Minds Aflame and Hearts Alive | Psalms: An Exile's Prayer Book | Psalm 63:1-2| Pastor J. M. Lee
Notes
Transcript
Go ahead and grab you Bible and turn to Psalm 63. When you find it and if you are able to, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
A psalm of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah. 1 God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. 2 So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.
This is the Word of the Lord. Praise be to God.
Let’s pray
Father, we love You and we thank You for the gift of Your steadfast love, which is better than life.
Thank You for Your Word, which is living and active. It’s sharper than any sword, and it has the ability to pierce our thoughts and reveal the true condition of our hearts. Would you do that for us today? As we sit under the counsel of Your Word, pierce our thoughts and reveal the true condition of our hearts.
As we come to this psalm today, we ask that You would speak clearly to us.
Unify us under the authority of Your truth.
Awaken in us a deep hunger, and not just to know about You, but to love You. Not just to believe with our minds, but to long for You with our hearts.
Where we’ve grown cold, warm us.
Where we’ve gone dry, satisfy us.
Where we’ve been distracted, call us back.
Where we’ve relied on ourselves, teach us to cling to You.
Holy Spirit, rest on us now, with power, with clarity, and with the life-giving presence of Christ. Make us a people who live for Your glory because we have tasted and seen that You are good.
We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, our Savior, our joy, and our soul’s true satisfaction.
Amen.
You may be seated.
I would like to begin this morning with a bit of a confession. I grew up in a church where everything revolved around experiencing God … emotionally, visibly, and powerfully. It was charismatic, intense, and always reaching for more and more of God’s manifest presence. But … it was also often unanchored. The doctrine was shallow. The gospel was unclear. And underneath it all was this quiet fear that you could lose your salvation if your feelings weren’t strong enough or if you didn’t “press in” hard enough into the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As I got older and as I started reading the Bible for myself, I began to swing in the complete opposite direction. I discovered rich, reformed theology. I discovered truths that are deep, historic, and solid. For the first time, I understood grace. I found security in Christ, And I began to feed my mind with doctrine and theology that had weight and substance. This new direction was strengthened and solidified during my time in seminary.
But… sometime along the way… sometime in the past few years, I have noticed something.
As my mind grew stronger, my heart grew colder.
You see, I could defend the sovereignty of God … but I struggled to delight in God.
I could explain justification by faith alone, grace alone, and in Christ alone… but… I hadn’t wept in the presence of Christ in a long time.
The truth is … I had solid doctrine … but my soul felt dry.
And if I’m honest, I think I’ve led our church in that same direction … toward truth without tenderness, structure without longing, theology without affection.
So…. I took the past three weeks to step away from the pulpit for a short break. Because … well… I was burnt out. And my burnout wasn’t just a result of physical exhaustion but a result of spiritual depletion. A spiritual depletion that was result of trying to carry too much for too long.
Like many pastors, I’ve been in a season where I’ve been the solo shepherd … responsible for everything, stretched in every direction. And that’s not a complaint; it’s a calling I’ve embraced. But when you're constantly pouring out … preaching, praying, discipling, leading… and all without consistent replenishment…. the truth is… you run dry.
And to be completely transparent, burnout also came from something harder to name: the burden of leading people who don’t always want to be led … of caring deeply for a church where not everyone responds with the same desire for growth or spiritual hunger.
But … there’s another layer too. And it’s personal. You see, there’s a kind of pain in ministry that doesn’t just exhaust you … but …. it wounds you.
Over the years, there have been moments … sharp, unforgettable moments… where I’ve felt like I was kicked in the gut and pushed down a set of stairs. Not literally, of course, but emotionally. Spiritually.
And by God’s grace…. every time… I’ve always gotten back up. But every time… the scars remain. And over time, those scars started to form a kind of callus …and not just around my heart, but around my affections for God.
So yes, part of my burnout came from giving too much without receiving much back… from emptying myself to care for the spiritual needs of others, and ending up spiritually empty myself.
I felt tired—not just in my body, but in my soul. And underneath the exhaustion was a deeper ache: I had lost something. Not my faith … but my joy. Not my beliefs … but my love.
And so …. I needed space … and not just to rest, but to listen. To let God speak into the silence that ministry noise had crowded out for too long. And it was in that quiet place … away from the expectations, the pulpit, and the pressure … that God gently brought me to a familiar psalm.
Psalm 63.
Over and over again … everyday for the past three weeks …. I read the words of a man in exile… the words of a man that was betrayed by his own son, and cut off from his throne, his people, and even from the visible presence of God. These words are from a man who had nothing left except one thing….. the steadfast love of God
And here’s what the Spirit of God revealed to me:
David didn’t just build his life on correct doctrine and theology. No … he built his life upon the steadfast love of God. You see, David’s theology didn’t just inform his mind… it ignited his soul. It set his affections aflame for one thing: God.
And that’s what I want back.
That’s what I want for you.
That’s what I want for our church.
Because the truth is … I’m not alone in this.
The Lord has helped me see that my dryness, my burnout, my misplaced affections… they’re not unique to me. Rather ….they’re just a more visible form of something that touches all of us.
Because here’s the truth:
Our sinful hearts are prone to seek satisfaction in anything and everything other than in God Himself.
Even in seasons of suffering, fatigue, or ministry burnout, we instinctively reach for distraction, control, or religious performance … instead of cultivating a deep, consuming love for God.
The truth is …. many of us live with a head-level belief but lack heart-level affection. And when that happens, our worship becomes dry, our faith mechanical, and our relationship with God becomes a convenient addition to life …but not the obsession of it.
And that’s where Psalm 63 speaks with clarity and conviction.
It shows us that it's in the wilderness … it’s in the badlands of life, when everything is stripped away and our souls are parched … that we come face to face with what we truly love.
And it’s in that exact same place that David cries out …not for comfort, not for answers, but for God. Because … the truth is….there’s only one presence, only one love, only one God that is better than life.
So ….this morning, we’re going to see that in the wilderness of loss, betrayal, and spiritual dryness, true faith is not merely belief in God's existence or benefits … rather …. it is a consuming love for God Himself.
Brothers and sisters ….only God’s steadfast love can satisfy your soul, sustain your joy, and reorient your worship … not around what He gives, but around who He is.
Therefore, we must turn from shallow religion and misplaced desires, and pursue a relationship with God that is not an addition to our life … but the obsession of it.
So as we open Psalm 63 together, I want to invite you to ask yourself a very personal and honest question:
Do I truly thirst for God?
Dear friend, you were made for God.
Understand…. at the center of our faith is not just a set of truths to believe … though sound doctrine is essential. It’s not just an activity to pursue ….. though our faith is necessarily active. And it’s not even a set of disciplines to maintain … though without spiritual disciplines like reading Scripture, praying, fasting, and gathering with God’s people, we won’t get very far in the Christian life.
But at the very heart of our faith is this: a Person—God Himself. And we were made not just to know about Him, but to live upon Him.
One of my favorite preachers, John Bunyan, often used that phrase in his writing … “to live upon God.”
In other words, we were made to know Him, to love Him, to long for Him. To find our satisfaction, our joy, and our peace in Him. To cling to Him in our weakness. And to draw our strength and confidence from His steadfast love.
And that’s exactly what Psalm 63 shows us.
Look back at the superscription and see that it says,
“A psalm of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah.”
Pause here and let that sink in.
David is in the wilderness ….and…. not metaphorically… but physically, emotionally, spiritually. In other words…. he’s not journaling from a palace. He’s not writing this after a successful military campaign or from a place of stability. No! He’s been betrayed — by his own son. He’s been driven from his throne. Separated from his people. And cut off from the sanctuary of God — the place he loved the most.
He’s on the run. No crown. No court. No temple. No comfort.
Just dry …. barren ground beneath him, danger behind him, and uncertainty before him. His entire life had been unraveled. Everything familiar had been stripped away.
And it’s in that place ….. in the physical and spiritual badlands … that David cries out…
Not first for comfort.
Not first for answers.
But for God.
Look at verse 1. David cries out….
1 God, you are my God;
Let this cry of David settle in your soul and think about the fact that David….. being stripped of almost everything … can still say .. with trembling but confident lips:
“You are mine.”
Not, “God, I believe you exist and you’re out there somewhere.”
Not, “I know correct doctrines about you.”
But “You are my God.”
And that changes everything.
Friends …. this is not cold theology … this is covenant intimacy. This is the cry of a man who knows God…and not just in concept, but in communion. You see … David doesn’t just have information about God… he has an intimate relationship with Him. This is the cry of someone who has walked with God in green pastures and now clings to Him in a dry wilderness.
Think about it….. how amazing is this!?! How amazing is it that David, a man betrayed and broken, a man who is dealing with the consequences of his own sin….can still call the Sovereign Creator of the Universe his own. That in the barrenness of the badlands, David still knows where his home is. He knows that … he may have nothing left….but as long as God is still his God….. he hasn’t lost everything.
Can I ask you something, gently and honestly?
If everything in your life was stripped away.… your family, your routine, your resources, your comfort or sense of safety…. could you still say with confidence, “But I have God. And He is mine”?
That’s what David shows us …. and …. that’s what soul-thirst sounds like.
Look back at verse 1
1 God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
Friends … this language is raw.
It’s visceral.
It’s physical.
This isn’t polite, polished religion. This is survival-level desperation.
David says, “I thirst for You.”
And that word…tsame in Hebrew… it isn’t flowery poetry. Rather..it’s used to describe a traveler collapsing in the desert, or an animal dying of thirst.
Picture it…. like a cowboy in an old western….riding through the desert for days. His lips are cracked. His face is sunburnt. He grabs his canteen, tips it back … and only sand pours out.
That’s the image.
This isn’t a mild longing.
This is soul-level desperation:
“If I don’t have You, I’m done.”
And then David says, “I seek You.”
That word is shachar in Hebrew. It means to seek earnestly, to rise early, to pursue with urgency.
David’s not saying, “If I get around to it, I’ll look for God.” He’s saying, “Before the sun rises, my soul is already moving … already chasing after You.”
This isn’t passive.
This is a passionate, urgent, intentional pursuit.
Even in the wilderness. Even in the dryness. Even when there’s no water in sight… David says, “I will still rise and run hard after God … because nothing else can satisfy.”
And don’t miss this…David’s not crying out for comfort.
He’s not asking for a plan.
He’s not even asking for rescue.
He’s saying,
“God … I just need You.”
Verse 2 continues…
2 So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.
Now hold on… where is David? David’s not in the sanctuary. He’s not standing in the temple. Remember….he’s in the wilderness. So what is he talking about?!?
Well… He’s remembering. He’s recalling the nearness of God. He’s reaching back to a time when he tasted the sweetness of God’s presence, and now … in the silence and dryness … he’s saying:
“I’ve seen You before… and I long to see You again.”
I don’t know about you but David’s words here resonates deeply with me. Because I’ve experienced those moments. Maybe you have too. Moments in worship, in prayer, in the Word … when it felt like heaven broke through. When it felt like the presence of God was so thick I couldn’t breath. Moments when God didn’t feel distant or abstract, but close. Real. Alive. Where His love wasn’t just a doctrine you believed, but a presence you felt.
But if I’m honest, those moments have sometimes felt like distant memories. And the truth is....the longer you go without tasting that intimacy… the more your soul starts to ache. And — maybe that’s where you are? Longing for something you used to have? Or …. maybe longing for something you’ve never really known.
It’s not that you’re in a dry season … could it be that you’ve never tasted the Living Water to begin with?
Sure… you’ve gone to church. You’ve tried to be a good person. You believe in God. But this kind of hunger? This raw, soul-deep longing for God’s presence? It feels foreign. Out of reach. Uncomfortable. Weird
And if that’s you, I want you to hear this clearly:
Maybe what David is describing isn’t meant to feel like some poetic ideal. Maybe it’s an invitation. An invitation to want more than just a set of doctrines to believe. More than answers or moral success.
But — and invitation to want God Himself.
Dear friend … understand …. Psalm 63 isn’t a psalm for spiritual overachievers. and …. it’s not a psalm for the hyper-emotional or the super-saints either.
This is a cry from the wilderness … a cry from a man who’s been stripped of everything. This is a cry from someone who realizes that the only thing worth holding onto is God.
And maybe …juts maybe….that’s what the Spirit wants to stir in you.
Not more performance.
Not more striving.
But a holy dissatisfaction.
A thirst you didn’t even know you had.
Because brothers and sisters… you were made for this.
You were made to long for God.
To live upon God.
To worship—not with just empty words—but with a full heart.
And maybe for the first time… you’re realizing: “I’ve known about God… but I haven’t really known God.”
Friend … you don’t need to fake that. You don’t need to manufacture emotion. But you can ask for it.
“God… I’ve never longed for You like this before. But I want to.”
And listen to me… I believe… that’s a prayer God would love to answer.
And that’s why David’s words are so powerful. Because let’s be honest—David sounds obsessed.
And I think that’s the point. You could even say that David is addicted to the presence of God. That he is driven by a singular desire …. believing that if he can just have that one thing, he’ll be satisfied.
He says something similar in Psalm 27:4
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.
That’s not cold theology. That’s a consuming affection. And the truth is…. this is what biblical faith looks like. Not just rigid truth to believe or rules to follow. It’s an obsession with God. It’s hunger. It’s desire.
Paul put it this way in Philippians 1:21
21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Now … understand….Paul wasn’t suicidal. He was just so in love with Jesus, that being with Him was better than life itself. And I get it—this sounds extreme in our culture. But friends… this is biblical Christianity.
In fact… Jesus Himself said this in Matthew 10:37
37 The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
That’s intense! And it speaks to the the fact that Jesus is not inviting us into casual religion. No! He’s calling us into a love that reorders everything else in our lives
But here’s the problem — and I say this with love and as someone who’s struggling with this himself.
For many of us… God isn’t a consuming addiction. He’s just a convenient addition.
We’ve added Him to a list of other things we love:
Family, work, success, comfort, reputation.
And then we wonder why our hearts feel dry.
Why our worship feels flat.
Why our souls feel restless.
So let me ask you a hard but loving question:
Do you want God more than anything else in your life?
That’s the real test of soul-thirst. And not just when things are going well…
What about when life feels like a wilderness?
When the familiar is gone, when routines collapse, when comfort dries up… Do you still thirst for God?
Not just for His provision… but His presence?
That’s what David is pointing us to this morning And .. I get it ….this kind of soul-thirst isn’t tidy. It’s not polished. It’s messy. It’s raw. And It’s real.
He doesn’t say, “I thirst for clarity.”
He doesn’t say, “I thirst for answers.”
He says,
“I thirst for You.”
That’s the heart of this psalm and it’s the heart of our faith. And that’s what it means to worship in the wilderness.
And if you’re in a dry place right now … emotionally, spiritually, relationally… Listen to me…You’re not disqualified. You’re not forgotten. You’re right where David was.
And maybe… just maybe… God brought you into the wilderness not to punish you, but to awaken your thirst.
Because even in a dry and weary land…
He is still your God.
Here’s the good news:
The God David longed for in the wilderness … the God his soul thirsted after … is the same God who came looking for you. You see…Jesus didn’t stay distant. No… He stepped into our wilderness. He took on our weaknesses. He carried our grief. And on the cross, do you remember what He cried out?
28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”
The Son of God … the fountain of living water … entered the dry and weary land of our sin and separation…and He thirsted.
And not because His soul was empty.
No—He thirsted so that you could be filled.
He was cut off from the presence of God so you could be brought near.
He was parched so that you could drink deeply of grace.
That’s why He said in John 4:13-14.
13 ….“Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
Jesus is the answer to David’s cry. He is the fountain David longed for in the wilderness. And that same Jesus is calling to you … right now:
“Come to Me, all who are weary. Come to Me, all who are thirsty.”
And if you come… not with polished religion, not with performance, but with thirst … He will satisfy your soul in a way nothing else can.
Because Jesus was forsaken, you can be brought near.
Because He thirsted, you can be satisfied.
Because He died, you can live upon God.
So if your soul feels dry today…if you feel weary, numb, or empty…don’t run from Him. Run to Him.
He is the well that never runs dry.
He is the bread that truly satisfies.
He is the Savior who meets us in the wilderness…and brings us home.
Let’s pray.
