Our Desires in His Deserts
Psalm 63
August 18, 2002; 8 years ago today, I stood on a stage very similar to the one I stand on before you and began a new chapter in the pursuit of Lisa Bergenske. On that day her last name changed to mine; her relation to me went from fiancée to wife. Often times a man will pursue the girl of his dreams up to this day; only to fail to realize that on this day he doesn’t “have her.” Though Lisa became mine and I became hers; there was still a great need of further pursuit from both of us. As I stand before you tonight I say in complete sincerity; I love my wife far more today than I did on that day.
It is my prayer tonight, that if you are here and you have never entered into a covenant relationship with God through Christ Jesus, I pray tonight He will capture and convict your heart and that you will cry out to Him in repentance and faith. That August 18th would mark, not the day of your wedding but rather, the day of your redemption! Your salvation! Married life is great; but eternal life is better! And John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing the Father—so if you don’t know Him ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
Secondly, my prayer is for those who do know Him as Lord and Savior; yet you have lost sight of Him as your whole and sole pursuit. If that be the case; let me encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of your faith.
Read Psalm 63. (Those reading this manuscript; the sermon means nothing without the Scripture; so turn there now and read it…No power in man’s word; all power is in His Word) I want to invite you to see 3 realities concerning this passage. First, the betrayal behind the psalm:
In the intro we see where David is—from the wilderness of Judah. David was a man accustomed to living in the palace; or on the front lines of the battlefield… So his presence in the wilderness begs the question—why? Answered in verse 9—someone is seeking to destroy his life. Upon this statement, another question surfaces…namely Who? And to this question we see 2 possibilities:
1) David, having already killed Goliath, faithfully led Saul’s army; recently been named as the Time Magazine’s Top Warrior of Israel; the subject of the new hit single “Saul Who?” where the chorus trumpets, “Saul has slain his thousands; and David his tens of thousands!”—in light of this setting it is possible that David finds himself being pursued now as public enemy #1 due to the jealousy in Saul’s heart as he sets out to destroy David. (And by way of quick note: this still happens today. Rather than fighting the enemies of God, we as God’s people spend most our time fighting God’s people—not such a good strategy in seeking to make Him known and spread His glory.) So Psalm 63 may have been penned in the context of 1 Samuel 22 and 23—as Saul is in pursuit of David.
2) David is living in the days of 2 Samuel 15-17; and rather than running from the king who reigned; he was running from the son whom he had raised. In context of this passage; David has reigned as king for many years—He has seen God make His name known through practical conquest of much of the known world; David is nearing the end of his life and Absalom, the son who looked much like his dad; had charm and passion much like his dad—yet rather than being a man after God’s own heart; he was a young man corrupt in his own heart—longing for power and position—despite God’s plan for him.
Whichever the case, he was on the run; someone he loved was seeking his life; and 1 thing is certain…
David had lost a lot—he had lost his position, prominence; his home; his family—be it close communion with his wife Michal or be it his son Absalom; he had lost the opportunity to worship with the people of God—no longer could he go to the sanctuary freely; he has surely lost face in the eyes of many of his once, would be followers…
And while I don’t know where you are tonight, perhaps you find yourself in a place like David did—a place you weren’t planning for; a place you wouldn’t have picked; a place you would rather not be; the real is not the ideal for you—perhaps you are fighting with a spouse and contemplating divorce; considering throwing in the towel at work; downright discouraged by the hand you have been dealt. Perhaps you have lost a loved one; just heard the word Cancer; seen your son or daughter grow up and go the way of the world…
If this is the case I want to suggest to you that you find yourself in a “Desert.” Not like, and much like, the place David was. For David found himself not only in a literal desert; but in a metaphorical one as well. He would not have chosen where he was physically; but as quickly as I say that I want to point something out—namely that David was in a good place. You don’t see him bewailing his lot in life; but rather I believe you see clearly in this psalm an honorable battle that is raging within the psalmist.
And that is the 2nd reality to take note of…
“The battle within the psalmist.” Though we don’t see his heart; we hear it. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; and in the words of this psalm I want to suggest to you 3 players take center stage in the battle for David’s heart and focus…
The moment; the memory; and the Majestic
1) The moment- great unexpected change; great loss; It wasn’t long before this night that David was waking up as the beloved king; or the warrior beloved by the king. When he was famous the world around; be it for being a great king—or at least for being a giant killer. In our jargon today—he had it all!
But now he found himself not basking in the fame; but running as a fugitive! From being surrounded by much; to be surrounded by dust.
So the moment was not a desirable one in terms of externals!
And we see him note the moment in verse 1; verse 9. Anytime you find yourself in the desert the moment will seek to win your heart; the moment will seek to draw the cords of doubt; self-pity; and discouragement around your feet—seeking to render your pursuit of God worthless.
But look closely; only 2 verses of 11 even allude to the moment. So while the moment is competing; it is clearly losing. More evident in this psalm is not the moment; but the memory.
The memory he has concerning the Lord is seen in 3 significant ways.
First, in verse 2 he remembers a God whom he has seen… to see, or beholding Your glory and Your power. He knew the power of God’s presence with his people. And before you cry—that was David. I remind you, David never saw the sea part; he never saw the bush burn; he never saw the fire fall; he never saw the earth open. Yet despite not seeing these things, he still can say…I have seen Your glory and Your power.
Have you? Have you seen the sheer beauty, majesty and glory of the creator God? I suggest that every born again believer has. For which is a greater miracle, God defying gravity at the Red Sea or defeating the grave where in once your heart laid dead and dormant to the Lord. Isn’t that what Ephesians 2:1 says—you once were…DEAD…in your trespasses and sin.
Salvation surely is the greatest miracle ever performed by God. To think, my sin exchanged for His righteousness; the level of difference between those 2 far outstretches the distance between death and life. The latter only requires a beating heart; whereas the former requires a new heart. So if you are in the desert—let me encourage you, think on the time or times in your life where you most clearly saw His glory and power. And if you need a visual reminder, just go outside at night and look out in the vastness of the sky and remember that that is simply one pixel on the flat screen of the universe. He is huge. And if you can lose yourself in His greatness—the desert or paradise will make little difference. I love the quote; Self forgetfulness in the presence of greatness is the capstone of joy. So, he remembered a God whom he had seen.
In verses 6-8 we also see, He remembers a God by whom he has been sustained. I say has been, not had been, because the sustaining nature of God was past and present in its reality. You have been my help. Past. Your right hand uphold me. Present. And note this, the hand of God is always a reference of His power; but also, in it is the inference of His presence and provision. This is most clearly seen in Psalm 95:6-7 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the sheep of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Thirdly, in verses 9-11 we see the psalmist remembers a God who will save. Read 63:9-11 again (Go ahead).
If I could Tag this Passage, as so many Tag Photos on Facebook today, I would tag it with 2 short 3 letter words…
One Day! There is a lot of hope in those 2 little words for every child of God.
One day, my body won’t tire anymore; One day I’ll be walking on the beautiful shore.
One day words like cancer will bring no fear; one day my eyes will cry not another tear.
One day there will be no more suffering; one day death will lose its sting.
One day, Oh one day, my faith will become sight; Oh One day, what a day, one day, when He alone is my delight.
I don’t know what moment life finds you facing right now; again… perhaps you have lost a loved one; perhaps you have lost a job—wherever you are, I pray that you will be sustained by the truth of His goodness and mercy; and never lose sight of the who you are chasing.
Perhaps you are in a place where your memory is failing you; the moment is killing you. You say, Mike, I am trying; I’m fighting. It’s not there. The words of 63:5 are not resonating in my heart. To you I would suggest the truth I read recently; that being, God is glorified by the psalmist, not only in his feasting, but also in his fainting. In the sheer longing he was declaring—without you, life isn’t life. And to you I introduce the 3rd player in the psalmists battle—namely the Majesty. The Great Sovereign king. The King above all kings, even the great king David…
Verse 1…O God, you are my God—in a time when many of us would; in a time when many of us have—cried out O God, where are you? Why are you? David focuses not on the where; or the why? But sets His sight on the who? The who is what matters. The who is what brings hope. Job never found out why; but he did find out who…and upon seeing God anew; he declares, “Before I heard of You with the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes see. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Did Job start thinking less of himself—I suggest to you no. I think he realized that he simply needed to think of himself less. That in the beauty of God’s presence; the problems that once seemed so big—now seemed so small. The desert can be slightly depressing because all there is—is sand. But note this reality; the number 1 tourist spots in the world are sand filled stations of land. We call them beaches. And the beauty of the beach isn’t found in where you sit; but in what you see.
And this brings me to the final reality I want you to see in this passage; namely…
The beauty of the pursuit. The beauty of this psalm was the simple fact that despite where he was; despite what he had lost; despite what he lacked--he looked for the Lord with every ounce of his energy. When logic would have told him to seek water—he sought God. When logic would say complain—he considered/he remembered. When logic would have said, devise a plan; he devoted himself to prayer and praise. The beauty of this psalm is the fact that in it—the psalmist, though he knows what he has lost; never loses sight of what he needs.
Someone once rightly said, the man who has everything this world has to offer and God, has nothing more than the man who has God alone. He is enough! He is enough! I want you to see something in verse 3 that truly summarizes the heart of this psalmist: Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. The beauty of this statement would allow nothing to be said of it; and still it would be worthy of repeating over and over. But in considering what this verse says, I invite you to also see what it does not say… namely this, it does not say, When Your lovingkindness betters my life, my lips will praise You. Such is the statement of many of our hearts. And such is the danger of pursuing God for His hand and not for Him. Don’t do that. In the desert I pray that God will make your one overarching desire to be simply to see and savor Him afresh and anew.
I want to close with showing you one of my favorite pictures of my son Micah…
In this picture Micah is about 5 months old. He has just learned to crawl and so mom wanted to get a picture which shows his new talent. And so, here he is. If you ask me, he is absolutely adorable. Tied now with Noah as the cutest 5 month old ever to live. And while this is debatable, there is at least 2 things that I think we can agree on… 1) He looks happy. Look at his smile! Look at his eyes…they are beaming. This is a happy boy. And 2) He is looking at something. His eyes are peering up; his body is propelling forward. He is heading somewhere; and he is happy about it.
So, let me ask you this, what do you think he is looking at? Not his mommy…That’s right…his daddy. ME! J He is looking at me. Mom is actually standing behind him, and every time he would pass a certain point she would run over, pick him up, pull him back and he would begin again his crawl towards dad. What a joy. Despite all that would deter him in his mom, he still keeps crawling. And not only crawling; chasing. He is excited. He is on a mission!
Now that you know who he is looking at, guess what I have in my hands…
Nothing! No toys. No nothing. Just dad. He has that much joy, not because of any present, but simply because of my presence. He wants me! He is pursuing me for me. And I wonder, where you are in life; are you pursing Him for Him, or Him for you? Asked another way, Are you pursuing God or are you pursuing yourself… for if you pursue God for the stuff His gives—are you not pursuing yourself when it is all said and done.
In the desert He is worthy of our pursuit. And as such, a question comes to mind, if He is worthy in the desert how much more worthy is He on the mountain tops? And the answer to that question is—No more. He is no more worthy on the mountain than He is in the desert—because His worth doesn’t change when our world does. He is worthy.
And before we finish with this thought I want to say one more thing about the picture. Look at Micah’s eyes; and now look at me. I am 6’9” tall. By looking at this picture you may be thinking Micah is not looking up at you… to which I say…you are right. You know why? Because in this picture I am not standing above him; but rather I have gotten down on my knees, I have come down to him so that he might more easily come to me. Hello? So too it was with the God of the universe. He didn’t wait for us to pursue Him, but rather, He humbled Himself in obedience to the Father, and took on the form of a servant...He came to us. That is the Gospel. That is what makes the gospel good news. No longer do we have to try to get to Him, He came to us. And He looked out to all who would hear Him and said, “Come!” Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. If you are here tonight I wonder, have you responded to this invitation. Can you echo with the Psalmist; O God, You are my God? Or do you find yourself declaring, O God, I am my God? If so, let me beg you to repent and trust Christ.
You were never meant to be your own God! You were meant to worship Him as God. And Christ made a way for sinners like you and I to come into fellowship with Him. O God, You are my God is a declaration of ownership. Not that the psalmist owns God, but rather, that God owns the psalmist. But not only a statement of ownership; but one of worship. The truth is—God is your God. But the worship factor comes when you acknowledge Him as such and delight in Him. One day—2 words of great hope for those in Christ. Are you in Him? If not; repent and trust (For those reading this online, I encourage you to look at John 3; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; and Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9-10).
If you are in Him; are you pursuing Him? If not, I encourage you to repent and obey Hebrews 12:1-2; and trust 1 John 1:9. Set your sights on Him.