This is what I need! (psalms 63.1-8)

Many times we are not clear on what we really need in and for our lives!

And often times it takes something meaningful to take place in our lives to prove our real need for our lives…

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And I do need to tell somebody in here today………that you never want to get to a place in your life………..whereby you don’t need anything or anybody…………

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And I understand that some of us may consider our lives to be rarely interrupted by chaos and confusion..………….but every now and then we all need somebody…………or something…..

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And at some point we will all arrive at a place where we must determine what it is that we need from God…….. …….when things get really unpleasant in our life…………..

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I took some time………….and I thought about the claim of God’s power being felt and experienced in a way that we call real…………………..

And then I wondered has anyone really experienced this personally…………

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Because it could very well be possible……….that some of us are basing our understanding of God out of someone else’s reality……….

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And in the event that this happens…………….we take the risk of trusting how someone else perceives God’s glory………..

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But I personally have never had any real experience that was worth having………..trusting and depending on how somebody else feels…………

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And there has to be something that is deep down on the inside of us……..that looks to classify what we call our religious experience….

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Howard Thurmansuggests……………that this kind of an experience includes God……..and self……….and is so powerful that it stretches beyond our reason………..but still includes who we are….

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And I wonder if there is anyone in here today………that knows God and then also needs God!

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You know God………..because there have been experiences in your life where something greater than you………..has impacted you in a way that you cannot fully explain……….

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And you need God………..because no matter how low you go………..God is the only somebody………..that is worth being glorified just based on His substance!

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Look at it now…………

63.1 (read)

When I first read this text………….especially the first line………..it just seemed like to me……………David knew who he was calling!

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“O God, thou art my God”

In other words……….

Regardless of my proverbial location……………as it relates to whom I am in all of my humanity………..

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There is yet another unknown……………that still feels real…………..

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And David says…………

I must claim God to be mine……….even in this place………..

“And so…..early will I seek thee, based on a thirst”

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And this is the interesting thing that David is sharing………………because he describes his location…………as the wilderness………….

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Meaning there is nothing in his surroundings that can provide for him what he needs from a spiritual perspective………….

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You see according to the text……….David is in a desert place………..where there is a tendency to die from the lack of water…..

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And as David looks around…………..and examines the territory that is physical…………..he compares it to his spiritual condition……….

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Notice…………..now………….how David looks internally………….to discover something deeper………

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And instead of giving up………based on what he sees on the outside…………David makes an adjustment even though he is looking at a desert…………and tells God…………

“Early will I seek thee.”

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And I wonder if there is anybody in the house……….that realizes the level of tragedy in your surroundings……………

But you refuse to allow anything to keep you from putting God first!

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“O God…………Thou art My God”

Sometimes…………even in a dry place………….you ought to be able to know how to call him!

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Look at it now……….

63.2 (read)

David says…………

I realize I’m in a desert…………..but I would do anything to see your power………..and glory…………show up out here…………the same way it shows up in the sanctuary………..

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And this is where some of us get stuck………………..

Because we limit God to certain places……………in our lives………….

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But what if God………..had the capacity…………..to drop God’s glory………wherever………and whenever………….God wanted to………

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Notice now………….that David says…………..

“God I want you to show up out here…………..like I have witnessed you show up in there”

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Meaning…………….I’m not assuming based on somebody else’s experience…………but because I have already seen how your Glory comes down………..

I already know………….it can fall……………..

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So my special request…………is that based on where I am………….that you would still show up……………..

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And I wonder if there is anybody in the house today……………that wants God’s glory………….to show up!

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O God……………..let me feel your presence…………..in my house………the same way I feel your glory in the sanctuary……….

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(Optional) Who told you……………..God can’t show up in the Wal-Mart parking lot…………?

Look at it now………..

63.3 (read)

David took it to another level………..by saying………..

“God………….who needs water…………….when they have relationship with God………..”

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You see there is no way you can really praise God…………if you are thinking about something else…………..

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If God is not more for you…………than anything else………….you really aren’t giving God all of your attention…………

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But when you get to the point…………..where life………..is not life………..without God’s presence……………….that’s when this thing just got real………………..for you…..

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And in verse 4………..David says………………

“And for this reason even if I’m in a dry place…………….as long as I have life in this dry place…………..I will give God glory……….with my life!”

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And I wonder if I got anybody in here today…………….that knows………..when you throw your hands up……………..it’s not about you………….but it’s about the God you glorify!

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Because this is what you need!

Look at it now……….

63.5 (read)

So in other words…………

David says…………..the comparison of my physical needs being met with water……….is the same as my soul being satisfied……….through praise and worship…….

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And the interesting thing…………..here is the fact that David……….is not in the church………………..thinking about worship………….David is in the wilderness………….thinking about worship..

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I wonder if there is anybody in here………..who has ever been in the wilderness…………with a mindset that still thought about God……………

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Because the truth of the matter is that……………it is in those wilderness situations……………..where we discover our hearts…………

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Because a whole lot of stuff will come out of you……….when you are in the wilderness……………

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Pressure bursts pipes…………………..

But what happens when the more pressure I feel…………………..the more I think about God’s glory…..

Look at it now…………….

63.6-7 (Summarize and read)

David says………..

Something happens to me at night time………………

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He says…………I’m not like most folk that can’t find joy when they move from wilderness to night time…………..

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But David says……..

“When I lay down at night………….even in a wilderness experience…………my mind goes back”

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And when my mind goes back………it picks up the residue of what God left from the last time we were together…………

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And instead of finding myself feeling lonely…………..like nobody cares about me……………

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David says……….

As I look up into the sky……………I see my help!

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“Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”

Meaning…………

The glory of God is covering me wherever I am…………….

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And when nothing else could help………..it was God’s love that lifted me!

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Look at it now………….

Because in verse 8 we find that……when you move from the wilderness………to the night time……………if you seek God’s glory………….it causes you to push harder (pause)

63.8 (read)

In other words………….

This is what I need……………..

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The way I make it through………….is by seeking the God of my life…………..

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The way I stay on track………is by the right hand of God…………lifting me up……..

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Because when I fall…………………the power that I need to get back up……………is already up under me!

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CO