Confidence in God's deliverance.

Introduction

We are going to take a little break this morning from the book of Colossians to look at a Psalm. - a Psalm of David.

The superscription of this Psalm gives a little bit of background about this Psalm.

It reads A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Looking at the timeline of David’s life, there are two different times when this could have been written. The first is told to us in the book of 1 Samuel as David was fleeing from Saul.

The second is told to us in the book of 2 Samuel, when Absalom plots to take the throne from his father.

Both of these times were extremely difficult for David, the first, David had been anointed as king, but he was not fully king until Saul had passed.

The second, David’s own son was plotting to take his kingdom and kill him.

It is difficult to see and understand how David could have written words with such confident expectation in either of those situations.

I think though that is one of the reasons that David was called a man after God’s own heart though.

Through our time in this morning we will the confidence that David has that God will deliver him from his trial.

Longing for God. V. 1

Who remembers their first hunting trip?

Really thirsty -

David begins his Psalm with a bold statement of faith. O God, you are my God.

This is not a statement of possession.

David does not a cannot possess God like a inanimate object.

It is a statement of faith.

You are the only God that I worship, or you are the God that I serve.

Think with me again to the situation that David is in.

He is fleeing for his life, yet he is turning to God.

This bold declaration is a expression of commitment to God.

David continues to say “Earnestly I seek you.”

In the Greek translation of the OT it is translated “I rise early for you”.

Who remembers their first hunting trip when they actually got to hunt?

Do you remember the anticipation as sunrise drew near?

Think of that feeling, that is the feeling that David is describing here in seeking God.

The verb here is to look early, to look diligently.

That was brought up for me the thought of my first hunting trip.

I remember peering through the darkness, looking diligently for any movement.

David was doing this in one of the most difficult times of his life.

He was diligently seeking God. Looking for any movement.

I relate to this in thinking about my own life.

So what about us? Are we diligently seeking God?

Are we looking early and often for His movement in our lives?

Are we making the bold statement O’ God, you are my God!

You are the God that I serve, you are the God that I worship!

David equates this search to thirst.

Who has been thirsty?

Really thirsty -

David states “my soul thirst for you.”

In speaking of soul, David is not referring to an immaterial part of himself.

The word for soul has a wide range of words that describe it.

Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon נֶ֫פֶשׁ

soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion

David is stating that his inner most part of himself is parched.

It’s like having that cotton mouth feeling throughout your whole body.

This thirst was so great that he stated that his flesh was fainting for God.

Going back to the point of being really thirsty, who has worked hard and not had enough water?

What starts to happen to your body?

It begins to cramp up.

Our flesh begins to faint.

What happens when we get a good few weeks of 90-100 degree weather here in July and August.

The ground gets parched, you take a step and dust flies up into the air.

These are the images that David is trying to paint for us as to his devotion for God in this time of extreme difficulty.

That is how great David’s desire is for God. He is earnestly seeking God with his innermost being.

David had within himself a deep love for the Lord and a desire to please Him. David had worshipped God faithfully. He had seen God’s power and His glory in what God had already done and continued to see it in the wilderness.

Be Worshipful Desiring God (vv. 1–2)

There in the desert, he was hungry and thirsty, but his deepest desires were spiritual, not physical. With his whole being, body and soul, he yearned for God’s satisfying presence

David could praise though because he had confidence in provision. He had confidence in God’s deliverance.

Be Worshipful Desiring God (vv. 1–2)

There in the desert, he was hungry and thirsty, but his deepest desires were spiritual, not physical. With his whole being, body and soul, he yearned for God’s satisfying presence

What about us?

What are our deepest desires?

I know, at least for myself, they are often comfort and pleasure. I want to be comfortable, I desire things that are pleasurable.

But how do I change this? How do I get a heart that desires God above all else?

For one it is not by my own doing but through the work of the Holy Spirit, but David helps us here as well with a few ways to have confidence that God will delivers us in difficult situations.

Looking to God. V. 2-8

Confidence in remembering God. V. 5-8

Because of David’s desire, He has looked upon God in the sanctuary.

Even while David was in the wilderness, He was not distracted from thinking about God.

The Sanctuary was a revered place. It was a place of worship and also a place where work took place.

God’s people gathered in the sanctuary for sacrifice, for hearing God’s word, for worship, prayer, and major feasts.

It was a symbol of God’s dwelling among his people and ruling over them from within it.

David is remembering his looking to God at work. He knows that God is not sitting by idly, twiddling his thumbs during his time of need.

This remembrance of the sanctuary brings to mind the power and glory of God for David.

David still sees God as all powerful despite his current situation.

Not only does David see God as all powerful though, he also understands God to be all loving.

Because your steadfast love is better than life.

This is not saying that

David is describing his sincerity in desiring God.

Remember again with me David’s situation.

Either way we look it, either Saul, or Absolom is out to kill him.

Yet David says “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live, in your name I will lift up my hands.”

This is literally a picture of David, on his knees with his palms raised upwards giving praise to God.

This is a picture of someone who is consumed by his longing for God.

Things had gone terribly wrong.

David was in such a dire situation, he could have turned elsewhere but he chose to turn to God.

It is because of God’s goodness, kindness, or loving kindness that David praises with his lips, blessing God and lifting his hands to God.

It is because of God’s loving kindness that David is wholly surrendered to God.

David moves on in the Psalm to compare his experience of love with that of a feast.

This is not any feast - but a feast with the best foods available, think about it for a moment, what are you favorite foods.

David believes that his innermost part of himself will be satisfied as one eating at a great feast.

Because of that confidence, David will praise God joyfully with his lips.

V.6 -

David is also stating that he will remember God no matter what he is doing.

Whether he is in bed, or awake on a night watch, David’s thoughts tend towards God.

From verse 1 to verse 6 it is as if we have covered both morning and evening now with David remembering and seeking God.

Psalm 63:7 ESV

for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

David’s resolution to praise God. V.5-8

Shadow of your wings “is a vivid way of speaking about security (also in 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4). The figure may come from the animal world or from the winged creatures called “cherubim” whose wings stretched over the Covenant Box, symbolizing Yahweh’s presence with his people.”{1}

Either way the main point is one of protection. A specific confidence in God’s protection.

In verse 8 David makes the statement “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

David in his faith, with his innermost being, is clinging to and upheld by God’s protective care.

All of these things have been stacking upon one another showing the confidence that David has for God’s deliverance.

God’s deliverance. V.9-11

Verses 9-11 is the outpouring of that confidence.

David envisions the defeat of his enemies.

Conclusion

Confidence in God’s judgement. V. 9-10

This text begs me to ask a couple of questions.

First, what are you coming up against in your own life that is so great and difficult that you are having a difficult time seeing past it?

What is it that is seeking to destroy your life? Perhaps it is physical sickness plaguing your body. Perhaps it is a sin that is festering in darkness.

Instead of focusing on these, are you making the statement as David did, O God, You are my God. Because your steadfast love is better than life my lips will always praise you.

My soul thirsts for you!

This leads me to my next question, what you thirsty for or what is causing you thirst?

English Standard Version Chapter 4

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

English Standard Version Chapter 4

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Are you seeking water from which you will only thirst again, or are seeking the living water.

Have you sought after Jesus for the spring of water welling up into eternal life.

Jesus continues in John 4

English Standard Version Chapter 4

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Those who thirst after God will find satisfaction in him.

Isaiah 55:1–2 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Revelation 22:17 ESV

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

The water is without price because the price has been paid.

Jesus went willingly to the cross because God’s love, for Jesus, and through Jesus for you and me, was better than life.

God lives and loves faithfully and enduringly in our lives here and now.

Today we are celebrating that love by partaking in the Lord’s supper together.

Communion

Christians have always been very conscious of the importance of Christ’s death on the cross. Reflecting on his own Christian experience, Charles Wesley writes:

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Saviour’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!

He left His father’s throne above,

So free, so infinite His grace;

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race;

’Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free;

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach the eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ, my own.

Charles Wesley understands passionately the transforming power of the cross.

By grace, through the death of Christ, he is set free to be a priest-king.

With him, we too share in the hope of reigning with Christ one day.

Our hope rests not on what we can do to please God, but rather on what the Lamb has done for us.

It is no coincidence that the first Lord's Supper was during the time of Passover for the Jewish people.

The lamb was slain cooked and eaten to atone for their sin.

They however still had to go through a priest to commune with God once the passover was completed.

We on the other hand now have a great High Priest in Jesus as we see in Hebrews.

Because of what He has done we can have communion with God.

Jesus became our passover lamb.

Today we take these elements in remembrance of what he has done.

It is a time for us to turn and repent of any sin in our lives and give them over to Christ because He has already died for them.

It is a time for us to remember the living water that is now inside of us.

gives us an count of Jesus and the disciples.

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

(Pass the bread) As you pass the bread to one another, go ahead and say to one another "This is Christ's body which was broken for you."

Let us eat together.

20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

(Pass the cups) As you pass the cups to each other, say to one another by way or reminder "This is Christ's blood, that was shed for you."

Let us drink together.

Prayer

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), .

{1} Robert G. Bratcher and William David Reyburn, A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Psalms, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1991), 154.