Will God Satisfy You in the Wilderness
Will God Satisfy You in the Wilderness?
(Based upon Psalm 63:1-8)
So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:5-6 NKJV)
Introduction: As we undertake a study of the Israelites journey from Egypt to Canaan we are given a picture by God, as He often gives us in the Old Testament, of our spiritual journey today. And a very important facet of that journey takes place in the Wilderness. This is in fact the place where David composes this beautiful Psalm. So we will begin our quest for understanding tonight by asking the question, just what is the wilderness?
Webster’s Dictionary defines it as:” A desert; a tract of land or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide barren plain. In the United States, it is applied only to a forest. In Scripture, it is applied frequently to the deserts of Arabia. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness forty years.”
Christopher Wordsworth makes the following observation: Hagar saw God in the wilderness, and called a well by the name derived by that vision, "Beer Lahai Roi" (literally, well of the One who lives and sees me), Moses saw God in the wilderness, Elijah saw God in the wilderness, David saw God in the wilderness and the Christian Church will see God in the wilderness. Every devout soul that has loved to see God in his house will be refreshed by God in the wilderness of solitude, sorrow, sickness, and death.
So while no one desires to go to this place, (even Jesus Himself in human form had to be led here by the Spirit) it is a place that God will allow us to come to as an integral part of our spiritual journey. Because it is unavoidable I ask the simple question; will God satisfy you in the wilderness.
“Let’s read Psalm 63:1-8 together and attempt to answer our question.”
1. Being satisfied by God requires Passion
We live in an indulgent culture. What do I mean by indulgent? Merriam Webster defines it as; excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims — we have been brought into the wilderness by our addiction, but the current financial crisis is having a similar impact on our hedonistic, consumer driven society
[1] (Bible Believer’s Commentary)
63:1 It is magnificent to hear him claiming God as his own: "O, God, You are my God." The words in themselves are simple and childlike, but they contain a world of meaning. My God—an intimate, personal relationship. My God—an abiding treasure when all else is gone. My God—a sufficient resource in every crisis.
And it is humbling to notice the psalmist's passion for God, especially when we remember how cold and diffident we often are. He sought the Lord early— early in life and early every day. And he sought him with a fervor that would not be denied. His soul thirsted for God, his flesh fainted for God—which means that his entire being cried out for fellowship with the Eternal. His longing was as intense as the thirst of a traveler in a dry, weary, waterless land. This, incidentally, is not a bad description of the world—an arid wasteland.
63:2 In memory he goes back to those times when he worshiped at the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to those ineffable moments when, caught up in an ecstasy of sacred contemplation, he saw God in all His power and glory. Now his soul cannot be satisfied with anything less than a new unveiling of the Lord in splendor and might. Some call it the beatific vision—this view of God in His divine glory. Whatever it is called, it is an experience that makes all other glory seem jaded and dull.
Being satisfied by God requires Perseverance.
Psalms 63:3-6 NKJV
(3) Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
(4) Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
(5) My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
(6) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.
News Flash!- Let go and let God won’t work! You must be a participant in your relationship with Him to prosper. In other words you must persevere!!!
Victorious Christian Living by Alan Redpath
page 85,86 - "You cannot do the work of heaven unless daily you eat the bread of heaven. You cannot speak for Jesus unless first of all you are enjoying Him in your heart.".... if you were to sum up, not what you would like to tell other people, but what you know to be the truth, how much time have you spent in your own room with God during the past week? How much time have you actually been with God in the inner sanctum with an open bible and waited on Him?
Being satisfied by God requires Position
Psalms 63:7-8 NKJV
(7) Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
(8) My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
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[1]Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Eleventh ed. Springfield, Mass. : Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003