You may be seated.
Well, this morning we're going to be in Psalm 63, so if you have a Bible, pop that open.
If you don't, there's one in the back of your pew.
Feel free to use your phone app if you need to use that.
I won't be offended.
Psalm 63.
I don't know if you have a list of movies or videos that you could just watch and re-watch and re-watch,
but for me it's Planet Earth.
It's a nature documentary by the BBC.
Anybody seen it?
Oh, full hands.
Yeah.
It's just like a visual display of God's beauty and creativity and power.
I love watching that.
And recently I sat down to watch an episode of Planet Earth with my kids, and the focus of this episode was deserts.
And the one thing that you had to grab from this episode, you couldn't help but understand,
was that in the desert, everything revolves around where creatures find their water, or how they find their water.
Without water, no creatures.
So, for example, there's this little beetle in the Nabib Desert in Africa that has a very interesting way of finding its water.
It climbs the sand dunes every morning.
It's the equivalent of like 10 Everests for us.
I mean, this gigantic sand dunes, this little tiny beetle going up to the top of the sand dunes.
And he does it before the sun rises.
And he does it because there's this fog that blows in pretty consistently from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, miles away.
And once he gets to the top, he does a little handstand.
And he stays like that for a long time.
And he just stays still at about a 45-degree angle, head down.
And what happens is the water droplets from the fog stick to his back.
And eventually, more and more little tiny water droplets stick to his back.
And they become bigger water droplets.
And they get some gravity moving on them.
And then eventually, the water droplets move down his back and through little channels on his head and into his mouth.
Isn't that brilliant?
Our God is so creative.
That's how this beetle gets his water in the desert.
And there's this chameleon that snags the beetle.
And that's how the chameleon gets his water in the desert.
It's pretty great.
Little buggy eyes.
If you're in the desert, you will do whatever you have to do to get water.
You might be thinking that this morning in this hot sanctuary.
Notice I'm preaching in shorts.
You long for water.
You pant for it.
Because it's the only thing that can satisfy you.
And David, the author of our psalm this morning, is in the desert.
And he is longing.
He is thirsting.
But his thirst is not for water.
Let's read this psalm together.
Psalm 63.
A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness.
Literally, the desert of Judah.
Oh God, you are my God.
And 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.
So, literally, in this way, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and your glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life.
My lips will praise you.
So, I will bless you as long as I live.
In your name, I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food.
And my mouth will praise you with joyful lips when I remember you on my bed.
And meditate on you in the watches of the night.
For you have been my help.
And the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you.
Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth.
They shall be given over to the power of the sword.
They shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God.
All who swear by him shall exult.
For the mouths of liars will be stopped.
So, David is in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
But his soul thirst is even more than his need for hydration.
He is thirsting for the living God.
It's hard to miss how, as we kind of move through this psalm, he starts off in verse 1, longing, thirsting.
But by the time we get to verse 5, he is talking about being satisfied.
So, he moves from this psalm from a place of thirst and parchedness of soul.
And he moves and he is able to be satisfied in God's presence.
And that's the big idea of this psalm.
God satisfies those who thirst for his presence.
But what does it mean to be satisfied in God?
What does that look like?
We can't put God into a glass and drink him.
We can't see him.
What does it look like for our soul to be satisfied in God?
Well, as we go through this psalm together, I want us to think about it as a four-piece puzzle.
And each puzzle piece is going to give us a clearer, more complete picture of what it looks like to be satisfied in God.
Little snapshots that are going to give us a picture of what that looks like.
And at the end, we're going to tie it together and see how it kind of hits us right where we're at in our here and now in 2018.
So, let's dive in.
The first puzzle piece is this.
Being satisfied in God means thirsting for God.
It's a bit of stating the obvious.
But you can't be satisfied unless you have a desire that needs to be satisfied.
You can't experience the ah of a long, cool drink of water unless you've been working up a thirst that needs to be quenched.
To be satisfied in God means you have to know that you need Him.
And that's where David is at.
He knows that he needs God desperately.
Look at verse 1.
Three verbs.
He gets it again and again and again.
This passionate yearning for God.
Earnestly seeking.
Thirsting.
Fainting.
He's like a man desperate for water in the Sahara Desert.
He's stumbling his way toward God and hoping it's not a mirage.
It affects him inside and out.
Body and spirit.
Notice his soul inside thirsts for you.
But my flesh, my body faints for you.
It's an all-consuming desire, not for water, for the living God.
Now, it'll be helpful for us to know just a tad bit about why David's in the desert.
He's most likely, it could be when Saul was pursuing him before David became king.
There's probably more likely it's when David is being pursued by Absalom, his son, who is revolting against David and trying to take the kingdom from David.
And this forced David out of his capital city of Jerusalem because Absalom is marching an army from Hebron to basically kill David and overthrow the city.
And so David and his faithful followers flee to the desert for safety.
So not only is he in a desert where there is little water, he's also unsure of how he and his followers are going to survive there.
His soul is in turmoil.
His own son has revolted against him.
Everything that had been certain in his life is now coming unglued.
He had no idea if he would remain king, if the people would remain loyal to him.
Everything is up for grabs for David.
And it's in the midst of this uncertainty and this danger that David's true character comes out.
He composes this poem right in the middle of this chaos.
And he tells God how desperate he is.
But not desperate for a resolution to his problems.
He tells God how desperate he is for God.
For God himself.
You are my God.
Earnestly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My flesh faints for you.
There is in every human soul a longing.
It is a deep set longing.
It's hard to put words on it.
But it's a thirst that accompanies our every thought, our every motive.
We were made to know the living God.
Not to know about him.
Not to nod to certain truths about who he is.
But to know him personally.
To have a real satisfying relationship with him.
Because we bear his image.
He stamped on us his very image.
We can't help but thirst for him.
Every human being has this longing.
And I bet you felt this before.
I bet you felt this thirst before.
Maybe it was like after a great triumph or a success.
And you're in the midst of celebrating good things.
But then in the back of your mind there's this whisper of, is that it?
Tom Brady, famous quarterback for New England Patriots,
was once quoted in an interview more than 10 years ago
after he won his first three Super Bowls,
of basically saying, yeah, I've arrived.
Is that it?
The guy's on top of the world.
The guy has everything that our culture says is it.
And he's like, there's got to be something else.
Or maybe it's when you behold the night sky.
And you get this little glimpse of the grandeur,
the mystery, the greatness.
And you've got this thirst that gets awakened inside of you of,
I want that something more.
You and I were meant for the ultimate greatness of knowing
and experiencing the unshielded glory of the living God,
and we can't help but thirst for it.
And we chase it down.
We chase it down in the pleasures we pursue,
the successes we strive for,
the relationships we foster.
We're looking for it.
The ultimate joy, the ultimate security,
the ultimate love that only God can actually give.
But we tend to look in the wrong places.
We are hardwired to be satisfied with the glory of God,
but our rebellious hearts turn away from it.
Our hearts twist and they corrupt this thirst
into a thousand counterfeit longings.
Just like Jeremiah said, God said through Jeremiah,
my people have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and they have hewed out, carved out,
broken cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
We tend to trade the real thing for the cheap things
that don't satisfy.
So here's the question that God's word
is confronting us with this morning.
What are you thirsting for?
Where are you seeking satisfaction?
If you would be truly satisfied,
God and God alone is the only one
who's able to provide that.
David knew that.
So he was yearning,
desperately panting for the living God.
With that on our minds,
let's move to the second puzzle piece
of verses two to four.
Second puzzle piece is this.
Being satisfied in God means
treasuring him as he has revealed himself.
Treasuring him as he has revealed himself.
So David turns a corner from his expression
of thirst for God
and starts recalling
how he had beheld God
in the holy temple in Jerusalem.
Look at verse two.
That so there,
she's really literally
in the same kind of longing way.
It's kind of what that so stands for.
I have looked upon you in the sanctuary.
So in the past,
David has drawn near to God
where God could be found
because God has always been
a God who dwells with
and resides with
and reveals himself
to his people.
And in this time period,
for David,
it was in the tabernacle,
a special tent
that God had set up
with the Ark of the Covenant.
It's a place that God's
concentrated glory
dwelled with his people.
And David,
because he loved God,
he wanted to be with God,
he would be there.
He would constantly go
to the temple
to behold God,
to get as close as he could
through offering of sacrifices,
through the help of priests
to mediate God's presence to David.
He would want to be there.
So verses 2 and 3 tell us
that David had seen
and come to know
and treasure at least three things,
three aspects,
three facets about God,
beholding,
verse 2,
your power
and your glory,
and then verse 3,
because your steadfast love
is better than life.
So there's these three facets
of God's valuing
that David just latches onto.
And he sees it
and he beholds it.
And what was David's response to that?
Look at verse 3.
He treasures God
more than life itself.
He's seen God
as God has revealed himself
and he is treasuring God
more than life itself.
This is an astounding statement.
Look at verse 3.
Because your steadfast love
is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
Better than life?
That statement should just smack us.
We just can't move past this
too quickly.
David values
and treasures
God's steadfast love
more than the breath
in his lungs.
More than the sweetness
to the best of friendships
or the feeling of sunshine
on his face
or watching his children play.
David is saying,
if you take all the joys
and pleasures
and good things
of this life
and you stack them
on one end of the scale
and then you put
God's steadfast love
on the other end of the scale,
it's no contest.
David would prefer death
than to lose out
on the steadfast love
of God.
It's astounding.
Man, how could that be true?
What could be better
than living,
than life itself?
Isn't anything preferable
to death?
Not according to David.
Knowing and treasuring
the God
who reveals himself
by grace
and who dwells
with his people
by grace
is better
than life.
And in response
to this
three-fold vision
of who God
has declared himself
to be,
his power,
his glory,
his steadfast love,
David pours out
three pourings,
verbal proclamations
of praise.
He says in verse 3,
my lips will praise you.
Verbally,
he's praising you,
but not just verbally,
but with his life.
I will bless you
as long as I live.
In your name,
I will lift up my hands.
It's this bodily expression
of saying,
God, you're worth
more than life itself.
So with all of David's being,
he's saying,
I treasure you
more than anything else.
Praise is an overflow.
When you delight in something,
you can't help
but praise it.
And to use one author's words,
praise completes
the enjoyment
of something.
Hopefully,
we don't praise God
because we have to.
Because what we do
on a Sunday morning,
we praise God
because we have come
to know and treasure him
as he has revealed himself
and we can't help
but say,
yes,
that's true
with my whole being.
This expression
of devotion
should just shake us
to our core.
It's been doing that
to me all week.
Do I know God
like that?
Do I treasure God
like that?
Do I seek him
in the place
he has revealed himself
and treasure him
more than life itself?
But more than just
kind of shaking us up
and helping us
see our priorities,
it should also
stimulate our faith
because if this is true,
just think about it,
if this is true,
then we worship a God
and we know a God
and we treasure a God
who is literally
better than life.
Which is why Christians
don't have to flinch
in the face of death
because we are going
to our eternal reward.
It's better.
Jesus is better in this life
and in the next.
There's a greater joy,
a greater satisfaction,
an ultimate delight
in goodness
that goes beyond
all the hard,
difficult things
and even goes beyond
all the fleeting,
temporary good things
of this life.
It goes beyond it.
It's all a feather
on the scale
compared to the weighty
joy of knowing God
now and forever.
Do we believe that?
Let's move to the third
puzzle piece,
verses five to eight.
Being satisfied in God
means thirsting for Him.
Being satisfied in God
means treasuring Him
as He has revealed Himself.
Thirdly,
being satisfied in God
means striving
to savor His sufficiency.
Striving to savor
His sufficiency.
Pastor Mike was talking
about savoring
the love of God
in communion.
We're going to talk
about savoring
in this point.
We can't help but see it.
I've got a weakness
for Pixar movies.
Anybody with me?
One of my favorites
is Ratatouille.
Anybody like that one?
It's this great movie
about Remy
who's a rat
in France
who instead of
eating garbage
has developed a taste
for fine French cuisine
and he learns
how to cook it.
And there's this one scene
where he's trying
to teach his brother
Emil
how to savor food.
Emil is rather large
and he likes to just
stuff food in his mouth
as fuel.
But Remy's like,
no, no, no, no.
Slow down.
He tries rather unsuccessfully
to try to combine flavors
in the palate
for Emil
and to perceive
the beautiful music
they make together
on the palate.
And David is doing
some savoring
in this section.
My soul will be satisfied
as with fat
and rich food.
And my mouth
will praise you
with joyful lips.
We could translate
fat and rich food
into succulent
filet mignon.
The finest
of foods.
David is sitting down
at a fine feast.
He is slowly chewing,
enjoying the flavors
and he's praising
with words of joy
what he is tasting
but he's not chewing
on food.
He is remembering God.
He is meditating
on God.
Meditating,
you shouldn't be scared
of that word.
It's just the art
of savoring
who God is.
Mentally chewing
on the truth
we know about God.
And David's doing that
right here.
But it's hard work.
It takes striving.
It takes fighting
to turn your thoughts
toward God.
And David is doing that.
He is on his bed.
Remember,
he is in the desert
running for his life.
What kind of thoughts
are naturally
coming to his mind?
Anxiety,
fear,
maybe depression,
despair.
And instead,
he's taking
those thoughts
and he's
putting them aside
and he's turning
his eyes
and he's saying,
no,
I will chew on
the truth
about what I know
who God is.
And then he begins
to find his soul
satisfied.
And we know
what he's chewing on.
It's high,
savory thoughts
of God's sufficiency.
Look at verse 7 and 8.
For you have been
my help
and in the shadow
of your wings
I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you
and your right hand
upholds me.
So God
has been
and is presently
David's help.
And he uses
this beautiful picture
of a baby bird
being sheltered
under the shadow
of his mother's wings.
So he's resting
in the parental
and affectionate
care of God
who is his help.
And it's in his
most vulnerable,
private,
exposed moments
where his mind
could go anywhere else
for comfort
and shelter.
He goes to God.
And he's singing
for joy
because his soul
has arrived
at the place
of savoring
high thoughts
of God's
sufficiency.
And it's not just
because God
shelters him
from danger,
not just because
of what God
does for him,
but because he
is near to God
like a baby bird
is near his mother.
And God is all
he needs.
God is all
he wants.
God is his
full sufficiency
and David
is satisfied.
And David's
anxiety
is turned
into joyful
satisfaction
in the process
of striving
to savor
the sufficiency
of God
in his most
vulnerable
moments.
In our age,
not only do we
have our
anxieties
and our fears
to occupy
our minds,
we also have
a thousand
distractions.
They tend
to get flashed
at us on screens,
whether big
or small,
and they can
easily occupy
our thoughts
until kingdom
come,
if we let them.
we must
strive
as God's
people
to be satisfied
with high,
savory thoughts
of God's
sufficiency.
We must,
we must
strive
to aim
our thoughts
at him
in our most
private moments,
whether it's
driving in the car
or laying in bed.
Where
do you turn
for satisfaction?
What do you
meditate on
to bring contentment
to your soul,
to quench
your thirst?
Let's move
to the last
puzzle piece,
verses 9
through 11.
The last
puzzle piece
is this,
being satisfied
in God
means joyfully
anticipating
his promised
deliverance.
Joyfully
anticipating
his promised
deliverance.
You see,
he changes
tone in verses
9 and 10.
He starts
talking about
his enemies,
those who are
seeking to destroy
his life,
but it's
interesting
that it's
taken him
so long
to get
to his
enemies,
isn't it?
David's
been so
caught up
with his
intense
longing for
and satisfaction
in God
that just
now is he
bringing his
danger
to the
foreground
of his
thoughts.
His eyes
are so
focused
on God
and he's
utterly
confident
that God
will deliver
those who
trust in
him and
those who
long for
him.
He knows
that the
tables are
going to be
turned.
He knows
that for
those who
trust in
God,
there is
deliverance.
He's running
for his
life now,
but he knows
that ultimately
it's his
enemies that
will be
delivered over
death and
given over
to the
sword.
And just
as God
is satisfying
his deepest
longings,
ironically,
he also
is going to
satisfy the
longings of
some hungry
jackals who
are going to
feast on the
flesh of his
enemies.
It's a little
gruesome,
but it's this
vivid expression
of confidence
that God
will ultimately
be seen to
be just and
right at the
end of the
day.
That God
will deliver
those who
trust in
him.
And those who
are bent on
evil will
eventually be on
the receiving end
of the evil they
seek to
perpetrate.
So one day,
lying lips will
be stopped
up.
Evil will
cease.
God is ultimately
in control and
because God is
good and because
he is just,
he will punish
evil and he
will make all
things right.
And this
causes David to
just rejoice all
the more in
verse 11.
But the king
shall rejoice in
God.
But not only
David, all those
who are loyal to
God and to
the king.
In other words,
all of God's
people who seek
to satisfy their
deepest longing in
God will ultimately
rejoice at the end
of the day.
God will bring
about his
ultimate deliverance.
He is our only
and he is our
ultimate hope.
That things will
be set right.
So our puzzle is
complete.
God satisfies those
who thirst for his
presence.
We've seen what
this looks like for
David in Psalm 63.
Thirst for him,
treasuring him as
he's revealed himself,
striving to savor
his sufficiency,
joyfully anticipating
his promise,
deliverance.
But where does that
hit us today?
How does that
meet us where we
are in 2018?
Well, I'm sure
we've all felt the
weight of this
psalm.
It's a joyful
weight, but it's a
bit of a sober
weight.
As we've walked
through it, we
feel the tension
in this psalm of
like, yeah, I want
that, but I'm not
really there.
Or I strive for
that, but I fall
short of seeking
to quench my thirst
fully in God like
David is here.
here.
It's like, am I
joyfully aiming all
of my longing at
God?
Well, kind of.
My best moments, or
maybe not really.
I know I tend to
value my own
precious life and
all of its
temporary promises
more than the
electric experience
of knowing the
steadfast love of
God that is better
than life.
we are guilty of
putting our ultimate
confidence in and
seeking our ultimate
longing in other
things.
This psalm exposes our
deepest longing, but
it also reveals our
most grievous failure
to satisfy that
deepest longing in the
only place that it can
be satisfied.
And this has been our
problem, humanly
speaking, from the
beginning, right?
Adam and Eve in the
garden were utterly
content in God's
presence.
They were the only two
who had experienced
the unshielded glory and
favor and pleasure of
the living God, and yet
they made the conscious
choice to find their
delight in their own
self-sufficiency.
You will be like God.
And they bought the
lie, and we do too.
We dig broken, muddy,
empty cisterns for
ourselves instead of
going to the fountain
of living waters.
But what's astounding is
that our God still says,
come.
Flip over to Isaiah 55
for a second.
Isaiah 55.
It's not too far away
from Psalm 63 to the
right.
Isaiah 55.
God still says, come.
He's beckoning.
And in Isaiah's day,
he's beckoning to an
unfaithful covenant
people who are
constantly going all
over the place except
for seeking the living
God.
And he still tells his
unfaithful people, come.
Come to me.
Isaiah 55, verse 1.
Come, everyone who
thirsts, come to the
waters.
And he who has no money,
come, buy, and eat.
Come, buy wine and
milk without money
and without price.
Why do you spend your
money on things that
which is not bread and
your labor for that
which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me
and eat what is good
and delight yourselves
in rich food.
Incline your ear and
come to me.
Hear that your soul
may live.
Do you hear the echoes
of Psalm 63 there?
It's this invitation.
God's beckoning.
Come, satisfy your thirst
in me.
You can't earn it.
You can't buy it.
It's all of grace.
Just respond to the
invitation.
Drink deeply of the
living God.
Eat the food of my
living word.
Don't spend your money
on cheap invitation
stuff.
And God makes good
on this invitation.
He makes good on the
invitation to find
ultimate satisfaction
in himself when he
sat next to a well
on a hot, dusty day,
not unlike today,
outside an unimportant
Samaritan town talking
to a nameless Samaritan
woman in John chapter 4.
And we overhear him
say,
everybody who drinks
of this water in this
well will be
thirsty again.
But whoever drinks
of the water that I
give him will never
be thirsty again.
The water that I give
him will become in him
a spring of water
welling up to eternal
life.
Or listen again to
God the Son speak in
John chapter 7.
On the last day of
the feast, the great
day, Jesus stood up
and cried out,
if anybody thirsts
let him come to me
and drink.
Whoever believes in me
as the scripture has
said, out of his heart
will flow rivers of
living water.
Only in Jesus,
only in Jesus can we
know the thirst
quenching satisfaction
that comes from knowing
the living God and
experiencing his
presence.
Only in Jesus has God
fully and finally
revealed himself.
Only in Jesus can we
fully know the
steadfast love of God.
Only in Jesus can we
know what it means to
take shelter under the
wings, under the blood
that he shed for the
forgiveness of our sins
so that we can be in
God's presence unafraid.
And this is true of us
now if we are in Christ.
If you are in Christ,
you can really and truly
know God through Jesus
by the power of his
spirit.
That reference that
Jesus was making to the
rivers of living water
was pointing to God's
spirit.
Who is God's very living
and active presence
dwelling in and amongst
the people of God.
We don't have to go to
God's temple anymore to
be near his presence.
We have God the spirit
indwelling us.
Working in us.
Shaping our affections and
our longings to be more
and more aimed at finding
our satisfaction in him
through Jesus.
Listen to how Paul, the
apostle in Philippians 3,
listen to how the spirit of
God produces this longing,
this thirst, and this joy in
finding satisfaction in Jesus.
He says,
Indeed, I count everything
as a loss compared to the
surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered
the loss of all things.
I count them as rubbish in
order that I may gain Christ
and be found in him.
That I may know him and the
power of his resurrection and
share his sufferings, becoming
like him in his death, that by
any means possible I may
attain the resurrection from
the dead.
If Jesus is that satisfying,
then any loss of any
earthly thing, it's easy
compared to the ravishing joy
of knowing him.
And one day, by God's grace,
this partial reality will be
gloriously complete.
Because the rivers of living
water find their source, their
headwaters in the new heavens
and the new earth in the
unshielded glory and presence
of the living God and of the
Lamb.
In Revelation 22, there's this
beautiful picture.
It says, the angel showed me
the river of the water of life
in the city of God, bright as
crystal, flowing from the
throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the
street of the city.
One day, we will participate and
partake of the joyous presence of
the living God and we will drink
it deep forever without ceasing
and we will be satisfied in him
and we will see his face.
We will literally behold him in
his holy place and we will be
satisfied.
So how should we respond to
this?
Well, first, if there are
competing joys and pleasures in
you that are taking the place of
the God who can alone satisfy you,
then repent.
Repentance is a beautiful word.
It's the only way by which we find
joy in the living God is from
turning from things that don't
satisfy and turn to the only one
who does satisfy.
So search your heart.
Ask God to search your heart.
Where am I finding joy and
satisfaction?
Ultimate joy and satisfaction,
not in you, Jesus.
Whether it's an affection or
approval of other people or in
success or comfort or control
of your circumstances, whatever
else you're trying to find your
satisfaction in, turn away from
it.
Turn to the one who can
ultimately only satisfy you.
Secondly, there are good things in
this life to enjoy.
Many of us are going to sit out
here and enjoy the Fourth of July
parade.
Good things.
We shouldn't be afraid to enjoy
good things.
So we need to ask God to give us
wisdom and discretion to put
legitimate joys and pleasures and
good gifts that he gives us in
their proper place.
It's good to experience a long,
cool drink of water and be
satisfied.
That's nothing wrong with that.
But we, you and I both know the
difference between seeking our
ultimate longing in something and
enjoying a good gift with
gratitude.
And that's what God wants us to
aim at.
So let's ask him for wisdom.
If there are things that are
pulling at your heart, then
repent of that.
But then ask him for wisdom to
enjoy him through these good
gifts he gives.
Thirdly, sometime today, this week,
take a step of faith toward God,
toward Jesus as your ultimate joy.
When you open your Bible this week,
take a step toward him and say,
satisfy me.
You know my longing for you.
Satisfy me.
Take a step toward him and ask him
to satisfy you with his steadfast love.
If you pray this evening, ask him to
delight your soul with savory thoughts
of his sufficiency.
Go to him in a step of faith.
It doesn't always feel natural.
It doesn't always feel really easy.
But take a step.
Or maybe it's in your most private
moments.
Maybe it's in the car.
Maybe it's in lying in bed.
And ask, satisfy me in your steadfast love.
Maybe it means a step of faith of fasting.
Fasting is the putting aside of a good,
legitimate thing like food and saying,
I'm going to put this aside for a moment
and I'm going to seek my real satisfaction
in God.
But take a step of faith and obedience
this week.
Just enjoy and be satisfied in God.
And lastly, if you've been listening
and you're aware that there's,
you have not tasted and seen
that Jesus is the all-satisfying one,
then come down after service
and we'd love to pray with you
that you would find your satisfaction
and find your deepest thirst quenched
in the living God.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father, thank you for sustaining us
by your presence in your word.
Thank you, Father, that in you
we find our only satisfaction.
Help us now to turn to you in song
and with steps of faith and obedience
to find our greatest joy and satisfaction
in you and you alone.
In Christ's name, amen.