The Search

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Psalm 63:1–3 NKJV

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.

Psalm 63:4–6 NKJV

Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

Psalm 63:7–8 NKJV

Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

I want to talk to you about your devotion today. Your PUBLIC devotion and your PRIVATE devotion!

Title: THE SEARCH

Big Idea: Every believer is responsible for a search — a lifelong pursuit to see the glory of God revealed. That pursuit shows itself in two places: our expressive praise in public, and our close walk with Him in private. What you do when everybody's watching AND what you do when nobody's watching both testify to what you've seen of God.

Context: Most conservative scholars place this psalm during David's flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15-17) — a king running for his life through the wilderness of Judah. He is not writing this from the palace. He is writing this from the desert. The search for God doesn't begin when life is comfortable — it begins when life is dry.

INTRO

The Alchemists and the Philosopher's Stone

For roughly 1,500 years — from ancient Alexandria through the European Enlightenment — there were people called alchemists devoted their lives to one goal: finding a mythical thing called the Philosopher's Stone. It was a legendary substance believed capable of turning base metals like lead into gold, and granting immortality through an "elixir of life."

Kings funded it. Scholars gave their whole careers to it. Isaac Newton himself spent more time on alchemical experiments than he did on physics.

They never found it. Not once, not ever. The Philosopher's Stone does not exist.

But here's the turn: in the process of searching for it, alchemists were the ones who discovered how to distill alcohol, isolate phosphorus, develop the first systematic methods of measuring and purifying substances, and build the foundational vocabulary and lab techniques of what we now call chemistry. Robert Boyle — often called the father of modern chemistry — was himself a practicing alchemist chasing the Stone. The search for a myth accidentally built an entire science.

They were reaching for gold. What they actually walked away with — precision, method, discovery, a new way of seeing the material world — turned out to be worth infinitely more than the thing they were chasing. The search revealed something greater than the object of the search.

David’s Search

David wasn't searching for a thing in Psalm 63 — he was searching for a Person!

And even that search itself, in a dry land with no water, produced praise, satisfaction "as with marrow and fatness," and a soul that clings. The alchemists searched for centuries and got a science. David searched one desert season and got the Ancient of Days!

If you’re initial experience with the Holy Ghost or baptism is what you are hanging onto, or if your moment in the presence of God a year or month or week ago is what you are relying on to make it… I submit to you that YOU ARE MISSING IT! You are fooling around with ALCHEMY when all God wants with you is CHEMISTRY!!!

You were never promised you'd arrive at the glory and be done — the searching itself is where you find Him!

THE SETTING OF THE SEARCH (v. 1)

Psalm 63:1 NKJV

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

The Claim — "You are MY God"

Not a theological statement about God in general — a personal possession. David isn't seeking a God, he's seeking HIS God.

Relationship precedes pursuit. You don't chase what you haven't already claimed.

The Clock — "Early will I seek You"

Not "eventually," not "when I get around to it" — First priority, first hour, first devotion.early.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "What gets your first doesn't always get your best — but what gets your best always gets your first!"

The Condition — "A dry and thirsty land, where there is no water"

David is not in the sanctuary. He's in the wilderness. He is hunted, exhausted, betrayed by his own son.

This is the key hinge of the whole psalm: the driest seasons produce the deepest searches. Comfort never made anybody thirsty.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "God didn't wait for David to get to Zion to be worshipped — David worshipped his way BACK to Zion!"

THE SIGHT OF THE SEARCH (v. 2)

Psalm 63:2 NKJV

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

The Memory — "So I have looked for You"

David is drawing on a past encounter to fuel a present pursuit. He's not chasing a rumor of God — he's chasing a repeat of what he already knows is real.

Your search is fueled by your history with Him. What you've already seen of God is what makes you refuse to settle for less now.

The Motive — "To see Your power and Your glory"

This is the whole point of the message: we are responsible for a search to see the glory of God revealed. Not just to survive the wilderness — to SEE something in it.

David isn't just asking to be rescued. He's asking to be shown something.

There are a lot of things that are Secondary to His Glory!

Kelsey Griffin – “A preacher that can’t worship is not a preacher at all!”

I’m old enough to remember Louise Shelton shouting the pews apart! We’re not worried about the straightness of the pews! If the priority were pew straightness, then our church would be known for neatness! But the pews are secondary to His glory!

So is your struggle today!

So is your family dispute today!

So is your financial challenges today!

I’M ON A SEARCH FOR THE GLORY!!!

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I feel the anointing of God on me to tell you that WE DO NOT COME TO CHURCH SO WE CAN FEEL GOOD OR GET WHAT WE WANT! Sometimes that happens – but what success in the Church is: WHEN GOD WINS OUT OVER US!!!

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "Some of us are just trying to get OUT of your wilderness — David was trying to still yet FIND THE GLORY in his wilderness!"

The Contrast — Sanctuary vs. Wilderness

The glory he saw in the sanctuary is the same glory he's now searching for in the desert. God's glory is not restricted to a building. If you only expect to see Him on Sunday, you will starve Monday through Saturday.

THE SOUND OF THE SEARCH (vv. 3-5) — THE PUBLIC PROOF

Psalm 63:3–5 NKJV

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

The Verdict — "Better than life" (v.3)

Psalm 63:3 NKJV

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.

David compares God's lovingkindness to the very thing he's fighting to protect — his life — and God wins the comparison.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "When you've found something better than life, you'll stop being afraid of death!"

The Vocabulary — Lips, Hands, Mouth (vv. 3-5)

Psalm 63:3–5 NKJV

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Notice the body is involved. This is not a private, silent, internalized appreciation of God. Lips praise. Hands lift. Mouth rejoices.

There is a POSTURE of praise!!! (A good baseball player walks up to the plate with a POSTURE ready to hit!)

Real seeing produces expressive praise. You cannot SEE the glory of God and stay quiet about it.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "What you've really seen, you can't help but say!"

🔥 SHOUT POINT: I heard Bro. Jimmy Toney preach recently that the first thing that you see the devil attack in Job’s life was… not his money, not his family, not his house… his ANIMALS! Why? Because the way they worshiped in this time was through animal sacrifice! Satan says, “If I can just destroy their worship, that’ll be enough!”

The Verb Tense — "Thus I WILL bless You while I live"

This is not emotion-based praise, dependent on circumstances. David is a fugitive and he's making a of praise.lifelong vow

Public praise isn't a reaction to blessing — it's a decision made in the desert that gets carried out for the rest of your life.

THE SEASON OF THE SEARCH (v. 6) — THE PRIVATE PROOF

Psalm 63:6 NKJV

When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

The Location — "On my bed"

Verse 4 was public — hands lifted, mouth open. Verse 6 is private — nobody's watching, nobody's listening. This is the other half of the search.

The glory of God is revealed both in what you do in public AND what you do in private, and one without the other is incomplete.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "Anybody can raise their hands in a crowd — it takes a real search to remember Him on an empty bed in the middle of the night!"

Suddenly to Steadfastly

Suddenly must always turn into steadfastly!

Your suddenly is meant to give you momentum for your steadfastly!

The Language — "Remember" and "Meditate"

Two private disciplines: memory (looking back at what God has done) and meditation (dwelling on who God is).

This is not shouting — this is The search doesn't stop when the noise stops. It just changes rooms.thinking.

The Timing — "In the night watches"

The night watches were the loneliest, most vulnerable hours for a hunted king. And that's exactly when David is pursuing God the hardest.

🔥 SHOUT POINT: "What you do at midnight will tell you more about your relationship with God than what you do on Sunday morning!"

THE SECURITY OF THE SEARCH (vv. 7-8) — THE PURSUIT SUSTAINED

Psalm 63:7–8 NKJV

Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

The Foundation — "You have been my help" (v.7)

The search is not one-directional. While David pursues God, he testifies that God has already been helping him. You are never chasing Him alone — He's already moving toward you.

The Fervor — "My soul follows CLOSE BEHIND You" (v.8a)

This is the strongest phrase in the whole psalm. "Follows close behind" — pursuit that refuses distance, refuses to fall back, refuses to let go.

This is not a casual search. This is a chase.

SHOUT POINT: "A halfhearted search will never uncover a wholehearted God!"

The Finish — "Your right hand upholds me" (v.8b)

Here's the payoff of the whole psalm: while David is holding on to God, God is holding on to him.

The search was never one-sided. Every step David took toward God, God had already secured his grip on David.

🔥 CLOSING SHOUT POINT: "You may be chasing Him through a dry land today — but while your soul follows close behind Him, His right hand is already holding you up!"

Conclusion

This search is not optional — it's assigned to every believer. And it plays out in two rooms:

the sanctuary (public praise, lifted hands, open mouth)

and the home (private remembrance, night-watch meditation).

Question: Is your search only public, performed for others? Or does it follow you into the dark, quiet, unseen hours too? David's whole life — fugitive, king, sinner, worshipper — was defined by refusing to stop searching until he saw the glory again.

Brian Kinsey’s Rule of Five

Read and pray the Word for personal and kingdom purpose. 

Write in a journal the things that you learned while reading and listening to the voice of the Lord. 

Speak a word of encouragement into a leader’s life.  

Speak a word of healing into a hurting saint or sinner’s life every day. 

Reflect at the end of the day whether you completed your rule of five and plan the next day’s journey. 

PRAYER FOR GIVING TO MTM