On the Run and Searching for Water
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Ex: The Gazelle and the Lion on the African plane
The moral of this story is that whichever you are; whether you are like the lion, and feel as though you are king of your world and all is well, you better be ready to run with all your might; or if you are more like the gazelle, timid and shy, and feeling nearly defenseless against the predators in life that seem to be ever after you; when the day dawns and sun rises, you better be ready to run for your life!
Sometimes we feel like the lion (top of the mountain) and other days like the gazelle (running for our lives)
If we were honest, many of us spend a lot more time living like the gazelle not the lion. God wants us to live in joy and not despair!
I’ve also discovered that I spend a lot more time going down into, staying in the depths of, or struggling to climb out of the valley, than I have on the mountaintop. I’ve also come to know that it is not on the mountaintop as much as it is in the struggles of the valley that faith in God is built and made stronger.
Scripture text:
Scripture text:
psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
The bible refers to different animals as representative of the people of God in varying circumstances:
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Some days we feel like the sheep being led to the slaughter and other day like the soaring eagle!
This morning I want to walk through as I share this message: “On the run and searching for water”
I’m going to walk you through this Psalm and explain it then come back through it with a FIGHT PLAN.
David compares us to a deer:
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
God has placed within each of us a natural desire for seeking the truth of his existence and finding true fulfillment in Him!
God has placed within each of us a natural desire for seeking the truth of his existence and finding true fulfillment in Him!
Don’t miss the imagery; this isn’t a tranquil scene!
Although many try to suppress this desire, there is a place in the heart that nothing, nor anyone else can fill, but Jesus.
King Solomon had so many wives and lovers that his palace was becoming crowded but no other person can fill that void that only Jesus can fill, and in the end Solomon could only say that all of life was filled with vanity; things that have no meaning without God.
Solomon
13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.
11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
11 There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.
12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
Verse 1 gives us the imagery of desperate thirst!
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
We can never let down our guard against the enemy of our souls because Satan.
Like that lion chasing the gazelle on the Serengeti Plains, Satan is ever roaring, searching for Christians who have strayed from the presence of God and gone searching from greener pastures out in the world.
You get dehydrated you lose all energy, hallucinate and if you don’t get something to drink you die! Spiritual Thirst is just as ugly & desperate. Listen to his description in verse 3:
A lone gazelle, grazing away from the herd, is easy prey for the lion. A Christian who strays from the church becomes easy prey for the temptations of the devil.
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
David refers to the deer as a hart and gives us the example of how the deer behaves:
The deer is one of the most timid creatures in the forest. Whether it’s a hunter with his weapons, or wolves, or wild cats, or some imaginary enemy, the deer is easily spooked and will run for a long time to get away. After a time running creates a terrible thirst and that deer will begin seeking for water.
This isn’t just David having a bad day. He’s talking about darkness that consumes him.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
The things around you seem to compound the darkness within you. His enemies, his critics...they are mocking him.
Don’t let your present circumstance mock your past faith!
Don’t let your present circumstance mock your past faith!
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
his present circumstance is mocking his past faith.
David longs for the opportunity to back to the house of God. It’s in the house of God that we experience His presence. It’s when we are in worship together that our souls are lifted.
Sometimes we can be entirely too casual about worship!
David thirsted, longed, for worship with God’s people.
Do you long for worship with the people of God like David?
Do you hunger & thirst to meet God among his people?
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
If you are a Christian then I imagine this resonates with you in some way. Why am I depressed? Why am I so down? Then he preaches to himself: Hope in God.
If you are a Christian then I imagine this resonates with you in some way. Why am I depressed? Why am I so down? Then he preaches to himself: Hope in God.
David is on the run, hiding from his son who’s trying to kill him. He hasn’t been in God’s presence with God’s people for some time and then he drops vs. 7:
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
We’re going to come back to this but I want you to see that David calls out to God from the depths of his suffering = The Deep
The image of breakers and waves just crashing over him. About to drown him...which by the way he says God these are YOUR waves...That deep pain calls...and a deep love answers that call. That’s vs. 8:
8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
David is hurting, his song is filled with pain but it’s also filled with faith. And this is proven by David’s very next thought:
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
This Psalm ends with David still in the battle but he’s putting his hope in God! David is not there yet, but he has hope because he knows that God is faithful.
Now let me give you a FIGHT PLAN for hoping in God when you’re struggling with darkness:
1. Be Honest With God
1. Be Honest With God
There is a rawness about that has the ability to set you free to be honest with God.
Let the Deep call out, that’s what verses 1-6 are all about.
2. Listen To God
2. Listen To God
Deep Calls to Deep. & Deep answers deep. The greatest most essential most life giving doctrine of the Christian faith is: God Loves You. He loves you!
Deep Calls to Deep. & Deep answers deep. The greatest most essential most life giving doctrine of the Christian faith is: God Loves You. He loves you!
There are two types of darkness of the soul and I want to show you how God’s deep love answers your deep cry.
There are two types of darkness of the soul and I want to show you how God’s deep love answers your deep cry.
(1) Sin
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
Why is he the WORST? Because prior to becoming a Christian he was hunting and killing them! He literally had the blood of Christians on his hands. That is DEEP SIN.
Why is he the foremost? Because prior to becoming a Christian he was hunting and killing them! He literally had the blood of Christians on his hands. That is DEEP SIN.
16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
He’s saying the reason God saved him...is so he could be an example for you.
He’s saying the reason God saved him...is so he could be an example for you.
(2) Suffering
One of my favorite preachers from church history to read is Charles Spurgeon. But he suffered from Depression most of his career. was particularly important for him because of that battle.
Here’s what he said about the deep trials of life:
One of my favorite preachers from church history to read is Charles Spurgeon. But he suffered from Depression most of his career. was particularly important for him because of that battle. Here’s what he said about the deep trials of life:
Great deeps of trial bring with it great deeps of promise! For you much afflicted ones, there are words, great and mighty, which are not meant for other saints of easier experience. You shall drink from deep golden goblets reserved for those giants who can drink great potions of wormwood... Trials are mighty enlargers of the soul!
Great deeps of trial bring with them great deeps of promise!
For you much afflicted ones, there are words, great and mighty,
which are not meant for other saints of easier experience. You
who can drink great potions of wormwood... Trials are mighty
enlargers of the soul!
Yes, feel the loneliness of life! Here is a dreadful deep for you to sail on, and a tempestuous deep much to be feared, for your little boat may easily be wrecked. But don’t forget that there is another deep, whose remembrance will remove from you the bitterness of your present sorrow—there is love in heaven towards you which will never grow cold—immortal and unchanging love!
For you much afflicted ones, there are words, great and mighty,
shall drink from deep golden goblets reserved for those giants
to sail on, and a tempestuous deep much to be feared, for your
towards you which will never grow cold—immortal and
unchanging love!
little boat may easily be wrecked. But don’t forget that there is
God Loves You. He still loves you. He is sitting right there with you. He sees your darkness and your pain and he says; “Give it all to me!”
this hope in your soul: God Loves You. He still loves you. He is sitting right there with you. He sees your darkness and your tears and as he sits right there with you he says Give this darkness to me. I can take it. I can free you from it.
another deep, whose remembrance will remove from you the
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
he says abide not in the darkness of your soul but in his love. Jesus says his love is like a father’s arms wrapping around his broken child saying I LOVE YOU! AND I WILL RESTORE YOU! Don’t worry about fixing yourself, Just come to me and I’ll take care of you!
bitterness of your present sorrow—there is love in heaven
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
One of the reasons despair is so hard to break free of is because we are so hesitant, so reluctant to trust anything enough to Hope in it. But David says to his soul “Hope in God.” I don’t know what has broken your trust, what has left you in the pit of despair but today is a new day and you need to put your hope in the one who will never let you go. Hope in God.
3. Preach the Word to Yourself
3. Preach the Word to Yourself
In fact that leads right to the 3r d part of the fight plan:
The most influential person on your life, is you. You listen to you more than you listen to anyone else.
3. Preach the gospel to yourself
The most influential person on your life, is you. You listen to you more than you listen to anyone else.
Let me explain what I mean. The most influential person on your life, is you. You listen to you more than you listen to anyone else. We are always interpreting the events and situations around us and quietly creating a story out of it about who we are and what it all means for us. We are our greatest influence. And sometimes our own voice, still affected by the reality of sin like everything else, can be very
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones wrote on spiritual depression and said it this way: (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century)
[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
“The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self.”
Look at the debate David is having with himself. One minute he’s saying “Why have you forgotten me God” and then David interrupts himself:
shall drink from deep golden goblets reserved for those giants
talking to our self.”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
David STOPS LISTENING TO HIMSELF AND STARTS PREACHING TO HIMSELF!
give you rest.
David STOPS LISTENING TO HIMSELF AND STARTS PREACHING TO HIMSELF!
You are your biggest influence on your life.
You are your biggest influence on your life.
Despair over sin in your life:
which are not meant for other saints of easier experience. You
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
So I’m gonna stop listening to myself say “I’ll never get past this” and I’m gonna start preaching to myself “I’m a new man!
who can drink great potions of wormwood... Trials are mighty
So I’m gonna stop listening to myself say “I’ll never get past this” and I’m gonna start preaching to myself “I’m a new man!
I’m in that place where I feel like God has forgotten me and I’m scared.
I’m in that place where I feel like God has forgotten me and I’m scared.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
enlargers of the soul!
God has forgotten me & there is no hope.
God has forgotten me & there is no hope.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Stop listening to your flesh, to your old self and start preaching the gospel to yourself.
Stop listening to your flesh, to your old self and start preaching the gospel to yourself. God loves you, he died for you, he’s never letting you go, he’s given you a church to thrive in, and one day he’s going to make all things new!
God loves you, he died for you, he’s never letting you go, he’s given you a church to thrive in, and one day he’s going to make all things new!
4. Get a Sparing Partner
4. Get a Sparing Partner
(Call it what you’d like; an accountability partner, prayer partner, etc…)
The heart is deceitful. And even though we know all these promises sometimes we just can’t seem to preach to ourselves. And we need someone to take God’s promises and punch us in our thick head with them.
The heart is deceitful. And even though we know all these promises sometimes we just can’t seem to preach to ourselves. And we need someone to take God’s promises and punch us in our thick head with them.
Illustration: Rocky 3 (Boxing Gloves)
I always think of Rocky & Apollo Creed. You need someone who will see a weakness or a blindspot and call it out. And that’s gonna hurt!
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.