsheba. Where are the lessons David learned in this horrible pit of sin? Forever recorded in Psalm 32 “The Song of a soul set free”.

David sings with DELIGHT when his SINS WERE CLEANSED and you know what he found? That God forgave him and his sins were covered. v. 1-2 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

David sings in DESPAIR when his SINS WERE CONCEALED v. 3-4 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the daylong. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

David sings of DELIVERANCE when his SINS WERE CONFESSED v. 5-7 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. 7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

David sings about his DESIRE that his SINFUL WAYS BE CRUSHED – that’s the way he put what Paul called mortifying our flesh and so David sings of thirsting and finding God when he failed. v. 8-11 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

THIRD, DAVID SINGS OF THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I HAVE REPENTED Now turn to Psalm 51 and we’re going to greatly enjoy the wonder of thirsting and finding God when I have repented—as David wrote. It’s a precious walk— in Psalm 51 through the repentance and restoration of David and the beauties of God’s forgiveness and cleansing are the focus of Psalm 51.

“THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I HAVE REPENTED” is a precious walk through the repentance and restoration of David. The beauties of God’s forgiveness and cleansing are the focus of this study of Psalm 51.

IN THE FIRST 4 VERSES- WE MUST – FOCUS ON GOD’S CHARACTER: HE IS EXALTED EVEN IN OUR SIN (51:1-4)

The Lord can RENEW OUR RELATIONSHIP v. 1

The Lord can WASH US CLEAN v. 2 William Cowper once wrote: There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood; Lose all their guilty stains; Lose all their guilty stains; Lose all their guilty stains; And sinners plunged beneath that flood; Lose all their guilty stains.

The Lord can REMOVE THE ROADBLOCK v. 3

The Lord can UTTERLY FORGIVE v. 4 Horatio G. Spafford once penned these blessed words: My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 

SECONDLY IN VERSES 5-9 GOD FOCUSES ON OUR CHARACTER: AND HE SAYS YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT WE ARE SINFUL (51:5-9)

As Sinners we show our nature, our choice and confirm God’s declaration. v. 5

As Sinners we destroy inner truthfulness v. 6

As sinners we are defiled internally v. 7

As sinners we lose our joy v. 8

As sinners we lose fellowship with our God v. 9

 

WE MUST – FOCUS ON GOD’S WORK: HE IS RENEWING (51:10-13) THAT’S THE JOY—See religion tells you oh you’ll never know if you’ve done enough to make God happy but the revelation of God’s Word says:

God is washing our hearts v. 10 [Heb 9.14; 10.22]

God is restoring our walk in the Spirit v. 11

God is renewing the fruit of the Spirit v. 12 ü

God is preparing us for further ministry v. 13

–that’s what a heart that thirsts after God knows.

 

WE MUST – FOCUS ON OUR WORK: WE MUST REPENT (51:14-19)

Call sin what it is v. 14 (David murdered Uriah) ü Talk to God v. 15 (Psalm 32 tells us that David had dried up spiritually)

Experience true contrition not mere externalism v. 16-17 You know so much of what people say is contrition over sin is external show. People admit that they’ve sinned- they don’t confess it. They just kind of put it out there and they just say yeah I did that. They don’t agree with God that they have grieved a holy and infinite God and so we need to experience true contrition with David.

And finally in vs. 18-19 the song of one who thirsts after God wells up with David saying that he would begin zealous worship anew and afresh that the way back is back to worshipping God, to thirsting after Him, to seeking Him in His sanctuary and of finding Him.

FOURTH, DAVID SINGS OF THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I AM AFRAID

If you have ever been gripped by fear then you’re like David because he was and gives us the clear path to follow trusting God in Psalm 34, 56, & 59! In Psalm 56 especially as I shared with you he says in vs. 3-4: 3Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. Verse 9: 9When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. That’s the heartbeat of the 56th Psalm. David said it doesn’t matter if everybody else abandons me. It doesn’t matter if every support system falls down around me. I’m sure of one thing—God is for me, God is on my side. God is out there rooting for me; He is standing by me, he will never leave me. Verse 10: 10In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), — he found his strength in the Word of God.

 

FINALLY, DAVID SINGS OF THIRSTING AND FINDING GOD WHEN I AM DISCOURAGED- WHEN I AM DEPRESSED

This is the classic Psalm 142 confession of David when he was a caveman, alone and depressed. God satisfied him completely as he discovered great things about God. The 142nd Psalm is the most beautiful testimony of a caveman who has 400 dissidents living and fighting and gnawing at him and David comes out of his cave and lifts his head and looks up to God and out of the cave time he says God, this time in my life has made me make the greatest discoveries about You I’ve ever made. I have experience You, Oh God because of the cave time in my life. David had a heart that thirsts for God and a heart that thirsts for God will always be satisfied. That is the summary of the Life of David. What do we find as we examine the life of David? DAVID was always THIRSTING AFTER GOD. And this is THE SECRET OF A LIFE THAT IS SATISFIED AT ALL TIMES. IN THIS overview of the key moments in David’s life, we see how his thirst for God was satisfied. Now listen–

WHEN YOU ARE DEFEATED THIS WEEK – and in some way or another all of are going to be defeated in some part of our life– THIRST FOR GOD AND let him satisfy you as you and I agree with him about our sin and as we confess our sins he is faithful and just to already have forgiven them and to cleanse us so that we can be restored to fellowship. Now remember the Christian life is an increasing frequency of obedience to God and a decreasing frequency of letting sin be in our life. If you are seeing a decreasing frequency of obedience and an increasing frequency of yielding to your sin then again you need to examine yourself whether you’re in the faith. Because God says that Satan is defeated and that we should see the sanctifying power of God cause Satan’s hold and our lust and flesh to be more and more defeated and for Christ’s righteousness to ascend in our lives. But this week when you’re defeated thirst for God and be satisfied.

WHEN YOU ARE REPENTANT THIS WEEK FOR WHAT EVER WE DO AGAINST THE HOLINESS OF GOD– THIRST FOR GOD AND BE SATISFIED AS HE RESTORES US.

WHEN YOU ARE RESTORED THIS WEEK – THIRST FOR GOD AND BE SATISFIED AND ASK HIM TO BUILD UP THE WALLS OF OUR LIFE OF PROTECTION AND HELP US TO WEAR OUR ARMOR.

WHEN YOU ARE AFRAID THIS WEEK – THIRST FOR GOD AND BE SATISFIED WITH HIS COMFORT AND ASSURANCE.

WHEN YOU ARE ALONE THIS WEEK AND WHEN WE FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY IS OUT OF OUR LIFE THAT WAS SO IMPORTANT WE SHOULD JUST THIRST FOR GOD AND LET HIM BE THE CLOSEST TO US.

WHEN YOU ARE DEPRESSED THIS WEEK AND WHEN WE FIND DISCOURAGEMENT CAUSING OUR SOULS, OUR EMOTIONS TO CLEAVE TO THE DUST WE SHOULD THIRST FOR GOD AND LET HIM QUICKEN US ACCORDING TO HIS WORD.

Tonight come with me to a dark cave. Visit David in the pit of discouragement and see him come alive with hope. Just like we can! But before we do that; What does a soul that thirsts for God and is satisfied find? They find a life-long testimony and I’d like you to read with me from your hymnbooks as you close your Bibles. Hymn #490 let’s read the first and third and we’ll sing the fourth.

I am His and He is mine!

Loved with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know; Gracious Spirit from above, Thou hast taught me it is so! O this full and perfect peace! O this transport all divine! In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine. In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest; Closed in everlasting arms, pillowed on the loving breast. O to lie forever here, doubt and care and self resign, While He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine. While He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His; Who the Lord and me shall part? Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart! Heav’n and earth may fade and flee, firstborn light in gloom decline; But while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine. But while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine.

Great singing but the question is: are you thirsting after God and being satisfied in every part of your life. If you’re struggling this morning—if there’s something in your life that you need to flee to the Lord for comfort, come, let us just have a word of prayer with you to seek the Lord’s strength and encouragement in this time. If there’s something that you just need to roll on to the Lord and you want to kneel with someone and pray with them we’d love to do that. Don’t leave with a burden on your heart. If you don’t know Jesus Christ this morning, one of us would love to open the Word of God to you and let you see Jesus Christ for the first time with the eyes of faith and to look at the one who died in your place. Don’t leave bearing a load of sin. Let’s just bow and we’ll be dismissed with a word of prayer.

Father I thank You that we can thirst after You. And I pray that in these days as we learn the secrets of thirsting after You O God and being satisfied in every position of life— whether we’re in the pits or on top of the mountains—I pray that we would live a life that reflects the God who is able to be our rock and our fortress. And Lord I pray that You would touch any heart struggling this morning. Touch them with Your strength and encouragement as they reach out to You. And for those who are blinded by sin and who are condemned to eternally face the wrath of God—your wrath against sin— may they come and look willfully with the choice of their souls to accept the one who died in their place and then salvation that You paid for in Christ can be there’s. O Father I pray that You would draw to Yourself those that don’t know Jesus yet. And may all of us go out living a life thirsting and being satisfied by You. Bring us back tonight to learn about cave times and to learn about how to discover great things about You as we live through the cave times of life. And we’ll thank You in the lovely name of Jesus we pray AMEN.

 

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