All I want is More! (Psalm 84.1-12)
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 40 viewsNotes
Transcript
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah
Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Intro:
This particular Psalm is penned by the psalmist to describe a Jewish man’s spiritual hunger to pilgrimage or journey to Jerusalem.
He has a desire to go and attend one of the three annual feasts that reminded them as a nation that they were still pilgrims on earth.
And for some unknown reason that the the psalmist does not explain........
.....he is not able to go up to Jerusalem
(pause)
But what’s so powerful about the text is that his inability to go and attend the feast.....
.......does not stop him from feeding his hunger for God with fellowship and worship!
(pause and expound)
And how many of you know that.....
when you are hungry for something.........
........you are unsatisfied until there is a certain level of fulfilment in that particular area.
(Pause)
Look at it now......
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
The psalmist starts off by saying.....
....how beautiful the temple is, and how the temple is beloved by all who love the Lord.
It is the place where God’s glory dwells
It is the means of realizing the presence of “the living God”
And the psalmist says....
“I desire to set foot in that place again, and sing for joy to God!”
Now.....
the text does not tell us how good his voice is or whether or not he can keep a note.
But......
it does explain to us what he is going to be singing.
Because the text says......
He desires to “Sing for Joy!”
(pause)
And that means he must have some things on his heart that he wants to tell God thank you for.......
“Lord you’ve been good to me....”
“Lord you’ve opened doors for me....”
“Lord you’ve been gracious towards me.....”
But also.......for real.......for real......
“Lord your presence is why I’m happy!!!!”
I don’t know how many people sing for joy anymore.........
Because it’s one thing to sing.......
But then its a whole different thing to sing for Joy!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now.....
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah
According to the text.....
…the psalmist is now envying the birds who have the admirable gift of building their homes.......their nests.......inside the temple where God’s glory dwells.
.....and not only that but laying her eggs near the altar......
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination........
I see the writer pausing and reflecting on what it must be like to constantly dwell in God’s presence......
I see him imagining living a life where when you wake up, the Glory is there.
and....
when you rest in the evening, the Glory is there.
And I love how he paints the picture of a bird building a home in the presence of God’s glory and laying her eggs in a nest not too far from the altar!
.......because I believe it helps us to Reimagine our lives being intentionally placed closely to the things of God!
Because when we live our lives this close to God..........
We teach the next generation what it sounds like to Worship!
We teach the next generation what it means to be in God’s presence!
(pause)
Barrel:
I used to be scared to go to church when I was a little boy because I didn’t want my mamma to shout and worship......
And I used to think something was wrong when my Granddaddy would cry out in worship.....
But what I learned is that God was teaching me at a young age what it looked like to be in His presence!!
(pause)
Freedom......
God is Strategic!!
.........and I wonder how many of us will come into agreement with God’s strategy
.......and show the next generation what it looks like to have a SPIRITUAL HUNGER for God!!
(pause and expound)
And then he says....
“Happy are those who live in your house!”
Not just because of the blessings of being there.....but because the presence of God brings such a delight to our hearts that the result is our praise!
I wonder if there’s anybody I’m preaching to........
........that being in God’s presence brings about a result called “PRAISE!”
(pause and expound)
Look at it now....
Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
The bible says......
......that once we realize the ambition of the believer who is spiritually hungry for God’s presence.....
Now.....
.....we get to look at what it looks like to approach God’s presence.
(pause)
Because some of us have desire........
........but we are unfamiliar with what to expect while on the journey.
(pause)
And the text says...
“Happy are those whose mind is locked in on the pilgrimage to Zion!
We used to sing a song that said.......
“I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus!”
And I believe that we used to sing that song because we realized......
.......anything worth happening in our day had to have something to do with Jesus, because that was our FOCUS!!!
(pause)
The Psalmists says in verse 6.....
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
He mentions this valley of Baca which represents.......
....a waterless, barren valley that pilgrims would pass through on their way to Jerusalem.
And it’s what he says next in the text that shows us what happens when our spiritual hunger starts considering God’s presence.....
(pause)
Because the text says......
That while the pilgrim is on this journey through this waterless valley......
(short pause)
Faith starts transforming the valley!
(short pause)
And.......
Faith turns this Waterless Valley place.......
.....into a place of Springs
.....where God starts refreshing us with showers of blessings.
And so......
......all of a sudden a DRY PLACE that we are going through has been turned around because of FAITH in a GOD that we are Spiritually HUNGRY to approach!!
(PREACH Baker!........expound)
Won’t God do it...........
.......Won’t God turn it around
(pause)
I wish I had somebody that was trying to approach God..........
........so your FAITH could turn on the RAIN in your DRY PLACES!
(pause and expound)
And the bible says in verse 7.......
.......that instead of wearing out from their journey
......and instead of getting weaker from the journy
The bible says in verse 7........
......that when we develop a mindset that is hungry to approach God
…God gives us FRESH STRENGTH!
(pause)
And what I hear God saying is........
You must be crazy if you think I’m going to let you WEAR OUT trying to get closer to me!
But.......
the more I see you coming...........
......the more strength I’m going to DROP into your life!!!
(pause)
Glory to God...........
Somebody holla or hashtag......
"All I want is MORE!”
(pause)
Watch this........
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.
And so.....
…now that we have watched the approach from a spiritual hunger perspective......
Now......
the psalmist shows us what the arrival should look like from a spiritual hunger perspective.....
(pause)
And according to the text.......
When the entire company of travelers finally arrive........
......the first thing they do is start praying!
And the bible says that they start by praying for their king and high priest........
......who the psalmist calls“our shield, and your anointed”
(pause)
Because for Israel as a nation.......
......there welfare is connected to the welfare of the King.
(pause)
And while we may not have a physical king in 2020......
.....we do have a King that we are connected to!
The King of Kings........
Jesus Christ........
(pause)
And even though our welfare is secure in our King.......
.....I don’t think we should stop praying with a spiritual hunger.....
Because I believe we ought to have a Prayer of thanksgiving when we consider that our welfare is connected to our KING who is......
Protecting us........
Leading us........
Providing for us......
Sustaining us.......
And.....
Advancing us.........
(pause)
Watch this Freedom......
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
The Psalmist says......
Aint nothing more fulfilling than living in the place where God’s presence is......
(OPTIONAL…)
And he says......
One day with you in the Courts of your temple (worship).......
.......is better than One thousand days in a Cemetary (wickedness)
(pause)
And then he says....
I would rather SERVE in your PRESENCE
than.......
Be ENTERTAINED in your ABSENCE
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination I hear him saying.....
“ALL I want is MORE!”
(pause)
And the bible says in verse 11.......
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
The Psalmist says......
God shines on us.......
....and God protects us
In other words....
The Lord is our light and our salvation!
(pause)
And then the Psalmist says........
God blesses his people with favor and with honor!
In other words.....
God loves on us by showing it by causing us to prosper and succeed!
And our success proves God’s power and glory in our life!
(pause)
And then Freedom the Psalmist says.....
“No good thing does the Lord withold from those who walk uprightly!”
(pause and expound)
And so that means.....
Anything.......
Desirable
Usable
Pleasant
Efficient
Good
In Order
Friendly or Kind
(pause)
The Lord aint gonna keep that from us when we are Spiritually Hungry for God......
But instead of holding it back, or restraining us........
God is ready to bless those that hunger for righteousness!
(pause)
And so since God is not a God that is going to hold back when I hunger for God.....
Since God is ready to FULLFILL ME!
(pause)
“All I want is MORE!”
Since God is ready to FULLFILL ME.........
“No good thing will God withold..............
And Id don’t care how many devils try to keep you from your “GOOD THING”
If God aint WITHOLDING it.............
Get ready for your “GOOD THING!”
(pause)
As a matter of fact just tell God.....
“Lord......ALL I want is MORE!”
......................................COMPLETION...........................................