I'm Staying Close (Psalms 63.1-11)
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O God, you are my God, 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.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
Intro:
This Psalm is a Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah....
Wilderness - This experience of David could be referring to various incidents in his life, but some scholars believe that this is the time that he was on the run trying to get away from his son Absalom....
In this timeframe David has received a message that his deceitful and treachorous son Absalom has won the heart of the people of Israel.....
......and he now runs out of fear that he is in danger
(pause)
.......and we really could spend a lot of time talking about David’s wilderness experience
........but there’s something else just as impactful that I want us to look at this morning.
Because........
.......in the midst of this wilderness experience
........the response of David is fascinating!
(pause)
Freedom.....
........what if I told you that the short distance between your success and your struggle depended on who was standing next to you!
(pause)
And......
..........in today’s text David is inside of his wilderness experience.
But......
........he is PREOCCUPIED with an intense desire for God’s presence that supercedes his problems.
(pause and expound)
Look at it now....
O God, you are my God, 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.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
David says.....
God, I’m going to get up early looking for you......
And the significance in his words resound in the fact that David is not willing to allow his wilderness to determine his routine!
Because.....
.......if we are not careful we will allow negative experiences to change how we do things.
But David says,
......I’m not shutting down in this moment
.....but instead i’m getting up EARLY........looking for you God!
(pause and expound)
And the psalmist describes David’s desire as being “THIRSTY!”
Thirsty - A deep longing to see both God’s Power and God’s Presence in the sanctuary.
And so......
David wants nothing more than he wants to be in God’s presence and God’s Power.
He says...
“I have looked for you in the Sanctuary!”
the innermost part of the temple
represents a holy area
(pause)
He says.......
It’s like i’m in a dry place
It’s like i’m in a weary place
.......in a place that does not have any water to drink to refill and refresh yourself.
And I wonder if there are any David’s that are searching for God in a holy area.....
........because you are standing in a dry place
........because you are barely standing in a dry place
.......and all you want is a DRINK!
.......A refreshing
........A refilling
(pause)
And David says.......
“God........... I’m looking for you!”
(pause and expound)
Look at what David says next......
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
According to the Psalmist.....
David has a reason to be “hungering for God’s presence!”
(slight pause)
David says......
“I can’t speak for nobody else.......
.........but my testimony is that you have shown me an everlasting love!
..........and God the way you love me when I’m in your presence is bigger than anything that could be going on in my life!
(pause)
And then David says.....
“I’m going to bless you while I live”
meaning......
I’m going to celebrate the loyalty of God’s goodness towards my life!
And not only that but.....
“I’m also going to lift up my hands in your name”
meaning......
God, I’m going to carry your name by raising it with my life!
(pause and expound)
And I wonder if there’s anybody.......
..........who understands,
........you don’t lilft your hands in your worship experience “EMPTY HANDED”
But......
.........it is your expression of testimony of how “FAITHFUL” God has been in your life....
(pause)
And I can appreciate David in this moment.....
Because anybody can lift their hands when things are WONDERFUL
But....
..........if you can RAISE those same hands when you’re in a WILDERNESS
..........it just HITS DIFFERENT!
(pause and optional expound)
Look at it......
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
David says.....
“I get satisfaction......
......when I truly worship and praise you
Because.......
When I sit down and really think about it.....
.....I wouldn’t have made it if you wasn’t there!
(pause)
David says.....
“Your Presence has helped me!”
(pause and expound)
Now watch this next verse Freedom......
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
And in my spiritual imagination I hear David saying.......
“God.......I’m staying close.....
My soul is trying to get as close to you as I can!”
(pause and expound option)
Now let me show you “How” to do this.....
In Wayne Cordero’s book “Irresistible Church” he talks about hungering for God’s presence and he gives three vital components that I believe will show you how to mimic what David is doing in his wilderness....
(pause)
Here it is......
.....the first key to staying close is to:
Develop a greater realization of God’s presence
James 4:8 (NRSV)
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
And so.......
......the closer we stay to Christ, the more we will desire for a greater sense of closeness.
Because at the end of the day.......
.......you will never outdue God in “Drawing near”
......because the more God sees you inching closer towards Him
.......in my spiritual imagination I see God saying,
“If you’re willing to walk towards me........
I’m willing to RUN towards you.....”
The louder you call for God.......
The louder God speaks our name..........
And in my spiritual imagination......
When I call my God
my God raises God’s voice.....
........louder and deeper
(Example: God..........Greg............God.........Greg)
Why.......
Because God will never let God’s CREATION desire greater than the CREATOR
(pause)
Watch this......
.......here’s the second key to staying close:
2. A longing desire to be filled to “Full measure” with the Holy Spirit
The bible teaches us in Galatians that the fruits of the Spirit or the things that are produced from the Spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, and faith.....
.....and so if we’re really going to stay close
.......our desire is not to be satisfied to just show a portion of love
......or to just show some patience
....or to offer a little bit of peace every now and then
But......
......when we are really trying to STAY close
.....we tell God,
“Lord........
FILL me UP
.......until I OVERFLOWw
with LOVE
with JOY
with PEACE
with KINDNESS
with FAITH
(pause and expound optional)
Here it is.......
The final key to staying close is this:
3. Request a special anointing, for a special task, at a specific time
And In verses 9-11.........
David starts describing something that he wants God to do that shows a manifestation of God’s presence.......
.......that proves a special anointing
......for a special task
........at a specific time
(slight pause)
And in my spiritual imagination........
.......all David is really saying is,
“Lord.....
i’m only staying close
so that I can experience your GLORY!”
(slight pause)
And so God.......
....I need you to do something so that I know I’m staying close enough!
......I understand I’m in a WILDERNESS
.......but am I staying CLOSE ENOUGH?!?
(pause)
Psalm 145:18 (NRSV)
The Lord is near to all who call on him!
And I hear David saying......
I’ll YELL if I have to in order to get your attention God.........
But what I really want......
is to be SO CLOSE to you GOD.........
.......that if I WHISPER for your attention
........You’ll be able to hear me
(pause)
God.....
I want to be SO CLOSE........
.....that if I LOOK INTO your DIRECTION
You can SEE ME searching for you!
(pause)
Because LORD........
...........ALL I DESIRE
........is to be in YOUR PRESENCE!
Freedom........
I wander if there’s anybody who realizes........
“I’m STAYING CLOSE!” (Repeat)
(pause)
The bible says.....
“In His PRESENCE............there is FULLNESS of JOY!”
And so.....
.......If I’m in the WILDERNESS
.......If Jesus shows up
.......His presence just TRANSFORMED my experience!
Freedom....
We’re not believing God just to get us OUT of the WILDERNESS....
We’re believing God to JOIN US in the Wilderness.....
And that only sounds crazy.........
.........if you aint never had him SHOW UP!
But if you’ve ever FELT God’s STEADFAST love show up in a WILDERNESS.......
Can’t nobody convince you of a better experience......
Because........
......If my God is willing to JOIN me in my VALLEY experiences
......I know he’ll SHOW UP in my MOUNTAIN TOP moments
And I don’t know about you.....
......but that’s what excites me about God
Because.....
I serve a God that loves me enough that......
.....no matter where I am
......no matter how far I have drifted
If I ever “ACT LIKE” I need him......
......he loves me enough to reach into my direction and see if I’m alright!
(pause)
And I know that there will be times when you get tired.....
I understand that there will come times when you get distracted
(pause)
But.......
........whatever you do
“You got to stay CLOSE!”
(pause)
And David says,
Trouble can be CHASING ME all it wants to.......
But.....
I’m CHASING after God’s PRESENCE!
And Freedom.....
If you ever get in God’s PRESENCE one time!
(pause)
That’s all it takes......
(pause)
That’s why David is acting like this........
That’s why David is talking like this......
(pause)
He’s willing to deal with the trouble
..........but He refuses to SHUT DOWN
(pause)
........but instead
DAVID would rather “STAY CLOSE!”
(pause)
And........
.......today I’m just trying to get the CHURCH to
FALL IN LOVE again with GOD’s PRESENCE!
ALL I need is.......
His GLORY
His PRESENCE
His ANOINTING
You can DRIVE me to a WILDERNESS.........
but you can’t DRIVE me away from my GOD!
Because.......
.......I’m determined to Behold God’s Glory!
(pause)
And sometimes OUR WILDERNESS.......
.........BRINGS us back!
Because if you would have never gone through that.......
.......you would have never REMEMBERED how Good God really is!
(pause and expound)
Look at somebody and holller.....
........the enemy should have never pushed me!
.......they should have never messed with me!
Because all they did......
.........was remind me that I needed to “STAY CLOSE to God!”
.........and now I remember that all of my success happened when God was standing next to me!
.........and now because of where I’m standing
..........my children are CLOSER than they ever could have been
.......everything next to me is CLOSER to GOD
......my friends are getting SAVED
......my enemies are being DELIVERED
(pause and expound)
And.....
I have made up my mind that........
I’m COMING BACK
I’m GETTING CLOSER
Even from.......
The PIT
The WILDERNESS
The PALACE
PROSPERITY
LET DOWN and DISSAPOINTMENT
HIGHS and LOWS
UPs and DOWNS
I”M STAYING.......... (repeat)
............CLOSE!!!!
............CLOSE........and CONCLUSION....................