Mitch and Carla, great seeing
you guys. Psalm 63. I was telling Lynn while we were
driving over here when Brother Mahan used to write me, more
often than not, he would put Psalm 63, one through four on
the end of his letter. And that's always just a neat
thing to think about. But let's read this Psalm together.
Psalm 63. And you'll notice it says a Psalm
of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Now that's inspired,
and it's there for a reason. When this psalm was written,
he was on the run. There were two times he was in
the wilderness. Once when Saul was chasing him, and the other
time when his son Absalom was chasing him. And he identifies
himself here as the king, so this must be when Absalom was
chasing him. And he was in a desperate condition. But notice how he writes this
psalm. Oh 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. That's where he
was in this desperate time. And yet, here is his confession.
to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is
better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless
thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy
name. My soul shall be satisfied, as
with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my
bed and meditate on thee in the night watches, because thou hast
been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after
thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul to
destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They
shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for foxes.
But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that sweareth by
him shall glory. But the mouth of them that speaketh
lies shall be stopped. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be,
by your grace, by your spirit, enabled to enter into this psalm
and to, we pray that as these were the words of David, the
man after your own heart, that these might be the expression
of our heart in seeking you. Lord, bless us in that sense
for Christ's sake. Accept our thanksgiving. We're
so thankful for who you are. We're so thankful for all your
glorious attributes. We're so thankful for the revelation
of that person. We're so thankful for the forgiveness
of sins. We're so thankful for the riches
of your grace. Lord. We give thanks. Accept our thanksgiving through
thy son. Forgive us of our sins. We ask that you would unite our
hearts together to fear thy name. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now David is. Riding from a dry
and thirsty land, literally. That's what he calls it. Look
in verse one, 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. He was on the run. trying to escape from Absalom
who wanted to kill him. And he was in very difficult
circumstances, yet look at how he expresses himself in joy in
these horrible circumstances. That reminds us that circumstances
can be bad, and I can still have joy. Happiness, people say, I'm not
happy. Well, happiness is based on circumstances. These circumstances are good,
therefore I'm happy. Well, that's not very wise, really. Circumstances can be bad, and
you can still have joy. And David, in these horrible
circumstances, had this joy that we read of, oh God, Thou art
my God. Now, the name God here is the
name Elohim. And it's in the plural. Oh God,
in the plural. David knew God in the Trinity
of his persons, just like every believer does. He said in one
place, the Lord said unto my Lord. There's the Lord Jesus
said unto my Lord, the Father, the Lord, the Lord. He said,
take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He knew God in the Trinity
of his persons. God is one God in three distinct
persons. We believe that, don't we? We
believe it because it's revealed and it's mysterious, it's beyond
our explanation, but it's what the Bible teaches. God in the
Trinity of his persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. God the Father elected, God the
Son redeemed, God the Holy Spirit regenerates. This is who God
is. Oh God, in the plurality of your
persons, one God in three distinct people, persons, oh God, thou
art my God. What a blessed thing to be enabled
to say. If God be for us, who can be
against this? Oh God, thou art my God. And this is what everyone who
has him as their God does. Early will I seek thee. Now,
if I know God, here's what I will do. I'll seek him. And I'll do
so early. This is not something I'm going
to delay. And I'm going to find him too. There's nobody who seeks
the Lord that doesn't find him. Seek and you shall find. Oh God, I'm going to seek you
early. I hope that this would define
me. Somebody who seeks the living
God. 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. Now that's where
he was at this time. I bet he was physically tired,
he was on the run, maybe it was at night before he went to bed
that he wrote this psalm. It was in a very difficult time. And what does he say with regard
to himself? My soul longs for thee. My flesh thirsts for thee. Paul said, I long to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. And that's what David
is expressing, his thirsting, his longing for God. As the heart panteth after the
waterbrook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Now may the Lord create that
thirst for God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.
May the Lord create that thirst, that longing for him. What could
be better than that? And I repeat what I just said,
Paul said, I long to depart and be with Christ in his very presence,
beholding his face in righteousness. Don't you love what David is
saying at this time? Oh God, thou art my God, early
will I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for
thee in this dry and thirsty land where no water is. And here's
what I long to see. I want to see thy power. and thy glory so as I have seen
thee in the sanctuary in the holy place." The first time that
word holy, sanctuary, is used is when God made himself known
to Moses in the burning bush. It burned and could not be consumed. I love that imagery of the Lord
who spake from the burning bush, and we see in that burning bush
who Christ is. He's God-independent with no
needs. The wood did not need the flame, or the flame did not
need the wood to remain burning. He's God-independent, and that
bush could not be consumed by the flame. Christ consumed the
wrath of God, and his power is seen Most clearly, yes, his power
is seen in creation. Look at this beautiful day, but
if it was not what we would call a beautiful day, his power is
still seen. Everything is beautiful that he does. His power is seen
in providence where he controls everything. Whenever somebody says that was
really providential, don't say that. That's denying what providence
is in the first place. Providence means he controls
everything and every event he's in control of. Oh, what power. But his power is most clearly
seen in salvation, where he made a way to be just and justify
somebody like me. Paul said in Romans 1, 16 and
17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the, what? Power of God unto salvation. And that's, I long to see his
power in making me perfectly just in his sight, without sin,
without guilt. And that's what he's referring
to. Not just his power in creation and his omnipotence, but the
power that was used in raising Christ from the dead that makes
me without guilt. I long to see Thy power and thy
glory, his glory and salvation, as I have seen thee in the sanctuary,
in the holy place, because thy loving kindness is better than
life, my lips shall praise thee. Now what is loving kindness? He says, thy loving kindness
is better than life. Don't you love that? It's better
than anything in this life. You take the best thing in this
life, it's nothing compared to his loving kindness. And somebody,
I read this somewhere. Loving kindness is the Old Testament
word for grace. Have mercy, David, Psalm 51,
one. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. He didn't say have mercy upon
me, oh God, according to how earnestly I'm seeking you or
how good I've been or how I've quit this sin and I've started
to, nothing like that. The only plea for mercy, have
mercy upon me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness. Have mercy upon me for Christ's
sake. Christ is the loving kindness
of God. Have mercy upon me for Christ's
sake. Now, he says, because thy loving
kindness, thy grace is better than life. Now, I hope I'm. This is what I think, you know,
I think this. My favorite. Name is the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love his name. I love everything
with regard to his name. But my second favorite word is
grace. Loving kindness. Grace. Grace
is a charming sound, melodious to the ear. And it is. It is. Because thy loving kindness is
better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless
thee, verse four, while I live. This is what living people do,
people who have spiritual life. A dead man, man dead in sins,
can't enter into this in any way. Thus will I bless thee while
I have life. And then he says, I will lift
up my hands in thy name. Now, how many times have you
seen people doing this while they're singing, hearing the
gospel, lifting up their hands? Not too long ago, someone was
in here and they were sitting back in the back and they were
lifting up their hands. I found it very distracting,
lifting up their hands. Now, where somebody says, well,
why don't we do that? I mean, since they did it, why
don't we do that? And that's a good question. And
that's a fair question. Turn with me for a moment to
Genesis 14. This is where this thing of lifting up hands is
first mentioned. This is after Abraham was returning
from the slaughter of the Kings, where he had delivered them from
Sodom. And the king, verse 21, and the king of Sodom said unto
Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. Now
remember he'd gone and delivered all these people and he's coming
back with spoil, the spoil of these kings. And he said, you
just take the, you give me the people and you can keep all the
spoils for yourself. You earned it. Now look at Abraham's reply. And Abraham said to the king
of Sodom, I've lift up my hand unto the Lord, the most high
God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take
from thee a thread, even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not
take anything that is thine, lest thou should say, I've made
Abraham rich. Now, what's he saying? I'm not
going to give you the opportunity to think you've done anything
for me. The Lord has done everything
for me." Now, did he lift up his hand? He may have, I don't
know, but the point is all glory goes to God. We ascribe all grace
to him. Now, if we start singing, I'd
start lifting up my hand. With me, look how spiritual I am. I've
got a connection with God. If you started lifting up your
hand, the point I'm making is I can't do it without thinking
about myself, what people see. That's all I would see. He's
got a real connection with God. He's lifting up his hand. And
you see people doing this, and then they'll close their eyes,
letting everybody know all this spiritual. Listen, if you're
by yourself, If you're by yourself and nobody else can see, and
you wanna lift up your hand, go ahead, just don't let me know
about it. And I'm not saying that, because if you let me know
about it, that's the same thing as this one, I came up to this
one guy, I'll never forget this, he was a preacher. I said, well,
how you doing? He said, I've been fasting. Oh, I didn't know what to say. He said, I've been fasting three
weeks. I said, you must be hungry. But the point being, We're not doing what we do to
be seen of men. If somehow, well, I've said my
piece on that. I do not, you're not gonna see
me lifting up my hands in that sense. If I wanna do it in the
privacy of my home, I can do it. You're not gonna find out
anything about it. But the point is, when he was saying, when
Abraham lifted up his hand, I don't know if he really did it. I think
that's so to speak. Here's what I mean by this. I look to the
Lord for everything. Nothing else. So, he says in
verse four, thus while I bless thee, while I live, I'll lift
up my hands in thy name. His name is his attributes. His attributes. The person behind
the name. He's worshiping the Lord for
who he is. He's worshiping the Lord for his righteousness, for
his holiness, for his sovereignty, for his power. He's worshiping
the Lord. And that's what we do. We worship
him for who he is. You know, in my heart, when I
hear who he is here, here's what's going on in my heart. I bow down.
I'm not trying to show that to you, but when I hear of his absolute
sovereignty, you know what I do? Bow down. When I hear of his
holiness, I bow down. When I hear of his independence,
I bow down. That's what David is saying.
We worship him for who he is, his name, his person. Look what
he says in verse five. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and
my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. Now, my soul, I
am satisfied with what he's satisfied with. Thou shalt see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. I am so satisfied to be saved
by what Christ did wholly. I find such satisfaction in that.
If you give me something to do, I got no satisfaction. But if
you tell me he did it all, and that I'm complete in him, and
that everything God requires of me, I have in the beloved,
I find such satisfaction. I mean, I just rest in that. I really am satisfied. I'm not
looking for anything else. If you give me something else
to do, like I said, I'm not satisfied. I'm thinking I'm in trouble.
But to find out that Christ did everything in my behalf, and
I'm complete in him, that all that God satisfied with me because
of the blood of his son, he's completely satisfied with me. I'm satisfied. My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips, the joy and peace of believing. Romans 15, 13,
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. in believing. Don't miss that. Not in doing,
but in believing. Believing that he is all. Believing he is who he says he
is in his word. Oh, what joy and peace is found
in him. He says in verse six, when I
remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night
watches." Now, every one of us from time to time, probably more
often than we'd like, are laying awake at night. And all the things
that can go through our mind at that time, good stuff, bad
stuff, unbelief, fear, what a blessing it is. And when the Lord, if
I'm laying awake at night, meditate on him. Think of him. You know, even in the Old Testament
worship in the tabernacle, they had priests singing his praise
all night long. The night shift. The night shift. But they had someone praising
him. And when I'm in the dark, when
I'm in the night, praise him. when I remember thee upon my
bed and meditate on thee in the night watches. Now, here's what
he remembers. Here's what he meditates on,
because thou has been my help. Now. The Lord helped me. When he stood as my surety before
time began and bore complete responsibility for my salvation,
how he helped me then. How he helped me when he was
made flesh, and in the flesh he came and kept the law for
me. How he helped me. How he helped
me when he willingly went to the cross and was nailed to the
cross bearing my sins. How he helped me. How he helped
me when he died. My sins were put away, paid for,
gone. How he helped me when he was
raised from the dead as my justification. What a thing to think about in
the night, how he's helped me. How he helps me even now as he
sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for
me as my representative. How he helps me. The Lord is
my helper. I love that. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. The Lord is my helper. When I
remember upon thee in the bed, meditate on thee in the night
watchers, because thou has been my help. Therefore, in the shadow
of thy wings, will I rejoice. Now the picture is chicks giving
under the chicken's wings and the hen's wings for protection
from the hawk in the sky. I just rejoice in the shadow
of his protection, the shadow of his wings. Nothing can get
me. Whatever happens is his purpose
in the first place. I rejoice in the shadow of thy
wings. My soul Verse eight, followeth
hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me.
Now that word, what's he mean, my soul follows hard after thee? The first time the word is used
in the scripture is used with regard to Adam and Eve, where
it says the two shall be, for this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and cleave, that's the word, cleave unto
his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. When David says, my
soul followeth hard after thee, my soul cleaveth to thee. I wanna
be glued to you. I wanna be one with you. Now that is exactly what Paul
meant when he said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in him, glued to him, one to him, united to him, so that all
God sees when he sees my soul is he sees my soul one with the
Lord Jesus Christ and glued to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what I want. My soul followeth hard after
thee. And here's why my soul followeth
hard after thee. Thy right hand upholds me. That's
the only reason. I can't say, well, I really seek
the Lord real hard. Well, I do. And if I do, there's
only one reason. His right hand, the hand of his
power, the Lord Jesus Christ upholds me. But verse nine, those that seek
my soul to destroy it shall go into the lowest parts of the
earth. That's hell. That's hell. Now, if it's someone seeking
my soul to destroy it with a false gospel, trying to lead me astray,
you know what's gonna happen to them? They're going to hell.
They're going to hell. If it's talking about my sins,
seeking to destroy me, well, Christ suffered hell for my sins,
and he put them away. Whatever it is it's seeking after
my soul, whether it's a man, trying to draw me away from Christ,
whether it's my sins trying to bring me down, they're all going
to hell. And my sins suffered hell on
the cross and he put them away. Those that seek my soul to destroy
it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall
by the sword. They shall be a portion for foxes.
That means they're going to be carrying. They're going to be
carrying nothing more. But. The king shall rejoice in
God. Now this is why I believe that
this was taking place during Absalom and him hounding David's
soul and wanting to kill him. He identifies himself as the
king. I know it's the king of kings,
but it's King David too. King David. He was in the wilderness
in this dry and thirsty land where no water is. What's he
say he's gonna do? Rejoice in God. Is there ever a time to not rejoice
in God? In God is my salvation, in Christ
is my salvation. The king shall rejoice in God. Rejoice in Christ Jesus, have
no confidence in the flesh. Everyone that swears by him shall
glory. Now, what does that mean to swear
by him? How does one go about swearing by him? My promises to do better. Never work. How many times have
you promised God you wouldn't do that again? Or you wouldn't
think that again? And how long did it last? That's
all done in the flesh. Now we ought not ever sin again.
I'm not excusing our lack of faithfulness, but as far as your
promises, how much power are there in your promises? But yet
he says the king shall Everyone that sweareth by him
shall glory. Now, what is this thing of swearing
by him? I know what it is. 2 Samuel 23 5, David's dying words. Although my house be not so with
God. What a way to start that. And
his house was a mess. His family was a mess. He had
his kids. He had one problem after another.
You think you have problems with your kids? He had a lot more.
A lot more. Some of the people in his house
were believers, though. What about Bathsheba? What about
Abigail? So I don't really even think
he, I'm sure he's referring to his house as far as his family,
but I think he's talking about this house. This body of sin
that I live in, although my house be not so with God, yet have
he made with me. And this is a unilateral covenant. We didn't make this together.
He made this with me. Yet have he made with me an everlasting
covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. Now here's my swear. This is all my salvation. This
is all my desire. Though he maketh it not to grow. That's my swear. This is all
my salvation. This is all my desire. Everyone that sweareth by him
shall glory, shall rejoice. Don't you glory in the eternal
covenant he made with you, ordered in all things? And sure. But the mouth of them that speak
lies. Anybody who Lies on God. Lies on the gospel. Doesn't tell
the truth concerning the true character of God. The character
of man. Salvation. Those that speak lies. Always malicious. It's wicked. And their mouths will be stopped.
And I know who's going to stop him. The Lord himself. Amen.