Sermon Tone Analysis
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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.
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.
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.
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.”
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