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Hungering for More of God | Psalm 63 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul's paradox
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  of love, scorned by the all too satisfied religionist, but
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  justified and happy experience by the children of burning
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  hearts. This famous quote from AW Tozer,
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  the renowned author and long standing pastor of a church in
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  the South Side of Chicago, captures one of the greatest
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  paradoxes in the Christian life. On one hand, a believer has
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  already found God, meaning they have encountered him, they have
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  experienced him, they've been saved by him.
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  But on the other hand, the pursuit continues of him,
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  meaning even after finding God or being found by him, there is
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  a deep longing and desire to know Him, to experience him, to
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  grow in a relationship with Him. That being said, that desire is
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  not universally shared by all professing Christians.
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  Tozer calls them the religionists, those who have a
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  basic knowledge of God and are satisfied in that place, feeling
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  as though they have already arrived spiritually.
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  Whereas you have those that he calls the children of burning
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  hearts, who have this overwhelming desire and longing
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  to know him more and more. And to those believers, it's not
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  a burdensome obligation, It's the natural response of being
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  exposed to the glories that they have seen in the Lord Jesus
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  Christ. Now, is what Tozer said
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  something that you can find in your Bibles?
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  I say absolutely. And we can go through the entire
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  New Testament to find examples and exhortations of this truth,
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  but nothing demonstrates this reality more, I believe, than
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  the book of Psalms. And within the book of Psalms,
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  one of the most notable chapters that paints this paradox is
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  Psalm 63. And I invite you to turn there
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  with me as we read it in its entirety.
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  Psalm 63, a Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of
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  Judah. Oh God, you are my God.
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  Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, My
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  flesh faints for you. As in a dry and weary land where
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  there is no water, so I have looked upon you in the
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  sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
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  Because your steadfast love is better than life.
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  My lips will praise you, so I will bless you.
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  As long as I live in your name, I will lift up my hands, my soul
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  will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will
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  praise you with joyful lips when I remember you upon my bed and
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  meditate on you in the watches of the night.
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  For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wing I
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  will sing for joy. My soul clings to you.
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  Your right hand upholds me, but those who seek to destroy my
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  life shall go down into the depths of the earth.
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  They shall be given over to the power of the sword.
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  They shall be a portion for jackals.
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  But the king shall rejoice in God.
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  All who swear by him shall exalt, for the mouths of liars
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  will be stopped. Lord, it is my sincere prayer as
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  we come together as a family to expound Your word that it would
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  enlarge our hearts. Again, Lord, it has to be Your
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  power. It has to be Your work in us.
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  It has to be an intervention from heaven if there's going to
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  take any change in our hearts. So we ask for that.
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  That would be our portion today, and we thank you for it in Jesus
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  name, Amen. There are two vital details that
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  you and I have to acknowledge if we want to make the most out of
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  this song. The first one is a
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  superscription, the heading of this Psalm.
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  We read it, but look at it again, a Psalm of David right
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  before verse one when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
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  Now people debate, was this when David was running away from King
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  Saul? Or is this when David was
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  running away from his son Absalom?
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  You can make a case for both, but I think there's a clue that
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  tells us that this was happening while David was fleeing from his
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  father-in-law. Look at verse 11 again.
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  But the king shall rejoice in God Speaking of himself.
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  The king shall reduce. Well, David wasn't a king while
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  Saul was occupying the throne. Obviously.
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  So I believe that's a helpful way of helping us understand
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  that this is David when he was running for his life from Saul.
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  Either way, he penned this while in the wilderness and we're
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  going to make reference to that throughout this text because
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  it's going to bring a depth to some of these statements and
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  declarations. The second vital detail that we
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  have to grasp here is that I believe there is a structure to
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  this piece. Why I say that is because if you
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  read carefully, David mentions his soul three times, and when
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  you look at it even more carefully, you'll realize that
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  every time he makes reference to his soul, there's a progression
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  that's taking place. Look again with me and verse one
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  to the last part. My soul thirsts for you.
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  Look at verse 5. My soul will be satisfied.
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  And come here to verse 8. My soul clings to you.
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  Do you see it? Should we expect any less for us
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  as an invitation? Should we expect anything for us
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  who obey? What David models here?
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  That when you seek after God, he's not talking about seeking
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  God in salvation. He's saved.
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  He's seeking after God, and when he seeks after God, he is
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  satisfied in his soul. And when he is experiencing that
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  satisfaction, he realizes I still have a responsibility and
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  that's the cling to my God so that I can continually drink
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  from this. Well, in order for the
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  satisfaction to be sustained. Oh yes, there's a development
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  taking place here and I want to organize our thoughts with those
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  points, meaning they serve as headings and we're going to
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  collect our reflections under these three headings.
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  So this day you came to church to hear about 3 things.
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  You came to hear about the seeking soul.
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  The second thing is the satisfied soul.
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  And lastly. The clinging soul, The seeking
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  soul. Verse 10 God, you are my God.
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  Earnestly I seek you, my soul thirst for you.
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  What a way to set up this prayer, he says.
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  Oh God, he doesn't just address God as God, but as.
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  His God. Oh, God, you are my God.
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  The Lord is not just a concept to David.
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  He's not just a distant figure. No, no, no, no.
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  He's a living reality, a personal companion in his
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  everyday life. Don't you dare make the mistake
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  that by David saying oh God, you are my God.
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  That he is making merely a Pledge of Allegiance, as though
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  he was saying I believe in God and though I live in a time
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  where there are many, many, many gods that are acknowledged, I
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  ascribe to the God of Israel. It's much more meaningful than
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  that. He's not just declaring that God
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  is the true God, that God is infinite.
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  He's declaring that God is intimate.
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  He's my God. He's personal.
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  In other words, the way you can summarize his his understanding
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  here is that God is knowable and he is approachable.
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  I belong to him, He belongs to me.
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  He is my God, and that's why in the next part he says earnestly,
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  I seek you. Now the the word earnestly in
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  the Hebrews is interesting because it can be translated as
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  early, like early in the day, or diligently so.
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  If you have an English translation like the King James
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  for example, it would read and it would be rendered as early.
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  Will I seek you? Either way, the same conclusion
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  stands. David, in his heart of hearts,
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  saw the seeking of God. As his top priority, whether
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  it's early or it's earnestly, what he is reflecting here is
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  that this is my ultimate desire. And that longing was so real to
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  him that he defines it as thirst.
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  Earnestly. I seek you.
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  My soul thirsts for you. That's helpful because all of us
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  in here know what it's like to be thirsty.
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  Whether you're exercising, working outside, running from
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  meeting to meeting. When your mouth is parched, it
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  occupies your mind. And even in the midst of
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  activity, you are periodically planning, how am I going to take
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  care of this dry mouth of mine? How am I going to quench this?
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  And in the same way, listen very carefully.
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  When the soul longs to know God more deeply, it cannot be
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  satisfied with where it's at, in the same way that a thirsty
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  person will not be content remaining thirsty.
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  My soul thirsts for God. How does that look like?
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  Lord, I know that You have opened my eyes to Your Word in
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  the past, and I thank You for all those precious moments where
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  You have manifested Your sweet presence to me.
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  But I want more. I'm desperate for more, I'm
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  thirsting for more and so intense can that desire be not
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  just in David, but in any person who has tasted of the goodness
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  of the Lord that this Holy Spirit reveals an extraordinary
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  phenomenon at the end of verse 1, something that can occur.
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  Look what he says here after he says my soul thirsts for you, my
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  flesh faints for you. He didn't say my soul faints for
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  you. He said my flesh faints for you.
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  How can that be? Because when you read your New
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  Testament, you learn very quickly that the flesh is
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  naturally opposed to God and to the things of God.
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  And Galatians 517 we're. Told that the flesh is against
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  the Spirit, wages war against the Spirit.
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  And then you read this, for example, and you discover
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  something different. Not that the flesh is against
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  the things of God, but it's actually in concert.
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  Not my soul faints for you. No, no, no, no, no, my flesh
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  faints for you. Do we have a contradiction here?
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  No, there is no contradiction in the Bible.
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  You have a deep, deep theological truth that is
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  experiential. He says here.
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  In other words, our longing to know the Lord can become so
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  fierce that it consumes every part of who you are, silencing
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  the lust of the flesh in the process.
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  Your soul can become so fervent, and your.
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  Desire to know God, that he can overpower the impulses of the
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  carnal man. And some of you can remember
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  even when you were first saving, you first were exposed to the
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  mercy of God, the reality of who Jesus Christ was.
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  It just envelops you. You feel like you're on a
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  different planet and you came from a different planet almost.
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  It doesn't have to remain in the first parts of your salvation.
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  David here is in the wilderness experiencing one of the greatest
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  hardships of his life, yet he can say my flesh, every part of
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  who I am is committed to this cause of knowing God.
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  You know what the appropriate follow up question would be to
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  this truth? How can I arrive at that place?
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  You're saying that this is possible for me?
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  Then how can I get there? And I believe David provides a
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  very helpful clue at the end of verse one.
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  Notice what he says after my flesh faints for you.
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  As in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
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  Can you see it, David? There sitting in the wilderness,
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  looking out to that barren land, dry and cracked up?
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  And the thought came to him. This is what my soul is like,
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  without the ever increasing presence of God.
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  In the same way that water is the only thing that can bring
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  life to this desert. So only God can give my soul the
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  vitality and delight that it craves.
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  My soul thirsts for you. And listen, if you want to know
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  what Davis anger because I'm going to get to this point in a
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  moment. I don't want to get ahead of
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  myself. But if you want to to be able to
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  look at these verses and say I know what that's like.
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  I know what David is speaking about here.
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  I I argue that what you find at the end of verse one is the
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  first step for you to even entertain the possibility of it.
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  What's the first step? You have to be convinced of the
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  same truth that David spells out here, that nothing in this life
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  will actually and truly satisfy you.
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  Yes, there are things in God's creation that satiate the
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  material parts of who we are, but listen to this.
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  Only closeness with Jesus Christ can address the deepest.
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  Part of who you are. You're not just material, you're
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  not just physical. You have a spirit, you have a
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  soul and only nearness with Christ, only communion with
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  Christ can touch that part. If you don't even believe that
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  to begin with, if you, if you don't have that kind of
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  foundation in your understanding how your relationship God works,
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  you'll never, you'll be a wanderer forever.
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  David is convinced in the same way that I'm looking here and
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  there is nothing there is not. It's barren.
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  I look out to this world with all its shiny toys and all its
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  trinkets. It does nothing for me.
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  It's surface level. It bounces off of me.
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  It's there for a moment and evaporates the next day.
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  Oh, I need God. If it's possible to know God,
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  then I I thirst for that. I need that.
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  I'm seeking for that, and I can hear it.
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  Now some might be wondering, OK, you're talking about thirsting
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  for God and seeking it, but what does that actually look like in
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  practice? I'm glad you asked.
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  Look at verse 2. So I have looked upon you in the
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  sanctuary, beholding your power and glory, because your
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  steadfast love is better than life.
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  My lips will praise you. So David here is reflecting.
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  He's recollecting. He's exiled in the desert, and
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  he remembers. He remembers something that
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  stimulates this seeking and this thirsting.
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  He remembers the days where he would go to the House of God,
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  because he's speaking about worshipping at the temple here.
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  He remembers going to the House of God and beholding.
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  Something of his power and glory.
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  I wonder what that looked like for David.
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  I'm sure it had something to do with him witnessing the
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  elaborate protocols of the sacrificial system where he
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  would see all those beasts. Slain in the.
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  Bloodshed. And as he was processing all of
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  this, he he stood in awe of the holiness of God.
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  And as he considered further and looked at these unworthy
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  priests, imperfect vessels doing the ministry, he stood back and
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  he reflected on the absolute mercy of God to use such people,
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  to be able to mediate and to come into such contact with his
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  presence. I wonder if he considered the
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  ark of the covenant that was behind that veil.
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  And more than being scared about it, he was actually moved by it,
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  because for God to create that space demonstrated to the people
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  that he longed to come and dwell with man.
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  And so he was, he was enthralled by the love of God.
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  I what? I have looked upon you in the
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  sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
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  David experienced something. So again, don't make the mistake
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  that David, when he would go to the House of God, was analyzing
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  things doctrinally and trying to have a more accurate theological
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  understanding. Theology is important, but David
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  is doing more than studying God. He has truly savored him.
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  This isn't just head stuff. This is heart stuff.
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  This is like my soul has moved. You're saying, How do you know
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  that? Look at verse 3.
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  Because your steadfast love is better than life.
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  That is not the vocabulary of somebody who just studies and
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  can give you good definitions. That is the language of somebody
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  who has come into contact with the truth in a personal way.
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  Because your steadfast love is better than life.
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  Life is not life without God's love being experienced and
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  known. What is life?
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  This is what he is saying. And the point that I'm trying to
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  make is if you want to know what it means to seek God, if you
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  want that seeking soul to be activated and to experience Him
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  the way that David experienced them, then here's what it
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  includes. It includes beholding Him.
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  Beholding Him to the degree that the conclusions that you make
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  from what you see in God's Word primarily apply to you on an
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  individual basis. And here's what's so glorious.
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  This invitation to behold God's power, His glory, to taste His
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  love, is not reserved for kings and Old Testament prophets.
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  In fact, you and I have greater access.
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  What did Paul say in 2nd Corinthians 318?
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  And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,
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  are being transformed into the same image from 1° of glory to
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  another. This comes from the Lord who is
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  the Spirit. So you and I also have access to
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  behold the glory of the Lord and Christ.
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  Remove the veil from our faces, from our eyes so that we can see
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  clearly beholding. Can I just pause here and do
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  something? I want to pause here and
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  actually kind of show you by way of example what that might look
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  like so personally. Not my sermon prep, no, no, no.
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  My sermon prep is a different thing.
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  My personal reading, my personal beholding of God's Word.
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  I'm in the gospel of Luke. I started in Genesis.
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  I end in Revelation. I don't keep count.
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  I'm not trying to follow a pace. If it takes me a year, 10 years
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  to go through the Bible once more, doesn't matter to me.
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  I'm not counting. You ask me.
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  I don't know how many times I've read through it.
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  I'm not interested in counting numbers.
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  I'm interested with meeting with God every time I come to His
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  Word. But I'm now in the book of Luke
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  and in Luke 1, I was this is earlier this week I was looking
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  at Mary's song and in the same chapter Zacharias prophecy, the
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  father of John the Baptist. So I want you to just see, come
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  with me to Luke chapter 1. And this is just person again,
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  not sermon prep, just reading my Bible before the day starts.
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  Look at Luke 1. 50. I discovered a few things that
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  moved me not just in the moment but listen revelations of God
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  that have kept me full till today.
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  Luke 150 Look what Mary says. And his mercy is for those who
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  fear Him from generation to generation.
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  So I read. That, and I thought, that's
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  wonderful. Yeah.
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  His mercy is for those who fear him.
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  And then I'm reading through the same chapter and I come to the
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  Zacharias prophecy over his son. And look what it says here in
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  Luke 174. He talks about Christ earlier,
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  talks about John the Baptist later in the same text.
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  But notice that we, being delivered from the hand of our
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  enemies, might serve him without fear.
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  So here's what happened just two minutes ago.
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  I'm reading a merry song and I learned verse 50.
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  And His mercy is for those who fear Him.
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  And then I come back here, the 7174 of chapter one, that we may
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  be delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him
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  without fear. Well, which one is it?
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  Do you want me to have fear or no?
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  No Fear. And then what dawned on me was
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  one of the verses from that glorious hymn, Amazing Grace,
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  and I think most people miss it. Twas grace that taught my heart
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  to fear and grace my fears relieved.
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  Another paradox, if you will. What is John Newton saying
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  there? This grace that I've experienced
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  has caused my heart to fear you the way God wants you to fear a
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  reverential awe of Him. And that same grace has relieved
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  me. From all other illegitimate
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  fears. So you have Mary saying here,
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  yes, his mercies for those who fear him.
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  And then in the very same chapter you have a promise that
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  Christ has come, that we might serve him without fear doesn't
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  end there. I kept reading.
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  Look at verse 76 of Luke 1 as he now turns to John his son, And
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  you, child will be called the prophet of the Most High, for
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  you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways to give
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  knowledge of salvation to His people and the forgiveness of
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  their sins. Pause there.
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  This is not a point for this message, but just worth noting
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  just in case. Notice that John was called to
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  give the message of the forgiveness of people's sins.
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  What was John's favorite word in his sermons?
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  Repent. So for those who think that
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  repentance is not necessary for salvation, what are you going to
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  do with this? Because by the Holy Spirit he
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  was called to give knowledge of salvation to his people.
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  When John opened his mouth, you know what he said?
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  Repent. That's not the part that moved
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  me. Verse 78 because of the tender
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  mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on
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  high. You know what touched me?
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  The Holy Spirit could have simply said in 78 because of the
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  mercy of our God, but he included a word before it.
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  Because of the tender mercy of our God.
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  And there I am on my little chair in my office, in my house,
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  and I'm looking at that word after I was just wrestling and
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  dealing with that fear. Fear him.
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  Fear Him. Don't fear.
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  Yes, I come to this and I realized something about God's
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  mercy. It's not just there, it's
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  tender. What does tender mean?
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  So I look it up. You know what it means.
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  Ready for this bowels saying what's the point of that?
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  His mercy comes from the inside. It overflows from his heart.
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  It it's not merely a duty, it's not forced mercy, it's not
• 25:27
  superficial, it's not surface level.
• 25:29
  It comes from it's a feeling mercy.
• 25:31
  God has he, he has mercy and he feels merciful.
• 25:36
  Ready for this towards me. So what are you?
• 25:42
  What are you doing? Why are you explaining all this?
• 25:43
  I'm trying to show you, at least to the best of my ability, what
• 25:45
  beholding looks like Beholding him.
• 25:50
  So there I am. You said, well, you're a pastor.
• 25:51
  You. No, no, no, no, no.
• 25:52
  There's nothing to do with being a pastor because this isn't
• 25:55
  sermon prep time. That's later in the week.
• 25:58
  And I can show you markings in my Bible from the days when I
• 26:00
  was a college student and when I was working in advertising where
• 26:04
  the beholding was taking place. This is available to any of us
• 26:08
  where you look at these things. And it's not just OK, I read my
• 26:11
  book. No, it's beholding.
• 26:13
  And then you're moved by it and you're drawn to it.
• 26:17
  And then what happens? Now God speaks to you, and now
• 26:19
  you speak to him. Lord, help me believe that your
• 26:23
  mercy is tender for me. Like your heart is moved when
• 26:27
  I'm broken in my sin. When I seek you, help me really
• 26:31
  believe that you feel tenderly. And help me understand that you
• 26:36
  have mercy for those who fear you.
• 26:37
  So help me have this reverential of you.
• 26:39
  That's what it looks like. And you go about your day and
• 26:44
  you do your things and you do your hobbies, but you're still
• 26:47
  meditating on those things. And when you're when your mind
• 26:50
  goes into default space, it rests there, the seeking soul.
• 26:58
  And you do that long enough and you practice it and you believe
• 27:01
  that it can work and you'll come to the next point.
• 27:03
  And that's the satisfied soul. Come back to Psalm 63.
• 27:09
  Notice what he says here in verse 5.
• 27:16
  My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my
• 27:20
  mouth will praise you with joyful lips.
• 27:22
  Listen, David compares the gratification that comes from
• 27:25
  beholding to sitting at a table before the most exquisite,
• 27:30
  delicious feast you can. Translate his point in the
• 27:35
  following way when the Lord manifests His presence to me.
• 27:39
  It's like feeding at a banquet and he gives us a glimpse of the
• 27:46
  incredible impact of of what it's like for the Lord to open
• 27:52
  your eyes, open your ears, open your heart to Him beyond.
• 27:58
  What you knew in the gospel, The gospel is paramount.
• 28:01
  The gospel sustains us. Everything stems from the
• 28:03
  gospel. But deeper things about who he
• 28:04
  is. When you taste it and you taste
• 28:06
  it and you taste it, look at this impact.
• 28:08
  Look what he says here in verse 6.
• 28:10
  When I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the
• 28:13
  watches of the night. Here's what's so significant.
• 28:17
  David is writing this again. Remember the heading of the
• 28:19
  Psalm. He's in the wilderness, he's in
• 28:21
  the desert, he's sleeping in random caves.
• 28:27
  And as he's reminiscing, being in the wilderness, being in
• 28:30
  exile, Listen, he's, he's cut off from virtually everything,
• 28:33
  but you know what he is not looking back to?
• 28:37
  He's not aching for the comforts of his palace.
• 28:44
  He's not remembering the taste of royal delicacies.
• 28:49
  He's not even rehearsing the relationships and the
• 28:52
  interactions that he had with people that he had to walk away
• 28:55
  from when he had to leave into the wilderness.
• 28:57
  None of that. What is he thinking about?
• 28:59
  At the end of the day, when the stillness of the night comes and
• 29:03
  all the busyness slows down and it's just you and your soul with
• 29:07
  your heavy head on that pillow, what is he thinking about?
• 29:10
  He's reflecting on past testimonies of his walk with God
• 29:15
  and it's only causing him to want more testimonies.
• 29:18
  That's what he's saying here. He's saying, how do you know
• 29:22
  that? Because look what he says in
• 29:23
  verse 7. For you have been my help.
• 29:28
  You've been my help. This is what he's reflecting on
• 29:30
  as he's laying there. I I'm remembering the times when
• 29:33
  the Lord has intervened in my life.
• 29:35
  Beyond coincidence. Beyond a sermon.
• 29:38
  Beyond. What I've heard from other
• 29:40
  people know I have my own testimonies of God coming
• 29:42
  through, and the thought of it alone is satisfying me and it's
• 29:46
  causing me to want more. But it's the second part of
• 29:54
  verse seven that deserves our attention.
• 29:58
  For you have been my help. In the shadow of your wings I
• 30:03
  will sing for joy. If you read this over and over
• 30:09
  again, the whole Psalm, you'll observe something.
• 30:11
  You'll observe that there's numerous mentions of praising
• 30:16
  God in it. So let's revisit it.
• 30:18
  Look at verse three. What does he say?
• 30:22
  Because your steadfast love is better than life.
• 30:24
  My lips will praise you. My lips will praise you.
• 30:28
  Look at verse 4. So I will bless you as long as I
• 30:31
  live. Look at verse 5, the second
• 30:34
  part, My mouth will praise you with joyful lips.
• 30:38
  And finally, verse 7, I will sing for joy.
• 30:42
  I will sing for joy. I will praise you.
• 30:44
  I will bless you. Or he even goes beyond that to
• 30:47
  something that might make some people uncomfortable.
• 30:49
  He says I will lift my hands in your name.
• 30:54
  What's happening here? There's a clear connection and
• 30:58
  here's what I want to say. In love, there are well meaning
• 31:00
  believers who, if they are honest, struggle to relate what
• 31:02
  David is expressing here because what he is actually writing
• 31:06
  about is spontaneous praise and heartfelt joy.
• 31:12
  It's one thing to sing, it's another thing to sing with joy.
• 31:16
  He's singing with joy here and he can't help himself and listen
• 31:20
  it. It genuinely, genuinely breaks
• 31:23
  my heart. I'm fully aware that we are
• 31:26
  living in a day where our land is plagued with biblical
• 31:28
  illiteracy. I believe in the.
• 31:31
  I believe you need to get back to truth.
• 31:33
  Truth Trump's over everything you're feeling, your emotions,
• 31:35
  your experience. I'm there, but it breaks my
• 31:38
  heart also to learn of believers who have very little feeling in
• 31:43
  their religion. Some of those believers have
• 31:49
  been taught that having feelings that are stirred within you or
• 31:54
  even expressed is dangerous and should be discouraged.
• 31:58
  Meanwhile, you have other believers who listen.
• 32:00
  They believe the gospel, they believe in the saving message of
• 32:04
  Jesus Christ, but they find themselves in mechanical motions
• 32:09
  and they can't seem to break free.
• 32:12
  This joy stuff, this songs of praise being overcome by the
• 32:18
  revelation of who God is. That's foreign to many people.
• 32:22
  And to some people it's even offensive.
• 32:24
  They they came from a certain denomination of background where
• 32:26
  it's like, let's look down upon, OK, how do you read the Psalms?
• 32:30
  Like how do you do it? It's like offensive to read it
• 32:34
  with a monotone voice. How it's like it's, it's, it's
• 32:37
  has life in it, emotion in it, and emotions are not sinful.
• 32:43
  They are gifts from God. Can they lead you into sin?
• 32:45
  You better believe it. Can they cause you to not trust
• 32:47
  the truth? Yes.
• 32:48
  Can they betray your convictions?
• 32:50
  Absolutely. But what a joy it is when they
• 32:52
  line up with the truth. That's God's will.
• 32:58
  And does a spirit provide any kind of instructions for those
• 33:01
  who find themselves in such a spiritual rut?
• 33:04
  Yes, he does. Look carefully at verse 7 again.
• 33:08
  For you have been my help, For you have been my help.
• 33:12
  And in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
• 33:15
  Where does he say that he experiences this ability to sing
• 33:18
  for joy in the shadow of God's wings?
• 33:22
  God doesn't have literal wings. This is poetic.
• 33:25
  Wings speak of protection. Wings speak of power.
• 33:29
  Wings speak of ability. Sure, but that's not what he's
• 33:31
  even getting at. Being in the shadow of anything
• 33:36
  demands close proximity. I can't stand in your shadow
• 33:42
  even if I'm in the same building as you.
• 33:44
  I can't stand in your shadow even if I'm in the same room as
• 33:47
  you. I can only stand in your shadow
• 33:49
  if I am shoulder to shoulder with you.
• 33:54
  Here's a point that I'm trying to make.
• 33:55
  David could sing. With joy, because he was near
• 34:00
  God, He was close to God. And I was reflecting on this and
• 34:07
  I thought to myself, this is true throughout the Scriptures
• 34:13
  and this is from months ago. There are many verses that you
• 34:16
  read and you should just keep it in your pocket.
• 34:19
  And don't forget about a highlighter.
• 34:21
  Do whatever you need to do because you never know when it
• 34:22
  will come and help. Sometimes I'll help you with
• 34:24
  your sermon, by the way, But can I can I invite you to turn to 1
• 34:28
  little sentence from the book of Job.
• 34:30
  It's it's right by Psalms. So it's not going to take too
• 34:32
  much effort. But go to Job 35 verse 10.
• 34:35
  I was sharing this with some brothers on a Wednesday night.
• 34:46
  We read, but none says, where is God my Maker?
• 34:50
  Who gives songs in the night? It's that second part that
• 34:55
  touches me. What does God do?
• 34:56
  He does many things. You know what He also does?
• 34:58
  He gives songs in the night. I love how He gives it in the
• 35:05
  night, because no matter what you go through the day, if
• 35:09
  you're close to God, close enough where He can reach out
• 35:11
  and give something to you, He'll give you a song.
• 35:14
  At the end of the day, no matter what happened, no matter what
• 35:18
  was taken from you, no matter what burden was added to you,
• 35:21
  God is able to give you a song in the night.
• 35:24
  That's what David is talking about here.
• 35:27
  Even if you're in the wilderness, only God can do
• 35:33
  that. I read a Spurgeon quote where he
• 35:39
  says the following. We read of beds of ivory, but
• 35:45
  beds of piety are far better. We read of beds of ivory, the
• 35:52
  beds of piety are far better. The satisfied soul.
• 36:01
  And the same cause and effect is found in our last point, the
• 36:05
  clinging soul. Notice what he says here in
• 36:09
  verse 8. My soul clings to you.
• 36:13
  Your right hand upholds me. You know what that word cling is
• 36:18
  in the Hebrew. It's the same word found in
• 36:19
  Genesis 224, where we're told that a man shall leave his
• 36:23
  father and his mother and he shall hold fast to his wife.
• 36:28
  Or in the King James shall cleave to his wife.
• 36:32
  Speaks about being glued to somebody.
• 36:35
  And David uses the same word with his relationship with God.
• 36:39
  My soul clings to you. Here's what he's saying.
• 36:45
  Yes, in this season, I have sought you.
• 36:47
  In the past, I have been satisfied.
• 36:50
  In this moment, I'm satisfied. But oh, I know the temptations
• 36:54
  of life that can take me away from this.
• 36:56
  Place so I'm committing myself to yes, seek you and continue to
• 37:01
  seek you and to stay there. I'm clinging to you.
• 37:07
  I want to be near you for the rest of my life.
• 37:10
  And he, he unveils yet another incentive for you to have that
• 37:13
  ambition above all other ambitions.
• 37:15
  No matter what you do, how much money you make, how many
• 37:18
  responsibilities you have, this is possible for all of us.
• 37:21
  And he gives another reason for you to make it a reality.
• 37:26
  Look at verse 8 again. My soul clings to you.
• 37:29
  Here's the outcome of that. Your right hand upholds me.
• 37:34
  So here's what David's saying. Now only does closest to God
• 37:37
  open up. The ability to sing but also
• 37:42
  grants me supernatural strength. Is it not true?
• 37:45
  Listen, is it not true that when there is needless distance
• 37:50
  between you and God, always on our part, needless distance that
• 37:55
  we create, that it always causes us to feel depleted, That there
• 38:00
  is that sense of strength and energy that is drained from us?
• 38:08
  Temptations feel stronger when you are walking at a distance
• 38:13
  from Him. Sin looks shinier, lies become
• 38:18
  louder, irritations become more familiar, and even persecutions
• 38:22
  feel. Harsher.
• 38:27
  And this is so, so crucial for you and I to know because this
• 38:32
  man here who seeks God sets an example for anybody who seeks
• 38:35
  God. If you know how to do that and
• 38:38
  you know that satisfaction and you cling to him, it does not.
• 38:41
  It promises many things, but it does not guarantee you the
• 38:45
  elimination of afflictions. To get the notion that if I walk
• 38:50
  with that kind of walk, it's going to blast away all trials.
• 38:54
  No. Did you read the last two verses
• 38:56
  of this song? Look again.
• 38:57
  Let's read it right after. He talks about my soul clinging
• 39:00
  to you. He says, But those who seek to
• 39:03
  destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth.
• 39:06
  They shall be given over to the power of the sword.
• 39:08
  They shall be a portion for jackals.
• 39:10
  But the king shall rejoice in God.
• 39:12
  All who swear by him shall exalt, for the mouths of liars
• 39:15
  will be stopped. So in the same breath where he
• 39:17
  says I'm pursuing God, David says people are pursuing me.
• 39:25
  Having a close walk with God doesn't delete your problems,
• 39:32
  but it does provide a strength. To endure them.
• 39:35
  My soul clings to you, Your right hand upholds me and it's
• 39:39
  upholding me in this moment while I'm in the wilderness,
• 39:41
  fleeing my enemies who are slandering me, who hate me, who
• 39:44
  actually want to kill me. I know the stability and the
• 39:48
  strength that only can come from you and OK can come from him
• 39:52
  when you're close to him and this incredible.
• 39:57
  Way of life is not only spelled out here, it's found throughout
• 39:59
  the Bible, including the Psalms. And some, some of you have
• 40:02
  probably read some of these verses and thought, what is he
• 40:04
  getting at? Can I give you an example?
• 40:06
  As we're ready to close in a moment, go to Psalm 119.
• 40:10
  Many people believe that this Psalm, which is the largest
• 40:13
  Psalm when the Psalm tree is from David, Psalm 119, verse
• 40:21
  161. So don't go too far.
• 40:23
  Back. Notice what he says here.
• 40:34
  Princess persecute me without cause.
• 40:37
  But my heart stands in awe of your words.
• 40:40
  What? What are those two things have
• 40:44
  to do with each other? Princess are planning my death.
• 40:49
  They're persecuting me. They're lying about me.
• 40:51
  But I stand in awe of your words.
• 40:55
  Seems cryptic. It seems sporadic.
• 40:58
  Doesn't seem cohesive. No, it's actually spirit LED, as
• 41:02
  you know. You know what David is saying
• 41:03
  here. He's confessing that although
• 41:06
  there is leaders who are plotting against him, he's not
• 41:10
  overcome by their threats. He's not shifting by their
• 41:14
  slander. He doesn't feel the heat of
• 41:17
  their hatred. You know why?
• 41:19
  Because he is already captivated by the promises.
• 41:23
  And the presence of the one who is greater than his enemies.
• 41:30
  This man has beheld God long enough, consistently enough.
• 41:32
  He has tasted of the sweetness of who he is, enough so that
• 41:36
  when even Princess have plotted against them, he's unshaken.
• 41:42
  I know the one whom I believe. My soul has seen.
• 41:46
  My soul has tasted. My soul is convinced.
• 41:49
  And I'm captivated and so I'm standing in awe even though
• 41:52
  people want my head. There's reward in this.
• 41:59
  There's life altering truths in this and this kind of calm can
• 42:04
  only be known in a place. Of clinging communion.
• 42:11
  Where's David's strength in this season of his life?
• 42:13
  It's not in retaliation. It's an adoration.
• 42:20
  I love Mary of Bethany. She's there demonstrating one of
• 42:23
  the most beautiful acts of worship in all of the Bible.
• 42:26
  And while she is worshiping the Lord with the revelation that
• 42:29
  he's going to die and I want to anoint him and honor him, you
• 42:32
  have disciples of all people that are criticizing her.
• 42:35
  Doesn't take that much, Mary. We can actually use that for
• 42:38
  other causes. And what I love about that story
• 42:40
  is that when Mary is doing this, she doesn't open her mouth to
• 42:43
  defend herself. Who defends her?
• 42:47
  Jesus defends her. And when you're in that place
• 42:52
  where you love the Lord, you worship the Lord, you honor the
• 42:55
  Lord, it's amazing what he does on your behalf.
• 43:03
  It's amazing how his love is louder than what other people
• 43:07
  say. I don't want to be the Christian
• 43:11
  that with every wind, every attack, every visitor, every
• 43:15
  surprise I'm knocked over. I'm here.
• 43:16
  I don't want that. And I'm, I'm granted here.
• 43:19
  The secret to that strength? Stay close to him, behold him.
• 43:25
  Behold them until those truths are stamped on your eyes so that
• 43:29
  when you see anything or anything comes before you that
• 43:32
  you didn't invite, you see it through the lens of the one that
• 43:34
  you've been staring at. I don't just have that verse,
• 43:41
  the famous verse Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd.
• 43:45
  Have you ever considered verse 5 as we use this text as our
• 43:48
  closing text? Psalm 23, verse 5, You prepare a
• 44:02
  table before me in the presence of my enemies.
• 44:08
  You anoint my head with oil. You know what most people would
• 44:14
  want? You removed my enemies from me,
• 44:18
  so I thank you. That's not what he says.
• 44:25
  God didn't take the enemies away, He just brought a table to
• 44:30
  fellowship with. The Lord does not always remove
• 44:37
  the presence of our foes, the knowledge of their cruel plots,
• 44:40
  or the sting of their sharp slander.
• 44:43
  But He always makes a way for fellowship, even if you're in
• 44:48
  the wilderness and He's with us in the midst of it all.
• 44:54
  And it's in that fellowship that you know of fortification.
• 45:01
  This is possible for each of us in this place.
• 45:05
  You don't have to be a minister to know what I'm speaking about.
• 45:08
  In fact, can I say something that's so sobering?
• 45:10
  There are many ministers who don't know what I'm talking
• 45:13
  about and they might have those letters beside their name and
• 45:17
  have studied years and years and years.
• 45:20
  They've studied God, but they haven't savored Him.
• 45:25
  You could be a construction worker, you could be a stay at
• 45:27
  home mom. You could be working in
• 45:30
  business. You can be an entrepreneur, you
• 45:32
  can be a policeman. You can be anything.
• 45:37
  And this is available to you, the seeking soul.
• 45:41
  How do I even start? Well, you first have to be
• 45:43
  absolutely convinced that no amount of entertainment, no
• 45:46
  amount of traveling, no amount of fashion, no amount of
• 45:49
  improvement on your physical looks, no amount of people that
• 45:52
  you know, the networking, nothing ultimately will satisfy
• 45:56
  you. That's the ABC's of this thing.
• 46:02
  And then beyond that, now you trust God and you seek Him in
• 46:05
  His Word. And you ask?
• 46:06
  Him, the same David who said I'm satisfied as with fat and rich
• 46:10
  food, is the same one who said open my eyes that I may behold
• 46:12
  the wondrous things out of your law.
• 46:13
  I can't do this. Do you know how many times I've
• 46:15
  prayed that prayer? How many times?
• 46:18
  Lord, if you don't satisfy my soul, I know myself enough, I
• 46:23
  will go searching for broken vessels and dirty wells.
• 46:27
  You need to satisfy me. You need to sustain me.
• 46:32
  This needs to become more than just duty and discipline.
• 46:35
  I need the light. Unlock that for me and he's so.
• 46:39
  Faithful. He's so faithful because if he,
• 46:43
  if he didn't do that, I wouldn't be preaching to you today.
• 46:46
  And then when you're there to stay there, to stay there to
• 46:57
  stay close to him. And if you if you drift away,
• 46:59
  come back. And you know well, I've never,
• 47:03
  ever, ever, ever met a genuine Christian.
• 47:05
  Christian who is lukewarm and was happy.
• 47:08
  Have you show me? I've never seen it.
• 47:11
  And they know it well, but they stay there.
• 47:13
  Snap out of it. I know I'm not where I'm
• 47:16
  supposed to be with the Lord. OK, Move.
• 47:20
  What are you waiting for? The table's been set.
• 47:24
  Come to him. Come to him with your dryness.
• 47:27
  Come to him with your indifference.
• 47:28
  Tell him about it. He already knows.
• 47:31
  Not telling him something that's going to surprise him.
• 47:33
  Lord, I'm lukewarm as it can be. I love my job more than you.
• 47:37
  I find more pleasure in basketball, not against sports.
• 47:40
  Don't, don't pin this on me. Don't I know it can go out
• 47:43
  there. No, no, no.
• 47:44
  I'm not against things. I don't want to sound legalistic
• 47:46
  here. I'm not against any of those
• 47:47
  things. What I'm trying to tell you is
• 47:48
  that there's something better than those things.
• 47:50
  That's what I'm saying to you. I Lord, I, I'm just honest.
• 47:57
  But I come to Psalm 63 and I read this language and it's like
• 48:02
  doesn't resonate. Can you show me what it's like
• 48:10
  for my soul to be satisfied as with fat and rich food?
• 48:13
  I don't know how this works. Lead me.
• 48:20
  You know Psalm 23, five where it says the Lord is my shepherd.
• 48:22
  That's all about God's guidance and verse 5 is included.
• 48:26
  So guide me to that table. Like, I want this word to be
• 48:31
  fulfilling. I want prayer to be enjoyable.
• 48:33
  And it's not going to happen every single day.
• 48:35
  It's a fight, I get it. But at least the knowledge of it
• 48:37
  should encourage you to seek after it.
• 48:44
  Ministry is a misery if you don't have what I'm speaking
• 48:50
  about, it is. And ministry becomes tragedy for
• 49:00
  many people because they got caught up in the mechanics of
• 49:03
  serving God and not enjoying Him.
• 49:11
  This is for all of us, and I want you to seek after it today.
• 49:17
  Can we bow our heads? Listen, please, as you're about
• 49:28
  to pray. This is the way to answer.
• 49:33
  This is the way to response. Lord, if this is true, this is
• 49:36
  real, I want it, but I don't know how to do it.
• 49:38
  You have to help me. That's how you do it.
• 49:40
  Let him lead you. Don't strive and and and wrestle
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  and beat yourself up. Now seek God in honesty.
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  And I believe that if you're sincere, you can walk out of
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  here with a fresh motivation. A fresh motivation as people's
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  heads are bowed. If I can ask the praise team to
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  join me because we're going to sing heartfelt songs to the
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  Lord. Just take your time.
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  Please take your time. Oh Lord, how we need you.
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  How my heart needs you, Lord, Oh, deliver us from complacency,
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  God, Lord, by your spirit, renew a hunger for you.
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  Help us know how to navigate through all our responsibilities
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  and all the things that occupy our thoughts.
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  Lord, bring us to the place of thirsting.
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  That even while we're doing things in our mouths, our
• 51:03
  parched, we still think about water.
• 51:05
  Lord, help us be the same way. That through all the things that
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  we have to do, you are ultimately there in our
• 51:10
  meditations, in our longings, Lord.
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  And on those days where it's hard, on those days where we
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  don't feel like our flesh is even close to crying out to you,
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  help us seek you in that place. Say, Lord, I want, I want more
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  than this. Help us know the freedom of
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  being able to communicate that to you.
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  So Lord, if there's anybody here that wants this, Lord, we pray
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  by your Spirit today that this would be the turning point in
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  their lives for those who once knew it before they, they, they
• 51:41
  can say, I know what it's like. I know, but I haven't known that
• 51:44
  in the years. Let today be a new day.
• 51:48
  We pray that your Holy Spirit would do what no, nothing or no
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  one can do. We admit that.
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  And Lord, even now as we sing, may it be with joyful lips, may
• 51:59
  we really bless. Your name may come from the
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  place, because we have beheld your glory today and your power
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  and your steadfast love in Jesus name, Amen.
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  Listen, if you really want to meet with God, you don't have to
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  stand at this point unless you want to.
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  If you want to stay seated with your head down and as they're
• 52:19
  playing and singing over you, you can do that.
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  You can stay seated and talk to the Lord.
• 52:23
  If you want to stand and sing, you can do that as well.
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  There's no rush here. We don't all have to do this
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  this thing the same way we always do it.
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  This is a time to respond to the message.
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  So if you want to stay seated, if you want to stand up, you can
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  do whatever you need to do as long as it's not distracting.
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  Let's spend a little bit time with the Lord before we close
• 52:38
  the service.