When you're living in a hard Place

“ When you’re living in a hard Place “

Psalm 63:1

David’s is in a hard Place

And the Place where he’s at

Is not only Hard

But it’s a dry place

Example: Psalm 137:4 —“How shall we sing The LORD's song in a strange land?”

Hard places are in inevitable

No matter how holy you are

No matter how wonderful you worship

No matter how terrifically you tithe

No matter how sensationally you sing

No matter how powerful you praise

One of these days you will wake up

And find yourself in a Hard place

And for David

His Hard place

Is the Wilderness The word wilderness

It’s symbolic of struggle

When the word wilderness is used in the bible

It’s always used to know the place of struggle or a place of testing

David is in the wilderness

It is a place of struggle

He’s at a place of testing

What’s interesting

About where David is

At this time of life

David is in this place of struggle (after) he’s being anointed ( EXPLAIN )

In spite of an anointing

On David’s life

David still finds himself

At a place of struggle

David just doesn’t have

(An) anointing on his life

David has been anointed

At this time multiple times

He was anointed the first time when he was a child (1st Sam 16:13)

1st Sam 16:13

He was anointed a second time after he became King over Judah (2nd Sam. 2:4)

2nd Sam. 2:4

He was anointed a third time when he became king over all of Israel (2nd Sam 5:3)

2nd. Sam. 5:3

That tells us

That the real purpose

Of the anointing on our lives

It’s not to prevent us from having struggles

But it’s to prepare us for the trouble we’re going to have

Your dry place might be

Your marriage - your ministry

Your house - your hopes

Your family - your finances

Your dreams - your desires

One day you’re going to have a dry place

But what's interesting about this dry place

Is that David ends up at this place

Because he was forsaken by the familiar

In 2nd. Samuel 15

The Bible teaches us in those chapters

That David had some people he was close to

And these people that was close to him

Conspired against him

And cause him to go to the dry place

David’s own son Absalom

David’s best friend Ahithophel

David’s own nephew Amasa

These 3 men got together

And they conspired to steal the throne from David

The Bible teaches us in 2nd. Samuel 15:6

That Absalom literally stole the heart of the people

And as a result David finds himself in a dry place

What’s interesting about Psalm 63

It's not about how David arrive at the dry place

But it's how David thrives at the dry place

It's how David manage to sustain himself at the dry place

In life you can't always control

How you arrive at a place

But you can't control your response

To when you arrive at the dry place

In the midst of the dry place

The first thing that David does

When you’re living in a hard Place

1st David Conveys His love for God

Psalm 63:1 (KJV 1900)

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, My flesh longeth for thee In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Define: Convey — make known or understandable to someone

Verse 1A - 1

David want God to know

Quote: My affliction from you Has not alter my affection for you

David conveys his love for God 3 different ways

Psalm 63:1 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, My flesh longeth for thee In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

1st. Lord you’re still my Possession

2nd. Lord you’re still my Priority

3rd. Lord you’re still my Passion

1st. Lord you’re still my Possession ( My God )

Example: My Dallas Cowboys mask in the midst of a losing season they are still MY TEAM

Note: in the mist of a HARD & DRY place God is still MY God

2nd. Lord you’re still my Priority ( Early )

When things are going well for people God becomes first priority

But when things are not going well God don’t become first priority

I am struggling in my dry place but I meet God EARLY IN THE MORNING

3rd. Lord you’re still my Passion ( SEEK )

Verse 1B

Quote: When you are in derision, watch your desires

When you are being afflicted watch your affections

David is not seeking relief

But David is seeking the presence of God

Sometimes our best praise is in a dry place

Sometimes our best work comes from a dry place

When you’re living in a hard Place

1st David Conveys His love for God

2nd. David Commits his life to God

When you are in a HARD & DRY place

You have to make a commitment

And you have to commit your life to God

Quote: In Psalm 63 David makes a powerful commitment to God without the promise of contentment from God

Which means he makes a commitment to God

Not knowing whether or not

That God would turn things around

Matter-of-fact in verse number 11

Which is the concluding verse of this narrative

David is still in the wilderness

In other words can you make a commitment

To God with no strings attach

Too many Christians serve God

With conditions attached to their service

There are 3 things in David commitment to God

1st. My Hard Place won't affect my witness ( V. 3,5 )

2nd. My Hard Place won't affect my worship ( V. 4 )

3rd. My Hard Place won't affect my walk ( V. 8 )

1st. My Hard Place won’t affect my witness ( 3, 5 )

David says I’m going to worship while in the wilderness

Verse 3, 5

David says Lord I’m in the wilderness

But in the midst of the wilderness

My wilderness won’t affect my witness

1st. My Hard Place won’t affect my witness ( V. 3,5 )

2nd. My Hard Place won’t affect my worship ( V.4 )

Verse 4

Notice, what he does while he lives

Has nothing to do with where he lives ( A Dry Place )

David says Lord even though I’m here

You are still good to me

Note: Somebody don't know how difficult it's been for you ( But My Personal Testimony )

( 12 ) whole months church close

( 12 ) whole months about 12 -15 members gave tithes & offering

( 20 ) months ( 86 weeks & 6 days ) — Gotten paid least than 8 times from church

( But Worship God )

1st. My Hard Place won't affect my witness ( V. 3,5 )

2nd. My Hard Place won't affect my worship ( V. 4 )

3rd. My Hard Place won't affect my walk ( V. 8 )

David says this is not going to stop me from serving the Lord

Question : What can happen that would effect your walk with God

Job 13:15 (KJV)

15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

When you’re living in a hard Place

1st. David conveys his love for God

2nd. David commits his life to God

3rd. David continues to lean on God

David keeps trusting the Lord

In the mist of his trials

3 reasons why David was leaning on God

1st. David is leaning on God's Past Power ( V. 7 )

2nd. David is leaning on God's Promised Power ( V. 9 )

3rd. David is leaning on God’s Prophetic Power ( V. 11 )

1st. David is leaning on God's Past Power ( V. 7 )

When you’re in your dry place

You have to remember what God has already done

People that are relying on God

To do something in the present

They remember what God has done in the past

2nd. David is leaning on God's Promised Power ( V. 9 )

David is believing God to fight his battles

3rd. David is leaning on God's Prophetic Power ( 11 )

When David says the King

David is not talking about Absalom

David is talking about himself

Absalom is seating on the throne

David is in the wilderness

But he calls himself the King

David is not defining himself by things

David is not defining himself by where he lives

But David is defining himself by God’s word

That he is the King

David knew that the wilderness

Was not his final destination

Preached @

Pastor David Jones - St. John

Pastor Betty Tillman — 4’c

Pastor Ulysses Mitchell — St. John ( Franklin )