I've titled this either the Seeker's
Psalm or the Psalm of a Thirsty Soul, which could be the title
to almost every psalm, couldn't it? The Seeker's Psalm. He begins, Oh God. Do you know
how many times David says that in the psalms? Oh God. Oh my God. Oh God, thou art my
God. Early will I seek thee, my soul
thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry, thirsty
land where no water is, to seek the Lord. Now, this is written,
how many times does it speak of seeking the Lord? Someone
may say, someone that doesn't really know the Lord would say,
well if you found him, or if he's found you, why do you need
to seek him? God's people are always seeking
Him every day. David says it early, first thing
in the morning. They want to seek Him. We seek
after and go after many things. And there are times when we don't
seek the Lord. And Isaiah 45 says, He's a God
that hides Himself. He hides His face. Like a father
would a child that's wayward You know, he hides his face and
we know it and we feel it. And so we seek him again. We
call on him, seek something means to search for, to look for, to
try to find. You ever lost something you wanted
to find? You go after it, don't you? You don't quit seeking it
until you find it. Mindy lost her engagement ring. We were in a motel, well, with
the girls in Florida. And she'd had that 42 years,
I guess, 43 years, and she lost it. And, you know, we were there
for several days, and she sought and sought and sought. She found
it. They're happy about that. Seek something. David said, I
seek Thee, O God. You're my God. I seek after Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. You
know, if you're hungry, you'll seek food, won't you? If you're
thirsty, you'll seek water. It's been really hot the last
few days, hasn't it? I've drunk gallons of water.
Can't seem to get enough. Well, if you're ignorant, you'll
seek knowledge, you'll seek wisdom. If you're guilty, you'll seek
pardon. If you're a sinner, you'll seek mercy, won't you? And all
this is found in our God. Now, when he is speaking of God,
he's talking about the Father, he's talking about the Son, he's
talking about the Holy Spirit. These three are one. To seek
God, you can't come to God except by Christ, can you? So to seek
God, you're seeking Christ. You're seeking His Holy Spirit,
who reveals Christ. So if you're seeking the Lord,
you're seeking food, you're seeking water, you're seeking companionship. If you're lonely, seek Him. Take Him. Oh God, Thou art my
God. God's true people, they believe
in God. They believe God. Meaning they
believe God is God. And they believe God. They believe
what He says. They believe everything He says.
They believe God. They trust God. They worship
God. God's true people. They do. This
is life. To worship God, it's life. It's
just part of living. You live in Him. Dwell with Him. God's people thank God. They
love God. God's people love God. They don't
talk about it. They don't brag about it. They're
ashamed of their love, but they do love Him. And all things work
together for good to them that love God. They love God. They desire God. They follow
after God. They seek God. They call on God.
They worship God. They dwell with God. They walk
with God like Enoch and Noah. Oh God, thou art my God. Can you say that? This God is
my God. My God. Do you remember Psalm
48, 14, your memory verse? This God is our God. Forever
and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. Oh God, thou art my God. The
unbelieving world, the agnostic, the atheist, the unbelievers,
the fool says no God. No, the fool says, there is no
God. Believers say, oh God, You're
my God. You're my God. I don't care what
anybody says. You're my God. How about you?
Early will I seek Thee. First thing, the Lord talks about
the firstfruits throughout the Scripture, doesn't He? We're
to give Him the firstfruits of the day. Our minds, our hearts,
first thoughts. If not, I know from experience,
the day will probably go bad for you. Anybody attest to that? You forget
God, don't give Him a thought, don't look at His Word, don't
call on Him, you probably won't have a good
day. I know that from terrible experience. Early. First thing. First, the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be
added unto you. What thing? Whatever you need. Whatever you need.
Whatever the day requires. As thy days, so shall thy strength
be. If not, if you love someone, here's the thing, if you love
someone, live with someone, if you dwell with someone, you cannot
not think of them. If you're in the same bed with
that person, you wake up, how can you not think of that person? The other day, all four of my
girls were together camping, a little camper all together. I woke up, there was my wife,
she's the cutest one of them all. Then I walked in, there
was my daughter, Hannah, lying there, oh my. Then I looked at
Isabella, then I looked at Sophie, just looking on all of them,
thinking on them. I love them. They're my family,
okay? God is our Father. Christ is
our Husband. We live with it. We dwell with
it. How could we not think on it? Huh? How could we not? Oh God, our and my God, early
will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My
flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land. My soul thirsteth
for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in
a dry and thirsty land where no water is. You ever been thirsty? Man! And the only thing that
will really satisfy you is water. Isn't it? I drink, I love iced
tea. Love it. Sweet, sweet tea. Ain't
no other kind, is it, Steve? Sweet tea. Tell the people up
north that. Sweet, what's sweet tea? Well,
sweet tea. And, but it won't satisfy you.
I mean, for a while, water. Is it any wonder the Lord calls
Himself the water of life? The water of life. There is a
river. I'm proceeding from the throne
of God. Revelation 21, isn't it? A river. A river of mercy. A river of grace. That river
of His Word. A river of blessings. That's
Him. It all flows from Him. My springs,
David said, are in thee. He's the fountain. Come to the
fountain. The water of life. I so thirsted
for thee in this dry and thirsty land. Where no water is. There is no water. There is no
satisfaction in this world, is there? When that woman at the
well, for years, she would come back to that well every day.
Every day, do the same thing. Bring her a water pot. Every
day, same thing. Get that same water. Go home.
Come back. Get that water. Go home. Come back. Go home.
Come back. One day, real water was on the
well, not in it. And he said, this water will
leave you thirsty. But the water I give you shall
be a well spring, springing up within you of joy, of peace,
of comfort." And he gave her this need and this thirst. He
said, Sir, give me this water. He did. It's me. And you know
what she did? Dropped her water pot. Dropped
her water pot. She found true water in the dry
and thirsty land. Is this place of dry and thirsty
land to you, this world. You find any satisfaction in
it? Real satisfaction? Most of you are shaking your
head. Listen to this, Amos 8, 11. I remember this from a boy. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. You know, this is a famine, isn't
it? It's a dry and thirsty place. Listen to this. He said of Jacob,
and I may deal with this Sunday, Moses' song from Deuteronomy
32. The Lord said of Jacob, He said,
I found Jacob in a desert land in a waste, howling wilderness
where no water was. Oh God, I thirst to death. Didn't David say in Psalm 42,
my soul panteth after thee, like a heart panteth after the water
brooks. That's a deer. A deer. Some of you men are hunters.
You know, if a deer is chased by dogs, I've seen them. I've
seen them literally run into the ground. I've seen them in
a body of water. I've seen them in a river with
a dog surrounding them. Their tongue hanging in. Sad. Hounded. They've been hounded by sin,
by Satan, by this world. Oh God, I thirst after that. I need some refreshment. Restore my soul. Still waters. Thirst after thee. Verse 2, look
what he wants to see and hear. Thy power and thy glory. I want
to see thy power and thy glory. God's power and His glory is
His word. It's His gospel. It's His Son. Christ is the power of God, isn't
He? He is the glory of God in His name. God's glory is His mercy, His
truth, His righteousness. That's His power. That's His
glory. Though the heavens declare His glory, and the firmament
showeth His handiwork, yet His person And his redemptive glory
are only seen, look at verse 2, in the sanctuary. See that? In the sanctuary. Those who have
seen his power and glory, who've heard his voice, they've heard
it in the sanctuary. That's where he first heard it
was. And so they continue to long to see his power, the gospel,
and hear his word, and see his glory in Christ. In the sanctuary. It's better than life. It is
life. Those who have seen, long to
see, and will be seen seeking Him in the sanctuary. Those who haven't, won't. It's
as simple as that. It's as simple as that. He says
in verse 3, because thy loving kindness is better than life.
Brother Ed Berry, years ago, another young preacher, he said,
loving kindness is the Old Testament word for grace. It's a wonderful
word, two words, loving, kindness. God is love. God is kind. Kindness
is mercy. Mercy and truth, righteousness
and peace are met together in this one word, loving kindness.
David said, have mercy on me according to your loving kindness.
Where is it? It's in Christ, isn't it? It's
in Christ. Have mercy upon me. Your loving
kindness, your gospel, thy Son, is better than life. Can you
say that? Better than life. Didn't John
say, He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son
hath not life. Whatever a person may have, if
they don't have Christ, they don't have life. A man may be
rich and famous or whatever, and somebody retired, and they
say he's living the good life. No, not if he doesn't know Christ.
He's going to die real soon. Then what? He that believeth
on Christ will never die. And he that hath the Son hath
life more abundant, Christ said. Better than anything in this
life. Can you say that? When the Lord blesses you through
the preaching of the gospel, or your own reading, or just
the fellowship of the saints around, can you not say, when
those times are so blessed, can you not say, this is better than
anything in this life? You think, that's why Peter wanted
to stay right there and build three tabernacles. Let's build
three tabernacles and let's bring all the apostles up here on this
mountain. Let's not go back down in that
pit. This is better than anything in this life. So, he says in verse 3, so my
lips shall praise them. My lips. You see my lips? I see
your lips. How can you praise Him with your
lips covered? You can't. He says this twice. Twice. My lips. So praise them. Loud and clear. When you get old and hard of
hearing, you need to read lips, don't you, Nancy? What are you
saying? Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. This God is our God. He's our
shield. Read my lips. He's our shield. I don't need another one. Right? My lips, these lips are going
to praise Him. I'm going to believe Him. I'm
going to preach His gospel. I'm going to sing His hymns.
I'm going to call unto Him in prayer. These lips. Verse 4,
Thus will I bless thee while I live. Oh, David says this several
times. Listen to this, Psalm 104. Let
me turn it for you. He says this several times. Psalm
104. I've got to get some new glasses. He says in verse 33, I will sing
unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being. I'm going to sing with my lips. Listen to this. Psalm 146 verse
2. Oh, is anybody listening out
there in Mixler? While I live, will I praise the
Lord. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being,
as long as I live. Let my last words be, let my
lips be seen saying, praise the Lord, with my dying breath. If He takes my breath from me,
let the last one be, praise the Lord. Huh? That's why He made
these. Verse 5, My soul shall be satisfied
as with marrow and fatness, marrow and fatness. That's down to the
bone. My soul shall be satisfied with
marrow and fatness. Listen to Isaiah 55. Turn over there, Isaiah 55. Listen
to that. Isaiah 55, he speaks of this
fatness all through the Psalms Isaiah, don't you love these
books? Isaiah 55 verses 1 and 2. Ho,
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath
no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money, without pride. Wherefore, why do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me. Ye
that which is good, let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here your soul shall live. I'll make with you, make an everlasting
covenant with you, even assure mercies of David. Back to Isaiah
25. I love this. You do too. Isaiah
25. This is marvelous. Isaiah 25. Remember this. Isaiah 25 says, where did we
begin? Look at verse 6. In this mountain,
Isaiah 25, 6, shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people,
Jew and Gentile, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the
leaves, of fat things, full of marrow, of wines on the leaves,
well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain. What mountain? Mount Calvary. Mount Zion. The face of the covering
kept The face of the covering cast
over all the people. Remove it! And the veil that
spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory. The Lord God will wipe away tears
from off all faces. The rebuke of His people shall
He take away from off all the earth, for the Lord has spoken
it. It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God we've
waited for, and He will save us. This is the Lord we've waited
for. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Back to the text. My soul shall
be satisfied with marrow and fatness. My mouth shall praise
Thee with joyful lips. How many times do you have to
tell it? Alright, look at verse 6. When
I remember Thee on my bed, that's when I'll really praise Thee
and meditate on Thee in the night watches. When I remember Thee.
That's when I'll praise Thee. When I remember Thee. If you're
lying there thinking of the Lord's mercy, lying on your bed at times
thinking on the Lord's mercy and goodness, it ought to fill
our hearts with praise and it ought to elicit a word of praise
from our mouth. God's long suffering and watch
care over us, loving kindness and all that. Our fears, our
lack of faith, our complaints and murmuring against God are
because we don't know God very well. Number one. You know that? Our fears, our lack of faith,
our murmuring, complaining because we don't know God very well.
We don't believe Him. We don't trust Him. I tell you,
it's one of the most pathetic displays of the lack of faith
I've seen in the church in my lifetime. It's going on right
now. Does anybody believe God right
now? We don't know God very well if
we're full of fear and full of worry and full of doubts and
all. We just don't know Him very well. He's our God. He's our guide even unto death.
Underneath us are the everlasting arms. We're in his hands. We're
in his heart. Now David says, when I meditate
on thee in the night watchers, and let me bring it up again.
You know how many enemies David had? Everybody wanted him dead. You know how many enemies the
Lord Jesus Christ had? From the cradle to the grave,
they wanted him dead. Moses, they wanted him dead.
The most powerful ruler and nation in the world wanted God's people
dead. All of them. Couldn't touch them. They couldn't touch them. One
king sent a whole army of chariots after one man. When we don't believe God. I'm
talking myself. Sometimes if I act aggravated
at you, I'm actually speaking to me. All of us. We're all the same. You talking
to me, preacher? Yes, I am. And I know you because you're
just like me. What's wrong with me? Why can't I trust the Lord? I don't have nearly as many worries
and fears and perils as Paul did in his journey. Not even
close. We need to read Hebrews 11 about
every day. A great cloud of witnesses of
people. You know all the way they went
through? When I remember thee on my bed."
You're lying there in bed in safety, okay? The day's gone
well. The whole day's gone well. It's of the Lord's mercies we're
not concerned. His mercies anew every morning. His compassions,
they fail not. The day is gone. You've been
fed and watered and housed and you're lying there in peace and
safety on your bed and you're okay. You're not in the hospital.
What should we be doing? Thank you, Lord. Thank you. But we forget past mercies. I'm 65 years old. I've got five more years. Some of you 45, 55, 65, 75, 85. We forget. We have forgotten
past mercies. We get afraid. And full of unbelief,
we've forgotten that all our days He has kept us, right? All our days. What's wrong with
us? One time the Lord said to His
disciples, why is it you have no faith? He said that to them. They had faith, but they acted
like they didn't have any. And He said that to them. Why
is it you have no faith? We're very sorry about you. Isn't
it a good thing that salvation is not based on our faith? Isn't
it? A great deal of peace and assurance
and all that is based on how much you believe and trust the
Lord. But your safety doesn't depend on you believing Him.
He's going to keep you whether you believe Him or not. You know
that? That Psalm, trust and obey is
no other way to be happy in Jesus. If we trust in the Lord, what's
that song? Talks about, he'll abide with
the steel. He always abides with it. He
always keeps us, whether we believe him or trust him or not. The
times we're afraid, David said, what times I'm afraid? And he
was afraid. He said, I need to trust the
Lord, don't I? And go to sleep. Go to sleep. Because thou hast been my help,
verse 7. You've been my help. The Lord
is our helper, isn't He? The Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Of what shall
I be afraid? Huh? Huh? The Lord is the strength of my
life. Of whom shall I be afraid? No
host shall encamp against me. Huh? My heart shall not fear.
No war arise against me. In this I am confident. This
God is my God. He'll be my guide even unto death.
Right? God can't lie, and he tells us
this over and over again. You've been my help, therefore,
David seems to gather himself in the shadow of thy wings, will
I rejoice. We're under his wings. I've got chick with those little
babies. Yes, we are. We're on his wings. He gathers us up on eagle's wings. One of these days he's going
to come for us. And boy, you talk about mountin' up on wings,
we're gonna fly away. He's gonna come for us. Until then, nothing moves, and
nothing harms us. Except what he sends. And then,
when the time comes, it's all good. You've been my help, and
in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Rejoice! How many times does he tell us
this? Rejoice. And again I say, rejoice. Fear
not. Rejoice. Fear not, Jacob. Rejoice. You're mine. Fear not. Fret not. Be not faithless. But believe
Him. Remember past mercy. Remember today's mercy. Rejoice. The Lord is King. Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after
that. That word means close. Follows close. You're afraid
to get too far away. I'd stick close. I want to stick
close. My soul follows heart, sticks close to my God and what
he's saying. Do you? Especially in times of
seeming uncertainty and lots of fears and chaos and trouble
and all that. Don't you dive into this more
closely than ever? Don't you hold to this more closer
than ever, if you will. The closer to God, the safer
you'll feel. You won't be any safer, but you'll
feel safer. You know that? You'll have more peace. Draw
nigh unto God. He'll draw nigh unto you. And
God is safety. God is peace. God is comfort. God is love. God is mercy. God
is joy. God is truth. God is all these
things. God is rock. God is water. Closer you are
to Him. If not, you're going to be out
there in a dark and dry and thirsty land. Feel all alone. Be afraid. Thy soul followeth
hard after that. Well, look at this. Verse 8,
I love this. Thy right hand upholdeth me.
Brothers and sisters, my times are in His hands. There was an
old song we used to sing, didn't we? Mother, my times are in thy
hand. Remember that, Jeanette? And
it says, my God, I want them there. That's where I want them. I wish them there. They are.
Whether we can see his hand or not, we're in his hand. Our very
breath is. And he's upholding us. He's upholding us. Those that seek my soul, Now
he really is getting some confidence here, some assurance. Those that
seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the
earth. Satan is the adversary of all of God's people. And his
devils, demons, are our adversary. And the world is too. And the worst adversary perhaps
of all is this old man inside of us. And we think he's going
to bring us down. But no, the Lord said, all these
adversaries, they're all going to fall. Brother Ed read Psalm
64. That's a powerful psalm. Talking
about all the enemies of the Lord. They shoot at me, David
said, but the Lord's going to shoot at them. He's going to
bring them down. They want to bring me down. But
he said, the Lord's going to bring them down. Awful way. They
go into the lower parts of the air. Verse 10, they shall fall
by the sword. There will be a portion for foxes.
Now, a few of you men were in the military. I don't know if
you were ever in battle. David was. I mean, he saw lots
of bloodshed. His own blood was shed. He saw
lots of enemies coming after him with swords and spears and
bows and arrows. you know, awful instrument. He
saw carnage like we'll never see. He saw bodies laying everywhere. Bodies laying everywhere, rotting.
You know what they did with those bodies? Nothing. They left them. And then the foxes, and the coyotes,
and the hounds, the wild dogs, and the wolves came out and just
had a feast. Man, it sounds awful doesn't
it? David saw that. He saw so many
people come after him. And he saw them lying out there. And he walked in safety. And
he lived and died. An old man died in his bed with
peace. He saw thousands of bodies all
around him. Ten thousand shall fall at my
right hand. There will be a portion for foxes. There's no peace for the wicked,
and there's not going to be any dignity in their death either. Foxes. And there's so much to
be looked at in the foxes. One time the Lord, they said
to the Lord, Herod wants you, and He said, you go tell that
fox that this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to preach today
and tomorrow, and the third day I'm going to rise again. I'm
going to rise up to my throne and go where that fox is going
to stand before me. And wish he'd never been born.
Fear the Lord. Let's fear the Lord. Let's rejoice
with trembling. Oh my. But the King. Now why does he, he rarely calls
himself the King. It's always a small K. Why did
he refer to himself as the King here? The King shall rejoice
in God. Why? Because he went from being
a shepherd following sheep to the king of Israel. What an amazing
story David had. And God reminded him of that.
Look where I found you and look where I put you. And everything
that happened to him in his lifetime. All the enemies and all of his
own sins and failures. All of his own foolishness. All
of his old running, afraid, and being wandering like a lost sheep.
All of his own foolishness that brought him into such trouble.
Yet he remained king until the day he died. Because why? Because God said so. And God
made a sure covenant with him. And many wanted to depose him,
unseat him. But no, God said he's my king. And, it's amazing, there are
not many wise men of the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
to call. How many kings do you know that know the Lord? Down
through the history. Read the history of mankind.
How many kings knew the Lord? Well, it's not impossible to
do. David said, this king, by God's
decree, by God's power, this king, no thanks to me, and not
my might, not my power, but his. This fellow that is now king
rejoices in God. So what about the lowest peasant?
Don't you wish our king knew the Lord and rejoiced in Him?
Don't you wish there was a man where they wouldn't get five
votes if he knew the Lord? This king will rejoice in God.
Everyone that sweareth by Him shall glory. Everyone that sweareth
by Him shall glory. Whosoever believeth and trusteth."
This is the term he's actually using. The day that blesses themselves
in the Lord. Not to swear, but to say, bless
the Lord, O my soul. Like a vow of faith in Him. Everyone that sweareth by Him
shall glory. Everyone that trusts Him. Everyone
that believes Him. Everyone that confesseth Him
with the mouth. that He is my God, He is my Lord, He is my
salvation, this God is my God, shall glory. Where? In Him. In the Lord, nothing else. Glory
in Him. But the mouth of them that speak
lies. Brother, aren't you tired of
all the lies we hear? Aren't you tired of it? And I've
told you before, I'm just not listening to it anymore. I'm
just not going to. I've got better things to do. I'm tired of it,
aren't you? Well, he said, it's all going
to stop. Every mouth is going to be stopped.
All the lies are going to be stopped. And the Lord alone shall
be exalted in that day. And those that know Him say,
Amen. Okay, stand with me. Our God and our Father and our
Lord Jesus Christ and blessed Holy Spirit, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of our God, we bow, we praise,
we pray, we praise and we give thanks. Bless your holy name,
O Lord. We swear in the sense that David
said, O Lord, that we want to We want to believe you. We want
to trust in you. With our mouths, we want to bless ourselves in
the God of truth in this earth. We want to hold forth His name.
Not like men who curse His name, but say with David, this God
is my God. I praise Him. I thank Him. He
hath done all things well, and I trust Him. mouth's confession, praise of
our lips, and our hearts' felt belief. And O Lord, forgive us
our unbelief. We do believe. Help our unbelief.
We pray by Thy Word, in Christ's name. Amen. You're dismissed.