Title: “Dwelling In God’s House”
Psalms 23: 6
“Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life; And I will dwell in the House of the Lord Forever.”
This Psalm opened with the proud statement, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” David was saying to all of us, because the Lord is my Shepherd;
-He is constantly watching over me.
-He is aware of all of my Needs.
-He is concerned about my Welfare.
-He has my best interest at Heart.
Now he closes this Psalm with an equally proud statement of affirmation. He said, “Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all of the days of my Life; And I will dwell in the House of the Lord Forever.”
Here is a picture of a Sheep that is so Satisfied with its lot in Life, so Contented with the Care that it receives from the Shepherd, that it has no desire to follow any other Shepherd.
-I will dwell in the Lord’s House Forever.
-There is no other Shepherd for me!
-I am fully devoted to follow after Him.
-I Trust Him with every area of my Life.
p. 2
Sometimes I feel like we Christians should be more like this Sheep. We should be;
-Proud that we belong to Him!
-Desire to Spend more time with Him!
We should Reflect from time to time some of the ways that He has watched over us & protected us. Yes, we have faced some Valleys along the way, but He was with us in the Valley!
We should be excited that God is our Shepherd! This Lost, mixed up world that we Live in, needs to see that we are Totally Contented in Being Under the Good Shepherd’s Care!
p.3
D.L. Moody said, “We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of Man.”
The quality of your Life will be Determined by the amount of Time that you Spend Alone with Your Shepherd in Reading, Praying & Listening & following after Him.
Almost every day we are Rubbing Shoulders with Men & Women that aren’t serving the Shepherd. They are on the other side of the Fence & we need to ask Ourselves;
p.4
1. What kind of an Impact are we having upon the world?
2. Is my Life so Radiant & full of God because I walk with Him Daily that they want what I have?
3. Does the world see the Benefits of Being
under Christ’s Control?
4. Do they see something of the Shepherd Reflected in my Conduct & Character that causes them to want to follow after my Shepherd?
p.5
-We are the Light of the World.
-We are the Salt of the Earth.
-Who are we making Thirsty for Christ?
-Do we have a Desire for more of Him?
I. How Strong is your Spiritual Desire for God?
Oh, preacher don’t push your Luck! I show up on Sunday Morning. I even come on Wednesday & Sunday Nights. But do you have a Desire to really Know God? Do you long to Spend Time with Him or do other Things Crowd Him Out?
p.6
Psalms 27: 4
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my Life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, And to Inquire in His Temple.”
Psalms 42:1-2
“As the Deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my Soul for You, O God.
“My Soul Thirsts for God, for the Living God. When shall I come & appear before God?”
-Do you Long to Spend Time in Prayer?
-Do you Long to Spend Time in the Word?
-Do you Long to Just Praise Him?
-Do you Long to Spend Time with His People?
-Oh Pastor, I don’t want to go Overboard!
God wants us to Love Him more than anything in the World! This is the kind of Love & Devotion that David had for His Shepherd. He said, “No one else can take His Place.”
Psalms 63:1-3
“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My Soul thirsts for You; My Flesh longs for You In a Dry & Thirsty Land where there is no Water.
“So I have looked for You in the Sanctuary, to see Your Power & Your Glory.”
“Because Your Loving-kindness is better than Life, My Lips shall Praise You.”
David was fully Content in Following After the Shepherd.
p. 8
II. We Live in a World of Utter Discontent
-We are discontent with what we have.
-We are discontent with what we Look Like.
-We are discontent with who we are married to.
-We are discontent with our Lot in Life.
We are basically discontent with the Circumstances & the Difficulties that come our way. We are Discontent & yet we have so much!
We have the “If Only Syndrome”.
p.9
-If only we hade more money.
-If only we lived in a different House.
-If only we had a better Job.
-If only we drove a nicer car.
-If only people would give us a Break.
The problem that our Culture & our World is Facing is, they are looking for their Happiness & their Contentment in all of the wrong places.
Jeremiah 2: 11-13
“Has a nation changed its gods which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit,
“Be astonished, O heavens, at this & be horribly afraid; Be very desolate, says the Lord.
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of Living Waters, And hewn themselves Cisterns--broken Cisterns that can hold no water.”
If you read the O.T. & study the Life of King Solomon, you will see that he was a king that had it all! He started out so great, but somewhere along the way, he got sidetracked.
He looked for Happiness & Contentment in the things of the world. If you want to read the results of what he found out there, study the book of Ecclesiastes.
-He gave himself to Wine.
-He made great Works.
-He built great Houses.
-He planted beautiful Vineyards.
-He had more Servants than he could count.
p.11
-He was surrounded by people to entertain him.
-Whatever his eyes desired he went after.
-He didn’t withhold his heart from any Joy.
-He had more Wives & Concubines......
-He drank out of Golden Glasses.
-He ate whatever he wanted.....
-Silver was in Jerusalem like the Stones.
-But he was a Lonely Miserable Man.
-Even though he had it all, he was Empty.
-The things of the world didn’t Satisfy him.
-All of his Toys didn’t make him Happy!
Ecclesiastes 2: 11
“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity & grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the Sun.”
p.12
There is a Void in the Heart of Every Man & unless you fill that Void with God, you will never know what true Joy & Contentment is all about.
III. We Live in A World of Half-Hearted Followers.
In Luke 9 you see a Story where someone came to Jesus & they said, “Master I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said, “Foxes have holes & the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His Head.
p.13
Jesus asked 3 people on this occasion if they would follow Him, & all three of them had different Excuses of why they couldn’t follow Him & put Him first place in their Lives.
We still have all kinds of Excuses why we don’t put God in first place.
-God I’m trying to Build My Business.
-God I’m trying to Raise My Family.
-God I’m trying to Get Ahead in Life.
-God My Schedule is filled with other things.
-God I’ll try to fit you into my Schedule.
-One day I’ll have time for You Lord!
There is a difference of being totally in Love with God, or just having an Affection for God!
In John 6, Jesus laid down the Laws of Discipleship & the Bible says that many of His Disciples went back & walked with Him no more. It had to break His Heart!
He looked at the 12 & said to them, “Do you also want to go away?” Peter looked at Him & said, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of Eternal Life.”
Peter was saying the same thing that David was saying in Psalms 23: 6. He was saying;
-Master there is only one Shepherd.
-I am Content in following after You.
-The Grass isn’t greener on the other side.
-I have no desire to follow anyone else.
p.15
We Live in a World of Discontentment & because of that there is;
-No Deep Affection.
-No Deep Roots.
-No Deep Foundation.
-No Deep Convictions.
-No Deep Commitments.
But I desire to be a Man like David. I want to be a Man that is Totally Committed to The Shepherd. I want to dwell in the Lord’s House Forever.
IV. Where Do We Find True Contentment?
p.16
1. Contentment begins With A Personal Relationship with the Shepherd.
David said, “The Lord is my Shepherd & because of that, I shall not want.” David knew that he had a Shepherd who was constantly watching over him.
2. Contentment begins with Learning How to Think Right.
Paul said in Philippians 4: 8 brethren think on these things;
p.17
-The things that are True.
-The things that are Noble.
-The things that are Just.
-The things that are Pure.
-The things that are of a Good Report.
-Do this & the God of Peace will be with you.
3. Contentment is Learning to be Satisfied with
Little & not always wanting more!
Philippians 4:11
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be Content.”
p.18
4. Contentment comes when I realize that God is Greater than my Circumstances.
Philippians 4:12
“I know how to be abased, & I know how to abound. Everywhere & in all things I have learned both to be full & to be hungry, both to abound & to suffer need.”
5. Contentment comes when I receive my Daily Strength from Him!
-David experienced a lot of things in his life.
-Paul experienced a lot of hardships.
p. 19
Contentment doesn’t always mean that things are always going to go my way. This world is filled with Valleys & much Hardship. But aren’t you glad that you have a Shepherd that is always with you?
Philippians 4: 13
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
6. Contentment begins when you become more concerned for the well being of others & less for yourself.
p.20
If you spend your whole life worrying about You, you’ll probably never be content. A person that is wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package.
Philippians 2: 3-4
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
