Deepening Desire for the Lord Part 3
Deepening Desire for the Lord • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Desire Deeper than the Sea
Desire Deeper than the Sea
There is no desire where there is no connection. There is no connection where there is no desire. It is hard to stay connected to the head when you refuse to be an active part of the body.
In Exodus 14 we read the story of God delivering Israel from their captivity and slavery in Egypt. At this point of Israel’s story, they have a desire for liberty from oppression but not a desire for the Lord. As they come through the Red Sea onto the other side they experience, for the first time in hundreds of years, freedom from slavery.
Through the years I have watched God deliver people from their captivity, slavery to sin, and poor lifestyle choices. Like Israel, however, they experienced a desire for freedom from consequences but never developed a deep desire to follow the way of the Lord.
As Israel reaches the other side of God’s wonder, the Holy Spirit moves upon them and they began to sing a song. I believe this is a prophetic song placed in their hearts from the Lord. In this song we can discover some tenants that lend to developing a deepening desire for the Lord.
In Exodus 14:31 it says,
Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
The fear Israel had was not a reverential relational fear of the Lord but a fear of death resulting from the judgement of the Lord. This is not entirely a bad thing but not the fullness (complete) desire of the Lord. And what they come to believe about the Lord was only the result of His judgement but they still could not comprehend His mercies.
This brings us to the first two tenants of growing in a deeper desire for the Lord: Fear and Belief.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
To “fear the Lord” יָרֵא (yare’) is to reverence God so profoundly that you dare not transgress His ways lest the consequences be death resulting from your sin.
To “fear the Lord” יָרֵא (yare’) is to reverence God so profoundly that you dare not transgress His ways lest the consequences be death resulting from your sin.
To “believe” אָמַן (‘aman) speaks of being so persuaded and convinced of something that you grab hold of it firmly and become faithful to it.
To “believe” אָמַן (‘aman) speaks of being so persuaded and convinced of something that you grab hold of it firmly and become faithful to it.
It stands to reason that one follows the other. There is no real fear of the Lord there is no sincere belief. Have you ever heard the phrase, “I will make a believer out of you?” Where there is no sincere belief in the Lord, there is no desire for the Lord. Deepen the holy or consecrated fear and you deepen the belief. Deepen the belief and you deepen the desire for stronger, more sincere and faithful relationship with the Lord.
This is why mere religious practice has a self-centered desire and only fears failing at the practice. But intimate relationship with the Lord has desire for the Lord Himself and fears breaking His heart. This form of belief recognizes and glorifies God for who He is. In the song Israel began to sing we see this evident. God’s desire was that this would become the love song of their relationship and be written deep within their hearts.
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
To deepen our desire for the Lord is to live a strong love song where God is the strength of the devotion not your fleshly efforts. God is your “Yeshua” (salvation). He alone is your deliverance, victory and the one who fights your battles while you sing His praises.
It reminds me of the old battle scenes where you see the chaos and smoke of war but in the middle of it all is a standard bearer and the drummer keep time for the advancement against the enemy. As long as the men fighting could see that standard and hear the beat of that drum, they knew they were pushing forward. So it is with your praises. When you let the enemy take out your worship, you will struggle to hear the victorious sound of the Lord’s voice in your life.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
The reference to God’s right hand is an idiom referring not only to God’s strength and power but also His direction. When we choose to follow His direction and walk upright before God we see the evidence of His strong hand in our lives.
Two great illustrations come to mind of two men who chose God’s direction, regardless of how ridiculous it seemed in the natural, and God gave them the victory over their enemies. Those two include David overcoming Goliath and Jesus overcoming sin and the death. Two antithesis examples would be Korah and King Saul. Both chose not to follow God’s direction but their own.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
“Who is like You?” This is a statement of monogamous solidarity. There is no God like our God. Apart from Him nothing is holy, set apart, sacred, sanctified, consecrated, or redeemed. It speaks to singular devotion surrendered to God. When I look at my wife I think the same thing, “Who is like you?” To me and me alone, no one has an amazing wife as I. You may never know how amazing she is but me and my kids know. This is reflective of the depth and devotion of the marriage covenant.
A.W. Tozer states, "O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more."
“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
Deep desire comes from you following God. The implication is that you let Him lead the dance to the love song and you gracefully and wilfully follow his lead.
Again, Tozer says, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us.”
There is no greater melody to a love song than the chesed חֶ֫סֶד eternal lovingkindness of God bestowed upon those who love Him and keep His commandments. Let the redeemed (ga’al גאל those delivered from slavery to sin) of the Lord hear the melody, witness His wonders, and live in His presence. May our hearts, souls, minds, our lives become His devir דְּבִיר holy of holies.
For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
When you have truly experienced the delivering power of such a merciful God and all of your vices, all of your fears, all of your heartaches, fleshly struggles have been cast into the sea of His great forgiveness and redemption, you can then walk (halak הלך), live in the newness of the life of Christ Jesus. It is dry ground, solid ground and holy ground.
And even when the storms of life come again and you feel like you are surrounded on every side pressing in and about to come crashing down, that desire for God will only grow stronger not weaker. it will cause you to keep moving forward in the Lord, not run backwards or cower down to the enemy. And like Israel, once on the other side of it all you can sing the praises of our God.
“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” - A.W. Tozer
And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Miriam took a tambourine in her hand that she had brought with her , trusting that God would deliver, and she began to lead the people in praise to God. Do you want to deepen your desire for God? Then praise Him through the sea, rejoice on the other side. Praise Him a little loud, a little longer and a whole lot more than you did in the days of your captivity for you have been made free. Let your desire for God become deeper than your sea.
