Alright, go with me if you would
back to Psalm 63. Sunday morning we made a reference
to verse 1. And in studying for that, I enjoyed
reading the whole Psalm. So I want us to look at it for
the message tonight. David wrote this psalm. He penned this psalm. The Holy
Spirit wrote it. David penned this psalm. It says
that just under the title. It says, A Psalm of David. David was the son of his father
Jesse. He was the stem. the offspring
of Jesse. He was the shepherd of his father's
sheep. He was the slayer of Goliath. He was the deliverer of the army
of Israel. He was the anointed one of God. God said, he's a man after my
own heart. Spiritually speaking, David represents
Christ. He represents the Lord Jesus
Christ, spiritually. But physically, David was a sinner
just like you and me. He was a helpless, poor, pitiful
sinner just like every other man and woman on this earth.
And David wrote this psalm at the time of his life when he
was the king. It says that in verse 11, it
says, but the king, lowercase K, speaking of himself, the king
shall rejoice in God. So he wrote this at the time
of his life when he was the king, but even though he was king,
he was running for his life. He was in hiding. Spurgeon said this was probably
written while David was fleeing from his own son Absalom. Absalom was trying to take the
throne and take his father's life in the process. So he's
out in the wilderness and he's in hiding and here's where he
is. And I want us to understand this
because it will help us to really enter into what this psalm is
saying. He is longing to go worship God. He's out in a foreign place,
a foreign land. And his soul, we can tell by
what he wrote, his soul is just hurting. to go gather with the
saints in the house of the Lord. And as I was writing this, I
was thinking about the fact that we are so privileged to be here
right now. We take it so for granted. This
is our strength. This is our life. This is our lifeline. And we
take it so for granted. David is out just longing to
be with God's people. Be in the house where the Lord
has chosen to put His name there. He feels spiritually parched
and thirsty for the living God. And he's crying out to God in
prayer, and this is what he's saying. Even though I'm physically
hindered from publicly appearing before you and bowing before
you with the saints in the sanctuary. Even though I'm physically hindered,
my heart bows before you right here, right now. In verse one,
he said, 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." No living water. No spiritual water. No water of the Word. He said
there's no refreshment here. And can't we say the same thing
here? There's no comfort here. There's
no satisfaction out here. I feel lost, I feel alone, I
feel dried up. A dry and thirsty land where
no water is. Can we at all sympathize with
that? Now, none of us have ever been
in that physical condition. that physical condition that
he was in. But all of us have been in that
spiritual condition. I don't believe anyone here has
ever had to flee the country and go into hiding for fear of
his life being taken from him. Physically separated from the
fellowship and the people, the worship of God. But there have
been times when all of us have found ourselves to be out in
the wilderness of sin. and we feel it often. Those times
are often the wilderness of self. Do you ever feel like you're
just stuck out in sin and self and just completely
consumed? Just the wilderness of the flesh,
the wilderness of the world. Spiritually separated from the
house and the worship and the fellowship of God. And you wish
so badly that you could just fellowship with God. But it's
just, you just... You know what I'm talking about. It's miserable. I'm speaking
from experience. It is miserable. It is a miserable
place to be. We may be physically sitting
right here in the pew. but spiritually separated from
the true worship and fellowship of God. The wilderness is right
here. It's right here. Prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it. I do. And I'm ashamed to say
it. But I do, and that's what the
Apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 7 when he said, Oh,
wretched man that I am. I don't know why I do what I
do. I don't know why I find myself
constantly running to and trying to stay and live in the wilderness
of death. That's what this is, and that's
what this is. Deadness, coldness, that dry,
parched place of spiritual starvation. That's why he said, I'm the chief
of sinners. That's why he said that. It's
because he knew what it felt like to spiritually be right
here. And we do too. We do too. All of us have found ourselves
and we're going to find ourselves again. And this is why I pray
the Lord might comfort our hearts in this. We have found ourselves
and unfortunately we will find ourselves again in this dry and
thirsty land, this wilderness of spiritual separation. And when we do, if we belong
to Him, we're going to find ourselves there. And when we do, when that
realization comes to us again and we realize, look at where
I am, once again, When the realization of that
parched thirst, that dryness, that separation of communion,
when that comes to us again, what should we do? We should do the only thing that
we can do. We should do the same thing David
did. Cry out to God for help. Cry out to God for help. He said, I'm coming to you about
this. I'm going to seek help from the
only place that I can find help, you. I'm coming to you about
this. Verse 1, He said, 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 said, I'm coming
to you. Verse two, he said, to see thy
power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. He
said, would you please show me again what you've shown me before? What a thing to ask God. Really. What a thing to ask God,
would you please show me again what you've shown me before.
You know if we're going to see it, God has to show it to us.
He has to give the light. He has to give the revelation
of Himself. And what a thing to ask Him,
would you show me your power again? Would you show me your glory
again? Would you let me see you now like you've allowed me to
see you before? I tell you this, when you hear
a message and your heart rejoices, and you walk out of this place
on cloud nine, it's because you saw Christ again. You saw His
power again. You saw His glory again. You
saw His work again. You saw Him. Lord, would you please let me
see you again, like you allowed me to see you before? Would you
revive me right now in the midst of my years? And I mean right
now. Would you revive me? Doesn't
that sound like a common cry of ours? A common cry. It's one we cry constantly. Lord, please help me. Well, here's
the good news for David, and here's the good news for us.
And I want to very strongly encourage us to remember this and do this. It seems so obvious, but we're
not naturally drawn to the obvious, spiritually obvious. So may the
Lord remind us to remember this and to do this. When the realization
of that terrible state comes, cry out to God for help. Cry out to God for help. Let's
literally do that. Let's ask Him to restore the
communion. Ask Him to restore the communion. Lord, please restore the communion. You know that state. You know
this cold, dead state, indifferent. Our Lord Himself said it's not
cold or hot. We know exactly what He's talking
about. He said it's lukewarm. Let's ask Him, Lord, revive us,
revive our spirit. Let's ask Him to send a flood
of the water of the Word when it's so dry. Lord, it's so dry. It's so dry right here. Ask Him to send a flood of the
water of the Word because His promise to us in Christ, all
of His promises are in Christ. And His promise to us in Christ
is If we ask, we will receive. That's His promise to us. Do
you remember when those of you who have seen His beauty and
the Lord has revealed Himself to you, do you remember when
you first started getting a hold of the Gospel message? Do you
remember when the Gospel first started? When that realization of what
Christ had done for you, I mean really accomplished for you,
you remember what that felt like? You remember how you couldn't
wait to hear the next message? Wouldn't you love to have that
again? Wouldn't we all love to truly,
from the depths of our soul, praise Him and worship Him and Thank Him, bow before Him. If we would, ask Him. Ask Him. Ask Him to send a flood
to the dry and thirsty land. Lord, I'm asking you to send
a flood to the dry and thirsty land. We're just saying, oh Holy
Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work
in me. We're always praying, Lord, would
You send a revival? Lord, would You please send a
revival? Lord, would You send a revival? Just if You do it
in me. Just start the work in me. Ask
Him. Ask Him. We can approach His
throne with boldness. We can ask any good thing in
His name, ask Him. Because the good news is, He
said, if you ask, you will receive. You will, it's His promise to
us. In Ezekiel 36, He told all of those glorious things that
He would do for His people. He said, after they ask me for
it. He said, I will yet for this
be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. And
then he said, in the next verses, he said, after they asked me,
I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock,
as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, So shall the
waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that
I'm the Lord." I'm going to bless them. I'm going to increase them. Once they ask of me, I'm going
to do all this for them. He said, just ask me. Just ask
me. Turn with me to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35, verse 3. It says, Strengthen ye the weak
hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of
a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come
with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and
save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then
shall the lame man leap as in heart, and the tongue of the
dumb sing. For in the wilderness, and that's
where David said he was, and that's where we constantly are.
It says, in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams
in the desert. And the parched ground shall
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the
habitation of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds
and rushes." He said, you strengthen my weak, feeble people who are
dying of thirst out there in the wilderness. He knows where
we are. He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust,
just dry dust. You tell them to behold their
God. Tell them to cry out to their
God and then just wait for Him to come save them. Verse 10 right
here says, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come
to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And they
shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall
flee away. That's the help David found,
and that's the help that we'll find too. It's true help for
God's true people. It really is. Go with me back
to Psalm 63. Verse 1 says, 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, 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. He said, because of the condition
that I'm in, that's what I'm going to do. That's the only
thing that I can do. I'm going to seek you. I'm going
to praise you. I'm going to bless you. And I'm going to lift up my hands
to you. And I'm going to do that trusting. Verse five, he said
that 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. Marrow
and fatness. That's quite a change from dry
and thirsty, isn't it? Again, he's talking about a spiritual
state rather than a communion and a fellowship that's lean
and parched. And let me say that again. Rather
than a communion and a fellowship that is lean and parched, he
said, my soul shall be filled with the health of marrow and
fatness. What brings that marrow and fatness
to the child of God? Seeing His power, this is what
He asked to see. Seeing His power, seeing His
glory, and seeing His loving kindness. And where do we see
that? On the cross of Calvary. Right
there on the cross of Christ we see the power of God. Only
God can forgive sins. Why did our Lord come and die?
It was because only God could forgive sins. Right there on the cross of Christ
we see the glory of God. He can forgive sins and He did. Moses said, show me your glory.
He said, here it is. I'll have mercy. I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. Right there on the cross of Christ,
we see the loving kindness of God. That's His grace. For God
so loved, He gave. He gave it all. Freely. Freely gave it all. Verse 7,
He said, Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow
of thy wings will I rejoice. Don't you love the thought of
that? Being in the shadow of His wings. David said under the
covering. Under the total covering. Under
your protection and your safety. Under your safe keeping. Hiding
in thee. That's where I'll rejoice. I'll
rejoice right there. Verse 8, he said, My soul followeth
hard after thee. Followeth hard after means cleaves
to. My soul cleaves to thee. You're my only hope. You're all
that I have. My soul followeth hard after
thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. That's Christ. 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 speak
lies shall be stopped. Who seeks to destroy my soul? My own flesh does. It's trying
as hard as it can. It's trying as hard as it can.
My feet do. My hands do. My old stony heart
does. My mind does. It's trying as
hard as it can to destroy my soul. Whose mouth speaks lies? The mouth of my own flesh does. But David said, you're my help,
and I know that you're going to put away everything that is
trying to take me down. I know you're going to put it
away. Everything that does not bring glory to you, you're going
to leave all of the dry and thirsty parts in the grave. And isn't
that comforting? Everything that's wrong right
here in this dry and thirsty land, you're going to take care
of it. You're going to put it away. And all that's going to
be left is that marrow and that fatness. Isaiah wrote, delight
yourself in fatness. Ho, everyone that thirsteth.
David cried, I'm so thirsty. Come to the water. All that's going to be left is
that marrow and that fatness that we have in Christ. And in
that, David said, I praise you. And I bless you and I hope in
you and I rejoice. I rejoice. Turn with me over
to Psalm 42. This psalm perfectly describes
this need and this help and this rejoicing. It's believed that
David wrote this at the same time that he wrote Psalm 63 while
he was running from Absalom. And he's just feeling that same
desperation, needing his God and needing the people and the
worship. And he says in Psalm 42 verse
1, As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude,
I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy
and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Hope thou in God. There he is
just torn all to pieces and God's Holy Spirit came and sent a flood
of water to him. Hope thou in God, I shall yet
praise Him for the help of His countenance." He said, just hang
in there soul. You're going to be praising Him.
You're going to praise Him. You've asked, you will receive. And we will too. He will not
leave us to ourselves. He will not. I want to close,
let me close by reading this precious poem by John Newton.
"'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? If I love, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard His name. Could my heart so hard remain,
prayer a task and burden prove? Every trifle give me pain if
I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You who love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
find my sin a grief and thrall. Should I grieve at what I feel
if I did not love at all? Could I joy his saints to me? Choose the ways I once abhorred. Find at times the promise sweet,
if I did not love the Lord. Lord, decide this doubtful case,
thou who art the people's son. Since upon thy work of grace,
if indeed it be begun, let me love thee more and more. If I
love it all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. If that's what we need, and if
that's what we plead, that's what we'll receive. That's what
we'll receive. Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
to thyself and still believing till the hour of our receiving
promised joys from thee. I am thine, O Lord, I've heard
thy voice and it told thy love to me. but I long to rise in
the arms of faith and be closer drawn to Thee. Draw me nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw
me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding
side. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless
me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. Even me, even me, Let that blessings fall on me.
Ask Him. Ask Him. You'll receive. All
right, let's all stand.