Wilderness

Dec. 29th 2024

Passage: Psalm 63

Introduction:

Introduce yourself. Good morning, My name is Josiah Wilson, I am the pastoral Intern here at Westview. If you have not met me that's on me, I should've come talk to you more but it's okay there is still time to talk to one another. A little about me, I am 25, I have a fiance named Bailey, and I have 4 siblings. I went to MCC, and I've been working on my master's of divinity at ECS in TN, which is why I am here. (Make a joke about how Cody was the only person to answer my email and now he's stuck with me) sorry not sorry.

Have you ever felt alone? Where you feel as if there is no path in front of you, where you cannot see. You are blind, touching everything, and every step you take is taken with caution. Or have you felt that every breath you take is hard, and you wake up in the morning with no motivation to do anything? When you pray you hear nothing, when you read the Bible you hear nothing you understand nothing, when you look in the mirror when usually you see how you carry God’s image, his presence in your heart you see nothing. Life just seems to be filled with nothing but chaos or even barren.

Well, I'm here to tell you, if you are feeling that or have felt that, and most likely will experience it. What you are experiencing is the wilderness. You are not alone I'm in the wilderness right now. Before I came to Westview I was lost. Some information I left out, I left TN scared, and I was in a bad ministry experience, that hurt me more than I thought it did. I was searching hard for a job and got told no by 72 churches. My call to be a pastor was shattered, my ministry confidence shattered,

Transition sentence: When we think about a relationship with God we always hear about the good times, we hear how God is blessing us, helping us, and guiding us. I have a question for you. What do we do in the wilderness?

Passage: Psalm 63 1-3A

While I was reading, praying, and thinking about passages that talk about the wilderness my heart leaped to the Book of Psalms. If you want to flip to Psalm 63 that is where we will be spending our time together today. I have nicknamed the Book of Psalms as the emotional Story of Israel. I love it when you read the Book of Psalms you can almost see the retelling of Israel's history. This book is split up into 5 different books. All different Psalms like thanksgiving, joy, praise and so many more. The Book of Psalms impacts us differently depending on our season of life. This Psalm is a Psalm of David, as he is in the wilderness due to Saul attempting to kill David.

Let's read Psalm 63 1-3A(slide).

If you haven't guessed already we are going to be talking about the wilderness today. How would we define wilderness? After much talking and reading, I have come up with this Wilderness definition: Generally, a place viewed as disorderly and inhospitable. (sermon note)

Thirst for God(verse 1)

Here are some things that we experience while in the wilderness. 1) A Thirst for God(sermon note). Reread verse 1. David is seeking God, His whole body longs for God but yet is parched. Where is God? Where does God go when we are in the wilderness? Have you been in this moment where you keep on praying, you keep on worshiping, you keep on seeking God and all you get is silence? You feel as if God has left you behind, God is absent and you cannot feel his presence.

There is a longing for God when we cannot feel, sense, or experience his presence. I imagine this is how David was feeling. His whole body wishes and wants to experience the presence of God. while in the wilderness and the feeling of God's absent presence could be caused mainly through two ways. 1st way is sin causing you to hold you back or unconfessed sin. We recently did a series called Silent Killers—emotions, habits, and other contributors that erode our faith. This could be shame, guilt, fear, and so many more. The second way is God draws us to the wilderness. Now that may seem weird to think of that God draws into a space that is hard and chaotic. Think about it like this. Israel while in the wilderness becomes a nation, and experiences God's mountain one of the holiest/dwelling places of God outside the temple. The tabernacle was made in the wilderness. Even through all the pain and trials, Israel goes through while in the wilderness. God provided for them. Bread to feed them, water to drink, a way of life to follow, and a nation. Through the wilderness, Israel was exposed to what it really means to follow God and become his people. God never abandoned them in the wilderness, instead he followed them into it, and guided them, even when his people betrayed their covenant, God was still there. God brings us into a place of uncomfortably in order for us to grow. I think David's example is a good one to recognize when we are experiencing the wilderness we should seek God.

Transition sentence: God provides for us when we are experience the wilderness, and chaos that this world has, and sometimes God draws us into that same wilderness. Because God satisfies everything and will satisfy everything.

God Satisfies Verse 2-5- Let's read Verse 2-5 again. God Satisfies

David has felt something different. David has been to the temple, He knows the power and glory of God. David is aware of who God is and how fiercely loyal God is to his people. David is in this wilderness because he is forced into the wilderness by Saul who is trying to kill him. David is running for his life David does something that I have never done or have heard before. What does he do? He praises God, he will bless him, lift up his hands, and praise him. Why? Why does David do this? It's because of God's steadfast love. He has been overwhelmed by God’s power and glory. He has felt God’s love (or loyalty; ḥesed), which is the most important thing to him; it is better than life. Gods love is better than life. What a statement. What a brilliant thought. David feels satisfied, and his soul feels that satisfaction. This is part of the Gospel message. This part of the gospel answer, God's love is the satisfaction that cures all longing.

David’s example of what to do in the wilderness is what we should all do when we are in the midst of the wilderness and are suffering because of the pain we are feeling. These past few months have been a journey. Before Westview I was dead, and I was in a very dangerous spot to do ministry, There was a chance I wouldn't even finish the internship. I didn't even know my calling anymore. I didn't know if I should even be a pastor. I thought I was done, so I ran and looked for different job avenues but I told myself regardless I was still gonna finish this semester for school. When I had no motivation to do none of the homework, or even read the books. Which if you know me, it is weird, I love books and I love reading/talking about the Bible it is a passion of mine. But that passion was gone. Have you felt that recently? Where is it hard to get out of bed in the morning? No motivation to go to work. Maybe you just recently lost a loved one. Maybe you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas. David gives us what to do in all of this chaos, pain, and the feeling of abandonment. God wants us to praise him. Praise him for what he has done, what he is currently doing, and what he will do.

Transition sentence: This application is weird, to think about as you may think but Josiah there is still part of the Psalm to discuss and talk about how is the application already here. Well, it's why we praise God. We praise him for what he has done for us and how satisfies us and we praise him because he never leaves us.

God is there Verse 6-8- God is there, or better way of saying it God is here with you in the wilderness. Let's re-read this. A lot of psalmists talk about the night because, for them, it is dangerous that is when they are the most vulnerable. Back at this time, this is usually when an opposing kingdom/country would launch an attack. Being in the physical wilderness I bet this is when animals would even attack. He meditates on God because he knows God will help him, David is in the shadow of his wings meaning he knows God is there, present with David in this time. So he sings for joy for God is present his soul clings to his presence and God upholds him. When Israel was sent to the wilderness was he alone? No God was with them even came off the Mountain of God and dwelled in the Tabernacle to be with his people. When Israel was in exile did God leave them? No, have you read Daniel? There was literally another one in the fire! When Jesus went into the wilderness was he alone no! The Holy Spirit was with him. Are you alone in the wilderness? Will you be alone in the wilderness? NO! Because God's steadfast love, his loyalty, his spirit dwells within you. That light that God holds in you. You who he made so beautifully, you who he said this person is made in my image. Image bearer you are not alone! The darkness may be powerful but it will never overcome the Light of God. God is always present and is with you and he loves you so David praises God. God praises God because, in the quiet of the night, our fears come on us, but David finds solace in God. God is his help in the midst of his troubles and cares for him like a mother bird protects and shelters her young.

God protects Verse 9-11- Lastly, God protects. Let's read this last bit of the Psalm. God protects us in the wilderness. The darkness I was talking about is sometimes us, God protects us from ourselves. When we feel shame, or when we hold on to that sin, God protects us but drawing us to a place where we can confess our sins. The darkness could be the enemy. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to feel alone and powerless. When you are alone you are truly powerless and easy to defeat. But good thing we serve a loving God. Good thing God is present. Good thing God gave us each other. When we pray the devil screams. When we praise the enemy goes to hide. That's because the King of Kings is present and alive. God will protect you. He has protected me many times, I'm sure you can think of those times when he has protected you. That is why David is praising God.

Application- The psalmist seeks God’s help in the face of murderous foes. He desires God’s palpable presence in the crisis and remembers the clear experience of his power and glory in the sanctuary (v. 2). He is willing to die for God’s love which is better than life (v. 3), although he is also confident in God’s ultimate victory on his behalf. He commits himself to worship. So that is what we are going to do today. There is going to be an altar call. Come worship, or if you want to just come to the front and worship with the people God gave you do it. Do not hold back. Take charge of your faith and show God how much you love him. Because in the end, he deserves all of our love and loyalty as he gave it to us so willingly in a Son, and that Son died so we may have everlasting life. Let us pray.