Sermon Tone Analysis

Daniel Arter

Hm 301

December 11th, 2019

If you have a Bible with you, turn it to .

As you turn to the passage, let me give you a little bit of background that will help add meaning to the passage that we’re about to study.

, was written by David during a time of great distress—his son, Absalom had stolen the throne from him and was planning to attack him.

David was in the wilderness both hiding for his life and preparing for a defense against his son.

So, imagine with me (and this might be a little difficult for those of us that don’t have children yet), but imagine that you have a child that you love and care for--and that child completely rejects you, he steals your kingdom or more likely, in our culture, maybe your business, and he tries to kill you.

Imagine the emotional and psychological strain that would have on you.

Don’t forget, that the Judean wilderness is a desert—which during the summer has temperatures that average 100-110º and averages less than 2 inches of rain during the year.

It is a dry, hot, and physically draining type of place to try and survive and if you’ve ever experienced a time in your life in which you’ve been physically exhausted and lacking in water, you have just a glimmer of what this may have been like for David.

David is emotionally drained, psychologically strained, and physically exhausted when he writes this, starting in .

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

7 for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8 My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life

shall go down into the depths of the earth;

10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;

they shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;

all who swear by him shall exult,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

[1]

We’re going to look at this passage in three sections and we’re going to study this passage as a prayer.

Vs. 1-4 is going to focus on God as our Desire; Vs. 5-8 will focus on God as our Delight; and Vs.

9-11 will focus on God as our defense.

All of which will lead us to understand that it is God who satisfies and it should drive us to seek satisfaction in Him alone.

Let’s start with Vs. 1-4 with God as our Desire:

David writes, “1O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

1.

David starts this Psalm with, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

a.

It is a statement of longing after something that he is familiar with—when David says, “O God, you are my God”, he is doing two things (1) he is openly stating his position before God—similar to when we believe that Jesus is Lord and (2) he is:

b. personalizing his message.

Derek Kidner, “The longing of these verses is not the groping of a stranger, feeling his way towards God, but the eagerness of a friend . . . to be in touch with the one he holds dear.”[2]

c.

In other words, David isn’t content with just stating that God is the God, but rather that God is his God.

d.

Because David has personalized his relationship with God, he “earnestly seeks Him.”—some translations say, “Early will I seek you.”

The NASB renders it as “earnestly,” but in a footnote mentions that it literally means “early.”

I don’t think the difference is tremendous, in fact, getting up early to seek God just shows how earnest we are when we do it.

, states that the “blessed man . . .

[delights] in the law of the Lord and on His law, he meditates day and night.”

In other words, he meditates on God’s law earnestly.

e.

This is a statement of longing and David utilizes his experience in the desert to help express this desire—remember, he has suffered from a lack of hydration in the desert and he has experienced what it is like to not have that need met.

f.

Just like the body thirsts for water; so, does his soul for God.

It correlates with what the Sons of Korah write, when they state, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”

2. Vs. 2, “So [or thus] I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

a. Essentially, because my soul longs after You, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary.

b.

This is a memory of worshiping God during a better time.

With the same intense desire that David experiences for God in the desert, he had worshiped God in the sanctuary

c.

Because of David’s desire for God, he had beheld God’s power and glory.

3. Vs. 3-4, “3Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.”

a. David’s inner worship of God, has resulted in outward praise.

Because God’s “steadfast love,” which David states is “better than life” itself, his lips will praise Him and, in His name, David will lift up his hands in worship.

4. In a sense, Vs. 1-4, speaks of a perseverance of faith despite being in terrible situations.

Despite everything happening to David, he still seeks for God and he still worships God.

a.

And it all stems from his innermost desire for God—because his desire of God is so great, he can state that God’s steadfastness or lovingkindness is better than life itself.

David expresses his inward desire towards God in Vs. 1-4 and in Vs. 5-8, that inward desire is rewarded with satisfaction as we start to see David express this delight that comes in seeking and worshiping God.

Vs. 5-8 with God as our Delight:

1.

In Vs. 5, we see a contrast from Vs. 1. Whereas David’s soul thirsts for God and his flesh faints for God in Vs. 1, in Vs. 5, we see his soul satisfied.

Vs. 5, “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food”

a.

As much as rich and fat food would satisfy his physically pained and hungered body, so does God satisfy his spiritual thirst.

b.

I can’t help but to think of the Samaritan woman in , that Jesus promises her living water that can truly satisfy.

c.

It seems clear to me that in David’s seeking of God, that God satisfied or delighted his soul.

d.

Because God brings satisfaction or delight, we see David respond with praise, “and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,” and with meditation on God, Vs. 6, “when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;”

2. Vs. 7-8, states, “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”