Sermon Central
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Desire For God's Presence, Provision & Protection Series
Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Sep 13, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: We all need to be more fervent and less complacent in our pursuit of our relationship with God. Here we can learn how David overcame complacency and ritualistic religion.
DESIRE FOR GOD'S PRESENCE, PROVISION & PROTECTION
The freedom to be transparent before God, to express to Him exactly how you feel, is an important part of prayer and relationship. David's life exhibited those qualities. David lived with an intense desire for God's presence and the fellowship that came with it. His longing for God was in itself something God caused so that David would learn to anticipate God's special presence with Him. What we don't long for we don't really appreciate once we have it. David's heart motivated yearning for God causes him to appreciate and be thankful for those many, many times when God ministered and communed with him be it privately (v. 6) or corporately (v. 2).
We all need to be more fervent and less complacent in our pursuit of our relationship with God. Here we can learn how David overcame complacency and ritualistic religion. David pursued intimate fellowship with God Who is:
I. THE DESIRE OF HIS BEING, 1-4.
II. THE DELIGHT OF HIS SOUL, 5-8.
III. THE DEFENSE OF HIS LIFE, 9-11.
Let’s look at verse 1 where David cries out to God for His life-giving Presence. “O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly (early); My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water
David cries O God, Thou art my God; [“Elohim, Eli,” are the same words Jesus cried on the cross.] He is our God by choice, by covenant, and by confession. May we profess it with the same passion and intensity with which David did. To say it by rote or to affirm it with meaning makes all the difference. Not only does God possess His people, but He has permitted us to possess Him!
Therefore, “I shall seek Thee early.” That which is longed for is eagerly and earnestly sought. He is resolute to seek God for only those who seek, find (Mt. 7:7-8). It is good to seek God early. Early in life, while in the days of your youth. Early in the morning before the day starts. Early in the time of decision or need. It is best to seek God early.
The intense need of His soul and body, his whole being, is expressed as thirst for God. Nothing else will satisfy his soul but God. His very body is moved by the intensity and fervency of desire. His being yearns to encounter God. For many people, the desire for God is casual and occasional; for David it was a matter of spiritual life or death.
King David compares life without God's abiding presence to “a dry and weary land without water.” It is an inhospitable place or land without the ability to sustain life for any length of time. This dry and weary land experience is common with so many believers today. Like the world around them believers are also captivated by “stuff’ and the pursuit of more and more stuff. As a result, there is inner barrenness of soul. They have acquired much, but still have not found water for their soul (Jn. 6: ).
If you thirst for intense fellowship or something incredibly satisfying and lasting in your life, remember David's prayer. God alone can quench your deepest longings!
His thirst and longing for God enabled him to find His Lord in public worship as verse 2 states. “Thus, I have beheld Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory.”
David's intense longings for God permitted him [waw connective translated thus] to behold God in worship. His anticipation and expectation during worship open His eyes to see the power and glory of God. A sign that you truly long for God is that worship is powerful and meaningful in your life.
If your worship experience is not powerful and moving in your life, check out your daily life and see if there is a yearning for companionship for God alive in you. If not, seek Him fervently and early!
Also note that the worshiper witnessed the power and splendor of God. His active and engaging worship saw the Almighty high and lifted-up in glory.
Verse 3 voices reason for his longing and worship. “Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips will praise Thee.”
Divine love and favor “is better than life.” Love must praise God because it owes its existence to Him. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). Love is nurtured by God. It is the love of God that is poured out in our heart. Yes, covenant relationship with God is better than honors, riches, pleasures and applause. In life there is good and evil but it is all temporary. God is good and gracious and our relationship with Him is eternal.
