Praying Through The Psalms: Psalm 63

Recap of the series

we are in our praying through the Psalms series, and I want to quickly point out why we are doing this…

To give you Prayer tools

Part of the purpose for what we are doing is to give you some tools to equip you in your own life to pray more strategically.

As we walk through each of the Psalms that we are preaching on, they are to serve as an example for you as to how to do this with other psalms.

pay attention to how we pull out the themes of each section of these Psalms and turn them into prayer points.

you can do this with all of the Psalms and even with all of the rest of scripture.

the Lord loves to hear us praying His Word back to Him…

To help you process life better

Part of the beauty of the Psalms is that they express a wide range of thoughts and emotions about life and the Lord.

What I have always said is that they give me permission to feel a certain way and give voice to the emotions that I walk through.

As we are given this voice, we can take those thoughts, emotions, and experiences to the Lord and better pursue Him in faith.

Instructions for the prayer times

Before we get going this morning, I want to take a moment to do prepare us for the flow of the service…

We are going to be praying a little differently than we have the past two weeks

We will be breaking into groups of 3 or 4 to pray over each of these prayer points.

If you are not comfortable doing this, that is totally fine - just when I tell everyone to look around to find their group, don’t make eye contact with anyone… you can close your eyes and bow your head like you are in prayer Or you can check your phone to make sure it is on silent…

Later, if you want to join into a group, simply scoot on in and a group and they will welcome you in!

So, without talking, do that now…

Just look a couple of other people in the eyes and it’s gonna be like “You, you, and me?” “Ok, yeah, let’s do this”

During our prayer times, you will have time for one, maybe two of you to pray, but while one person is praying, the others in your group will be agreeing in prayer - saying things like “Amen, yes Lord, that’s right!”

When it is time to bring us back in to get back into the text, I will say “Lord…” and that will be your cue to wrap up your prayer.

I will pray to close that time of prayer, and then we will dive into the next portion of scripture.

Make sense?

Why we are praying out loud together corporately

WHY are we doing this?

First, I want us to gain a tiny perspective for what the Lord hears when our church prays.

All our voices lifted up collectively to the Father in a holy roar of prayer.

Amazingly, He hears every one of our prayers simultaneously, which is incredible and encouraging.

Second, to encourage our church body with the prayers we pray

Your prayer will be a ministry to others

It may be that the Lord will speak to someone through the prayer that He leads you to pray.

Sometimes, our own prayers can give voice to others who are walking similar paths as we have walked.

Your prayers are going to bless others today.

Third, to frighten the enemy.

The enemy HATES it when he hears God’s children talking to the Father.

The enemy cannot read your mind, so praying out loud let’s him hear our words to the Lord it terrifies him and he cannot stand it.

We are not going to be speaking to the enemy… I need to make that clear.

We are talking to our Father where the enemy can hear us

Think back to your playground days, and the schoolyard bully is there, but so is your dad…

there is almost a taunting of the bully when you talk to your dad

Hey Dad, you’re bigger than all these kids out here, you could probably beat them all up, right? And then you give a sidewards glance at the bully.

God’s truth, when spoken out loud drives the enemy away from us

so we pray out loud, in part so that he will flee.

Open in Prayer

Background of Psalm 63

Psalm 63 is a Psalm of Trust that was written by King David after his son Absalom who had attempted a takeover of the throne in 2 Samuel 15

Things were not looking good for David

Absalom had won the hearts of many of the people of Israel by trickery, and was claiming to be the new king.

When it began to look like Absalom’s takeover was going to succeed, David and those loyal to him fled into the wilderness.

He had been removed from his home

Many in his kingdom had betrayed him to follow Absalom

He didn’t have anywhere specific to go - other than to run to the wilderness.

And to top it off, he wasn’t sure if he would ever see the sanctuary of the Lord or Ark of the Covenant again.

in 2 Sam 15:30, we get a glimpse into King David’s sorrow, when the text tells us:

2 Samuel 15:30 (ESV)

30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered.

This is a man in turmoil and emotionally wrecked With an uncertain future.

Put yourself in David’s Shoes

I want us for a moment to put ourselves into David’s shoes

Imagine that one day everything is going well and the next you are running for your life.

One moment you had everything you needed in life and the next, you’re not sure where your next meal is going to come from or where you’re going to sleep.

You have lost relationship with family - and not only this, they are the ones who are trying to end your life.

There is nothing stable for you in this world - all your constants have gone away.

I think about this, and I would be melting...

I tend to become a ball of anxiety when I am not sure how I am going to pay my car note - and they’re not going to kill me for missing that…

It is almost overwhelming to think about the stress that one might endure in David’s situation.

David penned Psalm 63 in the middle of all that…

Let’s dive into vv. 1-4

vv. 1-4 - Jesus, My Soul’s Desire

In this first section of Psalm 63, our main prayer point is “Jesus, My Soul’s Desire”

Psalm 63:1–4 ESV

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.

O God, You are MY God

He begins the Psalm with this simple and powerful statement: “God - You are MY God”

This is the bedrock for everything that follows

Without this statement, none of the others are possible.

God is not just some far off entity who is uninvolved with David’s life.

He is David’s God, and based on that truth, David’s heart, mind, and soul focus not on the absolute train wreck that he is in the middle of… it is on the Lord!

Look at these proclamations:

Earnestly I seek You

My soul thirsts for You

My Flesh faints for you

Your steadfast love is better than life

I will bless you as long as I live

David, very possibly, may lose his life to his backstabbing son and has been forced on the run

Yet, it is as if none of that matters.

He expresses one desire - the Lord.

I would be a mess - begging the Lord to do something about my situation and to relieve my turmoil.

Circumstantial Praise and Fickle Faith

Here’s my confession to you…

Often, my praise is circumstantial and my faith fickle.

I am WAY too tied up in the things of this world and I am far too easily allured by shiny things.

The result is that my praise of the Lord is conditional.

When things are good, my praises abound.

When things are bad, my praises give way to complaint.

I settle for the wasteland of this world and miss the “better than life” love that He offers me every single day.

think about how those outside the faith perceive this… when God’s children don’t live like He is the unchanging constant in a world of ups and downs!

I think that it tells others that He really isn’t worth sacrificing our lives for.

Our actions tell others what we believe

When we live like this it shows that…

We don’t believe that the Lord is better than the best things on this earth or able to sustain us through the worst.

We don’t believe that the Lord is in control and that He knows what He is doing.

We aren’t surrendered to Him as our God and King.

If we truly believed Him to be better than everything in our life, then all of the earth could give way and our faith would remain fixed.

You see, our actions reveal our true beliefs.

This does not mean that our emotions remain unaffected by the storms of this life.

David most assuredly wrestled with emotions that were all over the map - just read through his Psalms and you will see this.

Emotions are God-given (every one of them) and they are meant to help us gauge what is going on in our hearts but not meant to set the tone for how we pursue the Lord.

David displays for us what this should look like in the life of a believer!

His praises weren’t impacted by the incredible losses that he was enduring.

When Jesus is our soul’s desire, we recognize that even the best things in our life cannot fulfill us like He can And we press into praise when disappointments wash up on our shores.

Enter into prayer

During this prayer time, there are two things that I want you to do:

FIRST: begin your prayers with “O God, You are MY God.”

If you cannot say “O God, you are MY God,” and you aren’t following Christ, then that is the first thing that needs to happen…

If you sense that He is calling you to Himself, then don’t resist that call.

Turn to those you are praying with and tell them - “I want to ask God to be MY God - and come to the Lord!”

Jesus bled out and died on a cross, was buried, and then raised from death on the third day so that you could be granted eternal life and a faith from HIM that weathers the storms of life.

The question is are you going to embrace that or are you going to leave the offer on the table?

If you are in a group with someone who says that, then I want you to spend time rejoicing with them over their salvation - you’ve gained a brother or a sister in Christ and it is reason to celebrate!

SECOND: I want you to express your desire for Him.

We must begin this morning with a desire for the Lord

you can use words like “Your love is worth more to me than my own life”

then tell Him that His love is better than those things that you tend to elevate to God-things.

You can even pray the words vv. 1-4 if you want to…

Lord, your love is better than my family, or my accomplishments, or my grades, or whatever…”

There are a myriad of different things that we can desire more than the Lord, and none of them can do what we want them to do for us.

So we need to repent of that.

When we are ready to close this prayer time and move on in the text, I will simply say “Lord...” and that will be your cue to wrap up your prayer.

Give 3-4 minutes to prayer

vv. 5-8 - Jesus, My Soul’s Delight

The first point was “Jesus, my soul’s desire,” and the second point is this: “Jesus, my soul’s delight”

These two points are tied deeply together

In the Lord’s economy, true desire of Jesus leads to true and enduring delight in Jesus.

Let’s read the words of David in vv. 5-8

Psalm 63:5–8 ESV

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.

David finds delight and satisfaction in the Lord

These four verses of praise are the outpouring of first four verses of faith.

Look at how tied these verses are:

v. 1 - My soul thirsts for you

The word for thirst means to intensely desire something

v. 5 - My soul will be satisfied

This word satisfied means that one’s needs have been met in abundance or excess

He would not be left wanting more.

v. 1 - My flesh faints for You

He was experiencing physical weakness because of his desire for the Lord

v. 5 - My mouth will praise you with joyful lips

Here, he is talking about singing with joy at the top of his lungs!

Don’t forget - he is on the run for his life.

Singing at the top of one’s lungs is not a good way to maintain a low profile…

v. 1 - He is in a dry and weary land where there was no water

Quite literally, he describes himself as being in a dried up desert and he is exhausted

v. 7 - He is in the shadow of His wings

Here, he talks about the Lord as being a shelter or protection for him in the elements.

v. 4 - I will lift up my hands

David is lifting up hands of praise and longing to be with Him

v. 8 - my soul clings to You, Your right hand upholds me

Here, the imagery is as if David has gotten ahold of Him and he is now being upheld by the Lord’s right hand.

Let’s not forget…

Nothing had changed for David circumstantially from vv. 1-4 to vv. 5-8…

He was still wandering in the wilderness

He was still parched with thirst

He was still hungry for a good meal

His life was still in danger.

Yet we find that his heart wrapped up in the Lord despite the turmoil he was in.

He had a delight and a satisfaction that was rooted in something outside of his circumstances.

Delight in spite of my turmoil

What does this tell us?

We can be satisfied in the Lord even in times of significant distress.

We can delight in the Lord, even when our very lives are threatened

We see that here with David, and we have seen this throughout history with countless martyrs of the faith.

This is convicting for me, because often, my delight is conditional on the Lord changing my circumstances.

It is a very transactional faith.

“God, if you do this, I will do that.”

OR God, I will delight in You when…

What this proves is that I am not looking for delight in the Lord, I am looking for delight in the world - in my circumstances.

and this world was never meant to bear the weight of my delight.

Delight is dependent on Desire

I mentioned a moment ago that these two points are tied together

In many ways your delight in Christ is dependent on your desire for Christ.

You cannot get to delight in Christ without first desiring Him.

If we do not desire the Lord in the first place, then we will not pursue Him.

If we do not pursue Him, then we will not be satisfied in Him.

If we are not satisfied in Him, then we will not cling to Him.

If we are not clinging to Him, then we are clinging to something of this world that will let us down.

Track with me here

David’s desire was for the Lord, which led Him to pursue the Lord

Because David pursued the Lord, He found satisfaction in the Lord.

When He found satisfaction in the Lord, He clung to the Lord and the Lord upheld Him with his right hand.

Because he was clinging to the Lord, he was able to endure when his world came crashing down around him.

Will that be our story?

Prayer time

As we begin this prayer time, my question for you is “What are you delighting in?”

If it is anything other than the Lord, then you will at some point be sorely disappointed.

Pursue the Lord in prayer

Ask Him to satisfy your soul and to be the song of your heart

Commit yourself to Him and cleave to the Lord like David.

Let His right hand uphold you.

Turn to your group and begin to pray - and remember, if you aren’t the one praying, you are letting that person know that you are agreeing in prayer

Yes, Lord; Amen; That’s Good; Uh huh!

Give 3-4 minutes to prayer

vv. 9-11 - Jesus, My Soul’s Defense

As we come to the end of the Psalm, our prayer focus is Jesus, My Soul’s Defense.

Let’s look at vv. 9-11

Psalm 63:9–11 ESV

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.

I want us to notice Three important things as David closes this Psalm:

First, It is only at the end of the Psalm that David says anything about his enemies and those that are seeking to do him harm.

He is so focused on his desire of and delight in the Lord, that his enemies don’t even get mentioned until the end of the Psalm.

What does this say about his fear?

It says that his fear is drowned out by his love for God.

It is 1 John 4:18 played out - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear!

David isn’t driven by his fear, he is driven by his desire for and delight in God.

Oh that we would be so wrapped up with desire and delight in Jesus that the threats around us, our pressing needs, or our relational struggles would not be the first thing mentioned When we go to Him in prayer.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a man like David who does not focus on the turmoil around him, but fixes his eyes squarely on Jesus.

Second, David leveraged none of the resources at his disposal to vindicate himself.

While it was true that Absalom had won the hearts of a good number of the people of Israel, there were many more who were still loyal to David.

There were literally thousands upon thousands of men who would have laid down their lives in a moment for him.

Even though early on he might have easily vanquished Absalom’s coup d’état, he didn’t.

He trusted the Lord to be his defender.

I feel like one of our biggest problems in the western church today is the never ending supply of resources at our disposal.

We don’t need to go to the Lord or trust in Him to be our defender because we have the tools to “do it ourselves”

We will take care of it.

Again, the struggle here is that when Christians fail to let the Lord be their defender and their provider, the watching world sees no reason to consider Christ, because we live no differently than they do.

We need to first be people of faith, and then let the Lord leverage the resources that He has given us.

Third, David is confident that his enemies will be toppled

He didn’t know how it would all go down, but David was sure that those who were seeking to destroy him would themselves be destroyed.

He knew that they would be beaten in battle and that afterwards, their bodies would be strewn across the field of battle, left to be eaten by Jackals.

which by the way is like the final disgrace that someone could have - not receiving a proper burial only to be consumed by scavenging dogs.

If you read the story in 2 Samuel, what we see happening is that Absalom mobilizes his army to attack David and his men.

David mustered his army to defend against the attack, and it was an absolute massacre.

in 2 Sam 18:7-9 it said that there were 20,000 men who died and that the forest devoured more people than the sword did.

the forest literally killed his enemies…

The question for us is this:

Do we believe that the Lord is going to bring our enemies to ruin?

And I want to clarify something here - and Matt Ullrich mentioned this last week.

When we say “your enemies” from this stage, we are not referring to someone of a different political party, we aren’t talking about social activists, and we are not talking about someone who has a grudge against you.

We are talking about Satan, the World, and Our flesh.

These are our three very real and very present enemies - and they work in tandem to draw us away from the Lord.

The Lord is bringing all of these to ruin.

Satan will be punished.

The world will be destroyed

And our flesh is being weakened until we are finally glorified and set free from this body of sin.

What is your response to the truth that God wins and our enemies will be dealt with?

For David, his response was to rejoice in God.

Do you believe that the Lord will make all things right?

Do you believe that at the cross, not only your sins were dealt with, but the sins that were committed against you were dealt with?

Do you believe that no matter what happens, you will see the Lord emerge as victorious and that you will one day be exalted with Him?

Prayer time

We are going to move into our third and final prayer time.

There are two things that I want you to focus on in this time

Asking the Lord to be your defender

Rejoicing in Him.

After a few minutes, I will close us in prayer and we will respond in worship.

Prayer Points:

- Ask the Lord to be your defender and refrain from vindicating yourself

- Make rejoicing in the Lord your sole aim

Closing prayer