WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.200 It's great to be with you guys tonight. 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:09.519 So when I was 13 years old, I began to play the guitar. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.080 And when you play guitar, a lot of times you go through different phases where there are 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:17.460 different, whether it's rock, country, whatever genre of music it is, where you start trying 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:19.839 to emulate the people that you hear. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.679 And so you go through these different phases, whether it's like a blues phase or a jazz 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.179 phase or whatever. 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:29.960 And I had a few people for some reason try to get me to go through a pink Floyd phase. 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:31.800 And that never happened. 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:37.799 However, I was working out one time in the gym and pink Floyd came on over the speakers 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:40.039 and it was the song Comfortably Numb. 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:42.520 Do you all know the song that I'm talking about? 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.920 And I began listening to the words of that song and just that phrase Comfortably Numb 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.400 kept going over and over in my head. 00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:56.400 And I just thought, you know what, that feels like a description of many of the phases that 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:01.799 we were just in our walk with the Lord where we just feel maybe that we're comfortably 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:03.039 numb. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.879 And I'm not necessarily talking about a time maybe that, you know, you feel like your sin 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:08.239 has separated you from the Lord. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:13.039 I'm not talking about where you feel lukewarm in your commitment to the Lord, where he would 00:01:13.039 --> 00:01:15.039 you know, spew you out of his mouth. 00:01:15.039 --> 00:01:22.680 Not that, but just those times in your life where you're neither content nor discontent, 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:28.200 where you're neither feeling passionate nor dispassionate. 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:34.280 You're neither pursuing the Lord nor necessarily running from him, but you're kind of comfortable 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:35.280 in your numbness. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.600 Now maybe this is just me, but I feel like this is a pretty common occurrence in our 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:41.560 walk with Lord. 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:46.800 And to be honest, I feel like this is the song that helps me during those times, but also 00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:52.020 I think it speaks to those times when we go through that and David has some helpful things 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:55.399 to show us in this Psalm as he was singing to the Lord. 00:01:55.399 --> 00:02:00.879 And as Corey read, it starts out with this little superscript that says a Psalm of David 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:07.159 when he was in the wilderness of Judah. 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.759 The traditionally they would look at this passage, scholars would look at it and say 00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:17.519 that when David was in the wilderness of Judah, that was either in first Samuel chapters 22 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:25.280 and 23 when he was running from Saul or in second Samuel 15 and 16 when he was actually 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:33.480 running from his own son, Absalom, when Absalom staged a coup and tried to overthrow him. 00:02:33.480 --> 00:02:36.120 Because in verse 11, David refers to himself, there's the king. 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:42.719 I believe that this is actually when he is in fleeing for his life from his home, from 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:44.400 his own son. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:49.920 But whatever the situation is, we see that he is literally in the wilderness and it's 00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:56.640 one of the hardest times, one of the lowest times of his life where he is probably someone 00:02:56.640 --> 00:03:03.000 very close to him that he loved has betrayed him and actually wants to kill him. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:04.719 That's a pretty tough time to be in. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.800 If you've ever been in relational conflict with someone, that in and of itself can be 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:13.640 enough to kind of put you in kind of depression, anxiety kind of areas. 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:17.439 But we're talking like fleeing for his life. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:23.639 If you even read in second Samuel 15 and 16 where David is fleeing from Absalom, just 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:25.679 it's really sad passage. 00:03:25.679 --> 00:03:27.039 Just talks about him. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.119 He's fleeing, he's weeping, he's got people that are with him, they're weeping as they're 00:03:31.119 --> 00:03:37.199 leaving the city knowing that their lives are in danger and having to flee their homes. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:44.319 But what it does give us is we have a song, a song of David in this time that can help 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:51.039 us when we are in maybe not a literal wilderness, but a spiritual wilderness where David here 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:57.199 is feeling discomfort and struggle, sadness, maybe depression. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:02.000 He's away from his home, away from everything that is known fleeing for his life and he gives 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.280 us some insight on what we can do during those times while he's in conflict. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:13.639 So tonight we're talking about in those times maybe in a spiritual wilderness, how do we 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:15.520 long for God? 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.720 So tonight in Psalm 63 we're talking about longing for God. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:25.879 And in verse one, David says, oh God, you are my God. 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:31.600 This word God is not the covenant word of the covenant name of the Lord Yahweh, but instead 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.160 He's talking about the powerful creator and sustainer of the universe. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:41.280 You who know the stars by name, you are my God. 00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:42.520 You're the God of me. 00:04:42.520 --> 00:04:44.000 You belong to me. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.120 We are in a relationship here. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:53.040 And if you think about that, to be in a place where you can say, I know that I'm calling 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.520 out to the one who knows the stars by name, who everything depends on for life and breath 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:05.279 and all things and you're in a personal relationship with me. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.479 Oh God, you are my God. 00:05:07.479 --> 00:05:12.680 He has a personal relationship there with God and he's calling out to him and he says, 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:14.839 earnestly I seek you. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:19.879 Now some of the older translations might actually have early I seek you. 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.639 It's a word that literally means like early in the morning. 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:30.439 It has this idea of arising with eager anticipation like what I always think about is, you know, 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.279 Christmas time when I was a kid and I can't sleep because I want to get up and go see 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:38.040 what's under the tree and get to have all the good food and all that get to see all 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:39.040 the family. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.959 I'm so excited I can hardly sleep. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:47.600 It's that kind of idea where I'm anticipating this so eagerly that I just want to get up 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:48.600 and do it. 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:56.000 And he's saying early, earnestly, wholeheartedly, I'm seeking you. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:01.839 He says, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:07.199 This idea of his soul and his flesh, he's basically saying everything that makes me 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:11.680 me, my total being wants you. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:20.000 I'm seeking you with all of my heart, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.680 I'm longing for you with my whole being. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:28.120 If you are in a wilderness, one of the things that they tell us, I don't know that I've 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.600 ever actually been in a wilderness when I wasn't like in a car or something, but they 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.040 say if you're ever in a wilderness, one of the things that's on the forefront of your 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.600 mind is where is the water source? 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:40.519 Where can I find water? 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:44.960 Then you start thinking about food, but it's like, I am thirsting. 00:06:44.960 --> 00:06:46.680 I have got to find water. 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:47.680 It's an obsession. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.040 It becomes the forefront of their minds. 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:55.400 And that's the way David is saying his relationship with God is. 00:06:55.400 --> 00:06:59.879 Eager anticipation, thirsting, deep down longing. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:02.320 I want to know you God. 00:07:02.320 --> 00:07:03.720 Earnestly, I seek you. 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:05.720 My soul thirsts for you. 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:08.240 My flesh faints for you. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:13.640 Now I've never been like that kind of thirsty that you would experience in the wilderness 00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:18.879 when you don't have water, a dry and weary land where there is no water. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:27.879 But I did grow up playing sport in the nineties where all of my coaches would approach training 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:32.959 as if like they grew up in a time where they thought if you gave water to the players during 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.560 a training that it was a sign of weakness. 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:37.480 And so they're there to make you tougher. 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:41.000 And these coaches that I had, they went through that and kind of wanted to make us tougher 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.399 and put us through that. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:43.920 So I've been thirsty before. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:44.920 I'm not going to lie. 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:50.920 Not maybe not to the extent that David is saying here, but I do get what he's saying 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:52.920 of like being thirsty. 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:54.319 I long for you. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:55.319 I'm craving it. 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.439 It's on the forefront of my mind. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.319 And he's saying that about God. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:05.000 He's literally physically in a wilderness and it's reminding him of the way he wants 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.240 to long for God. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:13.879 If you're in the wilderness, knowing how to locate water becomes an obsession. 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:20.079 And that's the way we need to approach our relationship with God. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.839 Now why would we seek God like that? 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:28.519 Why would it be like this obsession where we were actually waking up early in the morning 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.639 because we're anticipating like I want to meet with God. 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:34.320 I'm seeking him right now with all of my heart. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.799 Like why would we seek God like that? 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:42.200 Well it's because we're convinced that whatever we seek like that would satisfy us. 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:48.040 I mean think about some of the things that we know we need. 00:08:48.040 --> 00:08:51.040 There really are needs like water and food like in this passage. 00:08:51.040 --> 00:08:52.040 He's in the wilderness. 00:08:52.040 --> 00:08:53.879 He needs water and food. 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:59.000 But even the deeper things of the heart like peace. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:03.600 If you're ever in a place where you don't have peace with a family member or a friend 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.600 or there's not peace at work, you long for that peace. 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:09.840 You know I'm talking about where you got that feeling in the pit of your stomach and you 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.680 just I just want to have it go away and have peace. 00:09:12.680 --> 00:09:16.120 I want my relationships to be good. 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:23.320 God gives us peace in ways that transcend all understanding in Christ. 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:28.759 God gives us security and stability which is one of the deepest longings that we have 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.560 since we're children to have security, stability. 00:09:33.560 --> 00:09:38.240 We all want to know that we're taken care of and our Heavenly Father knows what we need 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.200 even before we ask it. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.000 We all want comfort. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.399 We just want to know that everything is going to turn out the way that it should. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.399 That all things will be made right. 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:50.600 And we find that in God. 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.919 In Jesus Christ we know that all things will be made new. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.519 All things will be made right. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:03.600 We have a deep longing inside of us to know that there's a meaning and a purpose to life. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:09.560 In Christ we find that the meaning of our existence is to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. 00:10:09.560 --> 00:10:12.840 We know why we're here on earth. 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:17.399 And one of the things that is crucial for us is to have hope. 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:23.000 We need to have hope and God gives us the assurance that we can put our faith and trust 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.639 in Him. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:30.560 Even Romans 5 says we don't have to be ashamed to hope because God's love is poured out through 00:10:30.560 --> 00:10:32.720 our hearts through the Spirit's been given to us. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:36.680 We don't have to be afraid to hope that we're going to be let down. 00:10:36.680 --> 00:10:37.920 We find that in God. 00:10:37.920 --> 00:10:41.759 Now in university we studied Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:44.440 You're familiar with that, right? 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:49.240 Even secular people who come up with a list of these are the deep things that people need 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:53.560 starting with like the physical needs at the bottom to have food, clothing and shelter 00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:58.639 and security and stability all the way up to finding purpose and meaning in life. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:05.679 secular people can identify that we need this and we find all of those things in God through 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:07.039 Christ. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.559 Why would we long for God? 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:14.399 Because we know that that is where we're going to be satisfied. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:18.559 If only Jesus would have told us that, right? 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:19.919 I'm the bread of life. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.600 He who comes to me will never hunger. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:24.480 He who believes in me will never what? 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:25.879 Thirst. 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:30.000 He satisfies the very longings of our soul. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:36.320 But yet when we're comfortably numb we tend to look to other things to satisfy us, thinking 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.600 that other things can come through for us when only God can fill that longing. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:43.879 Think about some of those things that you've longed for. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:45.879 I mean truly longed for. 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:51.279 Like there's this holiday that you've been looking forward to and been saving up for 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.240 and accruing more off time whatever it is. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:58.759 You've been waiting for this, longing for this, hoping for this. 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:03.399 If you've ever encountered a time like that then when you get in a fight with a co-worker 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:06.840 or a family member, part of you is like, it's okay, I'm out of here in a week. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:07.840 I'll be gone. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.759 I have something to look forward to that helps me get through that tough time. 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:19.240 And we do that with everything whether it's like a new home, a new car, material things, 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:24.600 looking forward to going to a new restaurant, all these little things that we're so satisfied 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:32.120 with so we think, looking forward to cleaning to, hoping in, daydreaming about when our 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.039 souls are longing for God. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:41.759 And David says, in the wilderness, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh thanks for you. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:46.960 Only God can provide what we need and what we're longing to. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:52.160 And God wants us to look at him like that so that we would say, it doesn't matter what 00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:55.800 happens to me today, I have God. 00:12:55.800 --> 00:12:59.560 And I know that in his sovereign plan for my life, he's going to make all things right 00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:01.840 in his perfect timing. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:09.000 And I can put my hope and I don't have to be afraid to hope in him because of that. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:16.280 Then we see in verse three that David says, the reason because your steadfast love is 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:19.799 better than life, my lips will praise you. 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:22.919 Your love is better than life itself. 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.679 David is in the wilderness running for his life. 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:35.879 And it's incredible that in this passage, he doesn't record asking for help. 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:39.480 What he's asking for is God's presence. 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:43.120 He's not begging him to rescue him from his enemies, which he does in other places. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:47.720 Now he states that he believes God is going to do that. 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:52.679 But what he's asking for is not the hand of God, but the face of God. 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:55.799 I want your presence. 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:01.960 His very son, and you read the passages about Absalom like he loved Absalom. 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:08.480 He feels betrayed and maybe it is Saul and he's who is his father-in-law, but he feels 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:13.080 betrayed, he's hurt, he's literally running for his life away from friends, away from 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:17.000 family, away from home. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:18.920 But yet he's not asking for help. 00:14:18.920 --> 00:14:23.320 He's asking for the presence of the Lord. 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:27.680 Do we long for the Lord like this? 00:14:27.680 --> 00:14:33.480 Even as I was preparing for this passage, I would wake up in the mornings and just because 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:40.000 it was on my mind, I'm like, am I eager to get up and to encounter God to meet with him 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.000 this morning? 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:47.080 Or am I just going to read my Bible so I have this mental checklist and I feel like I've 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:49.840 done my duty for the day. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:51.879 How do we approach our relationship with God? 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.200 Do we long for him? 00:14:54.200 --> 00:15:01.480 Longing and eager anticipation to find him because his love is better than life. 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:07.840 Do we believe that, that his love is better than life? 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:14.440 When you think about how Jesus describes eternal life, John 17.3, what does he say? 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:22.279 This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, the only true God in Jesus 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:24.200 Christ whom you have sent. 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:27.399 He tells us that eternal life is knowing God. 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.960 It's having a relationship with God through Jesus. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.240 That is what it means to have eternal life. 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:37.759 Do we approach our relationship with God as if he is the very hope that we have, the one 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.480 thing knowing that his love is better than life? 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:46.360 Paul said it like this in Philippians chapter 3 verse 8 where he says, I count everything 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:52.040 as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:15:52.040 --> 00:15:57.320 For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:02.160 that I may gain Christ. 00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:06.040 Anything that would be gained to me, anything that would make me feel like I'm someone, any 00:16:06.040 --> 00:16:10.560 accomplishments I have, any pedigree that I have that he's listed in Philippians chapter 00:16:10.560 --> 00:16:15.080 3, he says, I count it all as rubbish just so I can know Christ. 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.480 That is much more better. 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:23.080 Even in the, what we're looking at at Philippians 1 to live as Christ in the dies game, we're 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:24.080 saying that. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:30.120 He says there that to depart and be with Christ is much more better. 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:35.680 He uses terrible English grammar there, much more better than being here. 00:16:35.680 --> 00:16:40.759 Your love is better than life itself, David says. 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.440 Do we approach our relationship with God like that? 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:48.240 Do we seek the face of God more than the hand of God? 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.800 It's not bad to ask for God's help. 00:16:49.800 --> 00:16:51.400 In fact, that honors him. 00:16:51.400 --> 00:16:53.080 He wants that. 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:56.360 Do we seek his face? 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.040 Now how do we cultivate a longing for God? 00:16:59.040 --> 00:17:04.200 I think we can observe some things from David here that really does help us to create, kind 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:06.600 of cultivate this longing for God. 00:17:06.600 --> 00:17:11.440 Now ultimately, what we're going to get to is that we can't conjure anything up. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.440 Only God can give us those desires and as Corey even just prayed that we would have 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.160 that cultivated in us by the Lord. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:24.960 But David does give us some things here or at least we can look at his example here and 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.920 learn some things about how to cultivate the longing for God. 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:34.400 For instance, verse two, he says, so I've looked upon you in your sanctuary by holding 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.720 your power and your glory. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:42.040 That word for look there literally means experiential seeing. 00:17:42.040 --> 00:17:47.160 It's kind of like we might have the English phrase, my eyes were opened. 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:49.880 That doesn't mean I'm walking around my eyes closed and all of a sudden something 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:52.680 happened and it opened up my eyes and now I see. 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:57.960 We use that phrase, my eyes were opened, meaning that I now through experience of something, 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:02.040 I see more clearly and have a different perspective. 00:18:02.040 --> 00:18:04.080 That's the word that's used here in the Hebrew. 00:18:04.080 --> 00:18:06.600 So I've looked upon you in the sanctuary. 00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:09.080 I have experiential seeing of you. 00:18:09.080 --> 00:18:10.080 I've seen you. 00:18:10.080 --> 00:18:11.720 I gazed upon you. 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:17.560 And so that's the first thing I would say is gazing at God helps us to cultivate a long 00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.320 for him. 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:20.519 How do we gaze at God? 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:24.879 We have his word that he has revealed himself to us. 00:18:24.879 --> 00:18:30.839 We literally carry God's word in our pockets, most of us on our phones. 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:36.000 Hopefully we're hiding it in our hearts through scripture memory, but we have the opportunity 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:44.399 to gaze at the Lord in ways that David couldn't even imagine. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:50.800 We've seen what God tells us, here is what I'm like through the life of Jesus. 00:18:50.800 --> 00:18:56.480 Things that which angels long to look, we get to see in the salvation through what we 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.880 understand through scriptures. 00:18:57.880 --> 00:18:59.720 We get to see God. 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.880 Do we seek him in his word? 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:08.640 When you read your Bible, often I'm guilty where it feels like I'm kind of doing this 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:16.600 just to ease my conscience, to feel better, to know that I had a quiet time. 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:20.520 Do we really seek God in his word? 00:19:20.520 --> 00:19:23.560 Do we even want to do that? 00:19:23.560 --> 00:19:25.360 But the first thing is gazing at God. 00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:29.800 The second thing, I think we see in verse four, and that is worshiping God. 00:19:29.800 --> 00:19:33.920 Verse four, he says, so I will bless you as long as I live and in your name I will lift 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:35.600 up my hands. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:41.799 Bless you to speak well of God, to call out to him, here's how good you are, here's who 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:43.519 you are and what you have done. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:48.399 I lift my hands to you in praise and surrender. 00:19:48.399 --> 00:19:50.639 That's worshiping the Lord. 00:19:50.639 --> 00:19:55.759 And as we say to God, you are great because of these things. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:00.240 And maybe we call out things to him that we know is true about him, his character, what 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.839 he's done for us, all these things and worship to him. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:08.959 We get our eyes off of ourselves, get our eyes on God, and when we start seeing God 00:20:08.959 --> 00:20:12.000 in worship, it changes who we are. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.879 It changes us. 00:20:14.879 --> 00:20:16.159 So we say, you are great. 00:20:16.159 --> 00:20:18.079 I bless you, I lift up my hands. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.599 So the first thing would be gazing at God. 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:23.319 In verse four, we'd see him worshiping God. 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:31.639 In verse six, he says, when I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:38.440 of the night, number three would be he's recalling God's work in his life. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:40.360 He's remembering. 00:20:40.360 --> 00:20:44.880 You may know this, but Deuteronomy five does a great job of talking about the Sabbath. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:50.480 And the Sabbath was a time to rest from your work and remember that you were a slave in 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.320 the land of Egypt and the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and an outstretched 00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:55.460 arm. 00:20:55.460 --> 00:21:00.759 We need to have regular patterns in our life where we are remembering what God has done, 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.000 recalling what he has done in our lives. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.879 And then he says, I meditate on these things. 00:21:06.879 --> 00:21:10.640 I meditate on you in the night watches. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:16.400 So we see in verse one, this idea of I'm seeking you early and now he's saying, I meditate 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:19.359 you on you in the night watches and the watches of the night. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:24.480 It's this idea of meditating on God's word day and night, recalling what he has done for 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:27.480 us and who he is. 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:32.400 Maybe something that can get us out of kind of that place of being comfortably numb is 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:37.079 morning and evening prayer where we're just spending some extraordinary times, things 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:41.240 that are out of the ordinary of our daily life seeking him. 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:49.120 And when we do that to recall what he has done, remembering is a big deal in scripture. 00:21:49.120 --> 00:21:53.200 And I mean, even in night, I realize I'm not telling you guys anything you don't already 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:54.200 know. 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:58.400 You've been in church for any length of time, this is not new stuff. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:03.400 And often we feel like we have to have something new in order to encounter God, but really 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:11.200 more often than not, we need to remember what he's already done for us and who he is. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:17.600 And that needs to be one of the practices of our life that will help us be uncomfortably 00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:21.039 numb and move towards a longing for God. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.920 Last, it would be, I would say, hoping in God, verse eight. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.519 He says, my soul clings to you. 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:31.480 Your right hand upholds me. 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:37.839 This idea of cling means to stand close to, to have a tight grip on where I'm saying, 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.680 I'm joined to you, God, I'm sticking close to you. 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:43.119 I am going to be right where you are. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.079 I'm going to cling to you. 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:47.839 And then he says, your right hand upholds me. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.720 This is like I'm clinging to you in hope, knowing that you've got me taken care of. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:59.439 So putting our hope in God, what he's saying here is the actions of a person who says, you 00:22:59.439 --> 00:23:01.359 are my only hope. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:06.559 There is no hope outside of you, which means we have to look at those other things that 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:11.959 we do hope in and denounce those and say, God is my only hope. 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:18.400 So gazing at God, worshiping God, recalling God's work in our lives, and hoping in God. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:24.360 This means that we need a renewed passion for when we spend time with God in His Word. 00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:31.680 Our devotional time, the simple things of a daily life, just having a renewed passion, 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.680 recognizing who God is and what He has done for us. 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:40.120 This means we need to get excited about ways that we can intake God's Word, whether that's 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:46.479 coming to church or to a Bible study or memorizing scripture, or even reading a Christian book 00:23:46.479 --> 00:23:51.759 where people are explaining to us who God is and what He's done for us. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:58.439 We need to embrace those times, love those times of Bible study and prayer. 00:23:58.439 --> 00:23:59.719 Look forward to those times. 00:23:59.719 --> 00:24:04.039 And when we don't, maybe ask ourselves the question, what's keeping me from longing for 00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:08.959 God in a way that I would look for any opportunity to find Him? 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:13.640 And maybe it's my brother or sister over here who can lead me to the truth that will help 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:14.759 me to long for God. 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:20.360 So we look for opportunities to intake the Word, to learn more about Him, to be reminded 00:24:20.360 --> 00:24:23.279 of who He is and what He has done. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.799 Whatever allows me to get more of God, that's what I want. 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.840 Is that the cry of our hearts? 00:24:30.840 --> 00:24:37.120 Now Robert Murray McShane, one of his famous quotes, he said, the greatest need of my people 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.879 is my own holiness. 00:24:39.879 --> 00:24:42.239 That could be an overstatement from a minister. 00:24:42.239 --> 00:24:45.839 We tend to do that sometimes. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:50.759 But what if the greatest need of your family, the greatest need of your coworkers and your 00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:56.599 neighbors, the greatest need of your friends is for you to have communion with God in a 00:24:56.599 --> 00:25:00.159 way that changes the way you live. 00:25:00.159 --> 00:25:05.239 What if that really is true, that the greatest need of the people around us is for me to 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:09.799 walk with God and to long for Him? 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:12.519 If that were true, would that change anything? 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:20.720 Would that change the way we approach spending time in the Word and in prayer? 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:22.839 What is it that we long for? 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:23.839 Is it success? 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:24.839 Is it a spouse? 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:27.680 Is it a healthy bank account? 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:33.039 All these are good things that we can have, but we don't need to love the gift more than 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:36.599 the giver. 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:43.039 What would it take for us to long for God as David did? 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:51.799 And the last thing I just want to point out is don't despise the wilderness. 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:58.559 The wilderness, those hard times, those times of spiritual dryness are often the times that 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:04.559 causes to long for God that wake us up from being comfortably numb. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:11.559 That moment of weakness where we have to cling to Him for strength, don't despise those times, 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:19.759 but instead use those times to truly long for God. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:25.759 What would it take for us to long for God? 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:26.759 Let's pray. 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:35.879 We ask you to help us long for your presence, to long for your face, more than we long for 00:26:35.879 --> 00:26:41.079 other things. 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:43.759 This is our prayer and we pray that you would make it a reality in our life. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.759 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:58.759 Amen.