Psalm 63 was just read for us.
A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
So David, the chosen king of Israel, chosen by God, is on the run.
He has been king in Jerusalem for many years, but now he is fleeing his capital city,
not knowing if he will ever return or even if he will survive the week.
His adult son, Absalom, has spent the last four years plotting
and quietly winning over the hearts of many of the people of Israel,
and now Absalom has made his move.
He has assembled those loyal to him and declared himself king over the nation.
He plans to kill his father David and establish his own rule.
So David realizes the tide has turned against him very quickly.
So he leaves Jerusalem that same day, not wanting to bring violence and destruction to his beloved city.
And he takes his family and those who are still loyal to him,
and he heads out into the wilderness.
David is in the midst of losing absolutely everything.
And one day he has gone from being king in comfort and peace to seeing everything slip away.
His people, his kingship, his family, his security, and even maybe his own life.
And it is that situation that inspires this psalm, Psalm 63.
David wrote this psalm because of that experience,
and that helps us see how this psalm connects to us today.
If you are facing a situation of serious physical need or lack of resources,
whether it's groceries or housing or transportation or medical care,
or if you're in some situation of danger to yourself or to your family,
if you're in the midst of intense family breakdown and conflict and hurt
that doesn't seem like it's ever going to be repaired,
if you're facing the loss of your position or your career,
facing the loss of your financial stability,
maybe even facing the loss of what it is that you thought God had called you to do in your life,
if you're in a situation where your enemies are multiplying
who want to see you go down in some way,
or just in general, if you're in a situation where you don't feel like you have the resources
or the capacity to handle this, that it's gone way beyond you,
that you've lost everything that you were relying upon to deal with life.
If you're in a situation like that, Psalm 63 is helpful for you and for me
because David models for us confidence in God's unequaled sufficiency.
David models in Psalm 63 confidence in God's unequaled sufficiency,
and so Psalm 63, if we're going to follow David,
is a call for us to cultivate our own confidence in God's unequaled sufficiency.
Now I say we have to cultivate it because our confidence in God is not automatic,
it's not default, it's not a switch that we can flip on and off.
It requires attention, it requires development, it requires growth over time.
When I talk about God being sufficient, I mean that He is more than enough
for all of our needs in every situation.
And I say that His sufficiency is unequaled because no one and nothing else in the world
comes close to what He is for us.
So David models this confidence in God's unequaled sufficiency,
and this Psalm has three stanzas, and so in this Psalm,
David expresses his confidence in God's unequaled sufficiency in three ways.
Three ways that God is sufficient for David, and that He is sufficient for us.
Stanza 1, verses 1 through 4,
David is confident that God is worth it like no one else.
That's the first way that God is sufficient.
God is worth it like no one else.
David is confident of that.
In the midst of the most personally and politically difficult time of his life,
David is taking the time here to reorient himself to his true source of confidence.
Reorient himself to what really matters, to what's most important in his life
when everything else has been stripped away.
And at this point, he could have completely given up his confidence in God.
It is very possible that he felt rejected by God.
After all, he was in danger of losing the throne that was given to him by God,
and as he left Jerusalem, he said to those around him,
I don't know if God is going to bring me back.
And so he could have said, God is of no help to me here.
What good is God?
What is God worth for me now?
And then begun planning and strategizing as if he was all on his own.
But that's not how he responds.
This is what he says in verse 1.
Oh 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.
David is not willing yet to believe that God has abandoned him.
He might feel like that is what happened, but he doesn't accept it yet.
And so he's choosing to focus on God as his most urgent need.
You can hear the desperation in these verses.
He is searching for God, and the word that he used here,
earnestly seeking for God is a restless, desperate,
not going to give up kind of search, back and forth, back and forth.
Got to find him.
Where is he?
And what's driving this search is his compelling need for God that must be satisfied.
He is thirsting and fainting for God, he says,
like a man in a desert is desperate for water.
When you're in the desert, water is your number one priority.
You're constantly losing water through sweat.
You're facing the heat of the sun on you that's baking your skin.
And as you lose your hydration, your cells begin to contract.
David says he's like that in a desert where there isn't any water.
His soul is beginning to contract for lack of God.
But just like you said, it's like I'm in a desert where there is no water.
It seems like God is nowhere to be found right now for David.
And the intentional poetic irony here is that David is actually physically
in the wilderness right now.
This isn't just a rhetorical, spiritualistic, overdramatic flourish on David's part.
Food and water are real needs for him and for those around him right now.
But it's not food and water that he's most concerned with.
He's most concerned to find the God who seems to have abandoned him
because he believes that God is worth it.
He's worth that kind of search, that kind of desperation,
that kind of prioritization that puts him above even immediate physical needs.
God feels so distant and absent right now,
and it may very well be that this situation is straight from God's hand.
But instead of all that pushing David to put his confidence in something else,
it actually drives him to be even more desperate for God.
So in Psalm 63, he's reorienting himself away from the immediate tactical and survival concerns
and putting his confidence away from military planning and physical strength
and putting it in God.
Even when God doesn't seem to be coming through for him right now,
because he says God is worth it.
But this confidence that David has in God,
this desperation for God is not new for David.
He isn't just turning to God because he's in trouble right now.
This isn't a foxhole conversion.
This is the consistent pattern and practice of David's life.
Verse 2, David says,
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
This is not the first time David has felt this kind of desperation for God.
This is not the first time he has searched for God.
This same hunger and thirst that he has now
is the hunger and thirst that has driven him in the past
in happier and more comfortable times to the sanctuary in Jerusalem,
to see God's power and glory and to praise him.
So David's confidence that God is worth more than any physical provision
has been cultivated throughout his life.
And this psalm, in the midst of so much danger,
is just a natural continuation of what David's life has been like in times of peace.
David has always been seeking God.
And there's something to be said here
for the importance of regularly gathering with God's people
to worship God and hear from him.
It changes you.
It's not just once in a while.
It's not just when you're in trouble.
Cultivating a confidence in God's unequal sufficiency
means every week, whether you feel like you need it or not
or you want it or not,
you are gathering with God's people.
Verse 3.
It's been referenced already this morning.
Probably the best verse in the psalm
and maybe the best verse in the whole book of psalms.
Verses 3 and 4 say,
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.
In case the first few verses were just a little too poetic,
a little too metaphorical,
in case David hasn't been clear enough yet
about his priorities in this situation,
he says it plainly.
God's love, God's steadfast, covenantal, relational,
unfailing love is worth more to him than his very life.
And when David says this,
he knows that he might not live out the weak.
The danger we have today reading the psalms
is that they can seem just kind of like
spiritualistic poems disconnected from reality,
maybe written by monks who are out in a monastery
somewhere in the mountains
who spend all their time fasting and praying.
But it's the exact opposite.
The psalms were written by people
in the midst of life,
in the midst of challenging situations,
and they are never overdramatic.
They are never overly spiritual.
They are always exactly what people think
and what they mean and what they need
in the midst of the most challenging situations in life.
So when David says,
your steadfast love is better than life,
he means it because he knows his life may be about to end.
In other words,
if the situation with Absalom continues to go sideways,
if he ends up losing his throne,
if everything he's built over the years as king falls apart,
if he spends the rest of his life on the run
and eventually is killed at the command of his own son,
but he knows that God's love is with him,
David thinks he still comes out ahead.
Because God and his love is worth so much more
than any of that.
And he's going to spend whatever life he has left,
whether it's a week or years,
giving praise to God.
Because when you have something that valuable,
you can't help but praise it.
And this right here is what keeps God
from being some sort of genie in a bottle to David
and to us if we follow David's example.
God isn't just someone David calls on when he's in trouble,
when he needs someone to swoop in
and rescue him and defeat his enemies
and then disappear once his wish has been granted.
David says,
everything can go wrong.
You can choose to not give me anything,
not save me at all,
but if I have your love,
I have what matters most.
I will be satisfied.
God is worth it like no one else.
And we praise what we value.
It's that simple.
David says,
I'm going to praise you with joyful lips
and your names are going to raise my hands
because we praise what we value.
We praise what's important to us.
We praise what we think is special.
We praise our favorite restaurant.
We praise our preferred technology devices.
We praise our kids.
We praise athletes and teams.
We praise singers and political figures.
We praise our country and our Bill of Rights.
And David would say to us,
God's love is worth more than all of that.
Try losing all of those things.
Could you still overflow with praise
and consider that you have
what is most valuable in the whole world?
So David is confident that God is worth it
like no one else.
Everything else can go.
God is worth it like no one else.
Stanza two,
David is confident
that God satisfies like no one else.
This is verses five through eight.
So far in this psalm,
God has been distant.
David has been seeking God desperately,
knowing that he's worth it,
but he's still been thirsty.
But David isn't just confident
that God is worth the searching
and the fainting and the praise.
He is also confident
that God actually will show up
at some point and satisfy him.
David is confident
that his search for God
has an end point.
Verse five,
In verse one,
David's soul is fainting and thirsting for God
and here his soul finds abundant provision.
The fat in the rich food here
refers to the best possible food
in quantities that are more than enough.
Fat in rich food means
not a cheap frozen pizza,
but a large Chicago style deep dish pizza
where you try to scoop up a slice
and the cheese just keeps stretching and stretching.
Fat in rich food means not a hot dog,
but a huge juicy steak
that's seared perfectly on the outside
with the right amount of color on the inside.
Fat in rich food is the kind of meal
that's so delicious
and so packed full of good things
that when the server comes around
to offer you dessert,
no matter how much of a sweet tooth you have,
you're just not interested
because the main course
has been so phenomenal
and so filling.
And that's how David expects
that God will satisfy
the hunger and thirst
of his soul.
David doesn't expect
that God is going to give him
just enough scraps to scrape by,
but instead that he's going to be
completely satisfied.
David knows that even if he is
in the wilderness physically,
his soul can have the best
possible feast.
So the question then is
how does this happen?
How does God provide
this fat and rich soul food
and how does David receive it?
Verse 6 tells us,
I'm going to read verses 5 through 7
all together.
David says,
Meditation on God
and what he has done
is the means of soul satisfaction.
David spends his uninterrupted time
at night meditating on God.
He could be spending this time
sleeping or developing
his military strategy
or just plain worrying,
but he considers this quiet,
alone time an opportunity
to feed his soul with who God is
and what he has done for him
in the past.
The word meditation
in our culture
is primarily influenced
by Eastern mystical concepts.
And most commonly,
the direction that those kinds
of traditions give,
generally speaking,
is to clear your mind
as much as possible.
And that is the opposite
of the biblical picture
of meditation.
Biblically speaking,
meditation involves
filling your mind
with some specific truth
of God
and then turning it
over and over
in your head
over a period of time.
The word meditate
itself here
can refer to
muttering something
under your breath
over and over
as you think about it.
Kind of thinking out loud
for a long time.
And we all actually
have a lot of experience
meditating,
believe it or not.
Whether you've done yoga
or not,
you have a lot of experience
meditating.
Here's an example.
You know those times
when someone says
something to you
that's hurtful
and it really bothers you.
And so you spend
the rest of the day
replaying it over
and over in your head.
And you think about
the conversation
led up to that statement
and you think about
their tone of voice
and their body language
as they said it
and you ask yourself,
is there any other way
they could have meant it
than what you originally thought?
And of course,
the best part,
you think of all the things
that you could have said
or should have said
in the moment
that would have been
so perfect
if you had just been
quick enough.
That's meditation.
Chewing on something
over and over
and looking at it
from different angles
and we're all good
at meditating
on something.
Meditating on insults,
meditating on what it is
that we don't have,
meditating on what it is
that we want to inquire,
the next thing we want to buy,
meditating on the movie
that we just saw,
meditating on the news.
But few of us,
including myself,
take time to be good
meditators on God.
But if David is right
in this psalm,
and he is under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit,
if David is right
in this psalm,
if we ever want
to be truly satisfied
in God,
we have to learn
to meditate on Him.
If we want to experience
God's unequaled sufficiency
in any situation
of life we may be in,
we must meditate.
And so where do we get
this truth of God
to meditate on?
Well, it's from His Word,
of course.
Meditation is the way
the food of who God is
gets from the table
of His words
into our hearts
where it can nourish
and satisfy us.
And if you're like me,
you often expect God
to instantaneously
and effortlessly
deposit His fullness
into your soul
after about three minutes
of Bible reading
or prayer.
And God may choose
to do that once in a while.
But most of the time,
God sets His Word
before us
and He says,
take a bite
and start chewing.
And practically speaking,
I have two recommendations
for how you can
grow in meditation.
First of all,
memorization.
Memorize God's Word.
It's almost impossible
to meditate
on God's Word
if you haven't memorized it
and it's almost impossible
to memorize God's Word
without meditating on it.
So memorize God's Word.
Choose a verse.
Memorize it.
Meditate on it.
And then my suggestion would be
instead of going then
to some other verse
somewhere else in the Bible,
choose the verse
right after that
and memorize that one
and keep going
until you have
a whole chapter
memorized.
So memorization.
Secondly, music.
Music is an excellent
aid to memorization.
So find music
that is either
exactly the words of God
said to music
or music that is
very clearly
grounded in God's Word
and has a lot of that
content in it
and listen to that music
as you're in the car,
as you're
washing dishes.
And that will help you
meditate on who God is
and what He has done.
So,
if you are hungry
and thirsty for God
and you do not feel
that He is satisfying you,
or if you are hungry
and thirsty for something else
and you've been feeding
on something else
and you are afraid
that God actually
will never be enough
to satisfy you
and you're afraid
to even try,
you're always chasing
something else
because you really
don't have confidence
that God satisfies,
let me ask you,
based on this psalm,
whatever situation
you're in,
how is your meditation?
it's not all there is
to the Christian life,
it's not all there is
to being satisfied in God,
but it is essential.
That is how David himself
was satisfied
by God's unequaled
sufficiency.
And I also think
it's important for me
to push a little bit
harder on us
as Christians today,
followers of Jesus today.
Here's why.
David found God
completely satisfying
like no one else
at a time
when he had
a much more
limited revelation
of who God is
than we do today.
He didn't even have
the entire Old Testament,
he's here writing
part of it.
And today we have
something so much greater
than what David had,
we have the revelation
of God the Son.
Hebrews chapter 1 says,
long ago at many times
and in many ways
God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets.
That's where David is,
long ago,
many times,
many ways,
God is speaking
through the prophets.
The author of Hebrews says,
but in these last days,
the days that we are
living in right now,
he has spoken to us
by his Son,
whom he appointed
the heir of all things,
through whom also
he created the world.
The Son is the radiance
of the glory of God
and the exact imprint
of his nature.
God has revealed himself
most completely
and most clearly
in his Son, Jesus.
So we have available
to us today
a better picture
of who God is
than David ever did.
We have four whole Gospels
telling us
what Jesus did,
what he was like,
how he talked,
what he said,
how he responded
to people,
what his priorities were.
And then we have
the rest of the New Testament
expounding upon
what all of that means.
And we have the Old Testament
to go back to
with Jesus in mind
to understand more
of who Jesus is
and what he is doing
and what his mission is
and what God has been up to
all along.
In the midst of all that,
we have the Holy Spirit
sent by Jesus
to help us
and give us insight.
So here's the challenge
for us as Christians.
Maybe it sounds crazy.
David was a man
after God's own heart.
A hero of the Old Testament
who wrote part
of Scripture itself.
He is a model for us
in many ways
including in Psalm 63
and yet
any Christian today
has the potential
to know God better
and to find
more satisfaction in God
than David ever did
in his life
here on earth.
That is available
to any Christian today.
So let's be good stewards
of the revelation
of the Son
that we've been given.
If you have a competitive streak,
it's okay
to feel a little competition
with David
and say,
I'm going to find
more satisfaction in God
than you did, David.
David is confident
that God satisfies
like no one else
and as he meditates
on God,
his soul finds satisfaction
and sustenance
in the midst of trouble.
And he restates
this dynamic
in verse 9.
Verse 8,
I'm sorry,
my soul clings to you,
your right hand
upholds me.
David says,
I come with my desperation
and my need
and my thirst.
I cling to you
and you provide
what I need.
You satisfy,
you uphold,
you sustain.
God is sufficient.
David is confident
that God is worth it
like no one else.
Regardless of what
he may lose in this life,
he is confident
that God satisfies
like no one else.
But so far,
David hasn't said
anything about
his present
dangerous situation.
He's made a reference
to being in the wilderness,
but he hasn't said
anything about his enemies,
about the fact
that people are trying
to kill him,
that people are trying
to take his throne.
David doesn't yet
have deliverance
and this is where
he turns in the final
stanza of the psalm,
verses 9 through 11.
And here we see
that David is confident
that God comes through
like no one else.
David says,
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.
David has made it
very clear
that God is more
than enough for him
regardless of
what he may lose.
But he also believes
that God is ultimately
a God of justice
and that wrongdoers
won't prevail forever.
He believes
that God will save him
and that God's salvation
will be decisive
and clear.
He believes
that God will uphold
his own glory.
In reference
to his enemies,
the many people
who have joined
in Absalom's rebellion,
all the turncoats
and the sycophants
who have just been
biding their time,
waiting for an opportunity
to take David out
and elevate themselves.
David says three things
are going to happen
to them.
They're going to go down
into the depths
of the earth,
they're going to be
given over to the sword,
and they're going to be
a portion for jackals,
scavengers.
To go down
in the depths
of the earth,
obviously to go down
to the lowest place
possible in the Bible,
not just to die,
but to be swallowed up.
In Psalm 63 here,
to be swallowed up
in God's judgment,
to be given over
to the power
of the sword
means that they will
not die quietly.
Their deaths
will be violent
and bloody.
To be a portion
for jackals
means that they will
not have an honorable
burial or a peaceful
resting place.
To be left
for jackals
was a shameful thing.
In other words,
David is saying
that by God's decree
and power,
all of his enemies
will be damned,
slaughtered,
and dishonored forever.
When God finally acts
on David's behalf,
it's not going to be
half-hearted
or subtle.
It's going to be
decisive and clear.
God's going to come
through like no one else.
These traitors
that are trying
to take David's kingdom,
God is going
to take absolutely
everything from them.
Now David knows
that there are times
when God allows
his people to suffer
in the wilderness.
He's experiencing
that in the moment.
But he also believes
that part of God's
unequaled sufficiency
means that when God
comes through
for his people,
he really comes through.
And notice here
that David is not
taking vengeance
into his own hands.
He's not putting
any timetable on this.
David was a warrior,
but this violent picture
here is inspired by God
and is a description
of God's judgment,
not David's
personal vendetta.
David is confident
that God is going
to come through.
He's not going to have
to try to fight
and scratch for it
himself.
So if that's what
happens to David's enemies,
what will be the result
for David and for others
who trust in God
with him?
Verse 11,
but the king
shall rejoice in God.
All who swear by him
shall exult,
for the mouths of liars
will be stopped.
The king shall rejoice
not in his restored throne
or his return
to a comfortable life
in Jerusalem.
The king shall rejoice
in God.
David sang for joy
and praised God
for his sufficiency
when he was in the desert,
when his life was in danger,
and he's going to do
the same thing
when he gets back home.
He's going to rejoice
in God.
David's confidence
in God's unequaled
sufficiency,
it's not temporary.
His praise for God
is not just on the basis
of his need for God
in the moment.
When everything
is restored to David,
he's going to rejoice
in God,
just like when he was
in the wilderness.
So what about us?
How does God
come through for us
like no one else?
There are certainly times
in the life of everyone
who is a follower of Jesus
when God saves
and restores
and vindicates
in clear and amazing ways.
God does what no one else
can do,
whether that is healing
the body in miraculous ways
or breaking an addiction
that seemed unbreakable
or providing financially
in impossible situations
or moving geopolitical people
and forces
that seemed immovable.
but he doesn't always
save his people
in the short term
in the ways
that we would like him to.
So how can we lean
on verses 9 through 11 today?
Can we put our full weight
on them
that God is going to
come through for us
like this?
Not just sometime,
but for sure.
Can we have confidence
in that?
We can lean
on verses 9 through 11 today
if we remember
that we are in a different
and better situation
than David was.
Verses 9 through 11
are a picture
of God defeating
the enemies
of his anointed king,
establishing his king
as supreme,
and bringing joyful peace
to all those
who are faithful
to that king.
You can probably see
where this is going.
Jesus is the last
and the greatest king
in the line of David.
Jesus is the king
that God promised
would sit on David's throne
forever,
and we,
whose faith is in Jesus,
we are those
who swear
by King Jesus.
And Jesus has enemies
in this universe.
sin and death
and the devil
and all who are
under the devil's control.
We see evidence
of them every day.
Jesus has enemies.
And because we swear
by King Jesus,
all of them hate us too.
And sometimes in this life,
we are in the desert
pursued by our enemies,
especially our brothers
and sisters
in other parts
of the world.
in the desert,
pursued by the enemies
of King Jesus.
But someday,
God is going to come
through for us
like no one else can.
God is going to come
through for us
like money can't,
like the United States
military can't,
like the Bill of Rights
can't.
God's King
is going to return
to the world
that belongs to Him.
He will gather
His people
to Himself
and the Father
of lies
and everyone
who has joined Him
in His lies
will be silenced.
And instead,
every knee will bow
and every tongue
will confess
that Jesus Christ
is Lord,
is King
to the glory
of God the Father.
God is going to
to happen.
Everyone in this room
is going to experience
that in one way
or another.
You can have confidence
in that.
You can stake your life
on that.
Verses 9 through 11
are relevant to you
because that is part
of God's plan.
We saw that
worked out
for months
as we worked through
the book of Revelation.
God's plan
for the fullness of time,
He's going to come through
for us
like no one else can.
And when you have confidence
in that,
when your confidence
is there,
everything else
that pops up
in life
that is scary to you,
is challenging to you,
is a loss to you,
gets put into perspective
a little bit more.
And everything else
that you're tempted
to put your confidence
feels very,
very small
when you see
that,
when you see
the way that God
has promised
to come through
for you.
The psalm
is a call
for us
to cultivate
our confidence
in God's
unequal sufficiency.
God is worth it
like no one else.
God satisfies
like no one else.
God comes through
like no one else.
So today,
whatever trouble
or loss
you're facing,
and every day
that comes
until our King returns,
let's put
our confidence
in God's
unequaled sufficiency
for us
as His people.
And to close,
instead of praying
my own prayer,
I'm going to pray
Psalm 63 aloud
one more time,
and I'm going to make it
plural.
So it's going to be
a prayer from us
as Christ the King
Church
to our sufficient
God.
Let's pray.
O God,
You are
our God.
Earnestly,
we seek
You.
Our souls
thirst
for You.
Our flesh
faints
for You
as in a dry
and weary land
where there is
no water.
So we have
looked upon You
in the sanctuary,
beholding Your power
and Your glory.
Because Your steadfast
love is better
than life,
our lips
will praise You.
So we will bless
You as long
as we live,
and in Your name
we will lift up
our hands.
Our souls
will be satisfied
as with fat
and rich food,
and our mouths
will praise You
with joyful lips
when we remember
You upon our beds
and meditate on You
in the watches
of the night.
For You have been
our help,
and in the shadow
of Your wings
we will sing for joy.
Our souls
cling to You.
Your right hand
upholds us.
For those who
seek to destroy
our lives
and the lives
of our brothers
and sisters
around the world
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.
Amen.