Under the Shadow of His Wings
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The Best place to be.
The Best place to be.
In certan natural disaters there is a best place to be.
In an erathquake the best place to be is under a lintle. In a hurricae the best place to be is in a basment or a bath tub with amattress over you.
In a fire the best place to be is outside.
We are in a disaster right now, there can be no bones about it. But like all disaters there is a place of saftey. A place where we can shelter untrill the storm passes by.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.
Today i want to show you why this is such a safe place to be and how you can find this place of shelter.
When disaster strike what are your priorites? You should immedietrly get you and your family to a place of saftey.
Psalm 63 shows us the priority of this man of God under pressure.
The psalm shows us that David’s priority was to seek the Lord.
Seeking after God should be our most important priority.
No matter what pressures come into your life, you will be able to handle them properly if you maintain this one priority above all else:
Earnestly seek after God!
1. What does it mean to seek after God?
1. What does it mean to seek after God?
To seek after God means to have an intimate personal relationship with God
To seek after God means to have an intimate personal relationship with God
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
“O God, You are my God.”
David knew God in an intimate, personal way.
There is a vast difference between knowing about a person and actually knowing that person.
You can learn a lot about a person. You can learn all about his personality, his personal habits, and his family life. But it is still not the same as knowing him personally.
I know lots of people know about God, but they do not know him personaly.
There must have been a time when you met Him personally through Jesus Christ.
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Your introduction to God comes when you turn from your sin to God and trust in Jesus Christ and His death on your behalf. He gives you eternal life as His free gift.
And then you must develop your relationship by spending time with your new Friend through the weeks and months and years in a variety of situations.
“Seeking after God” means that you are seeking to develop an intimate relationship with the God whom you have met personally through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
To seek after God means always to desire more of Him.
To seek after God means always to desire more of Him.
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
David said, “I shall seek you earnestly; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh yearns for You....”
Didn’t David have the Lord? Yes, because he calls Him “my God.” But he wanted more.
He wanted to go deeper. He was satisfied, but he wasn’t satisfied.
He knew that there was more and his whole being craved it as a thirsty man in the desert craves for water.
We must be content with everything except our intimacy with the Lord.
A young man ran after Socrates, calling, “Socrates, Socrates, can I be your disciple?” Socrates ignored him and walked out into the water. The man followed him and repeated the question. Socrates turned and without a word grabbed the young man and dunked him under the water and held him down until he knew that he couldn’t take it any longer. The man came up gasping for air. Socrates replied, “When you desire the truth as much as you seek air, you can be my disciple.”
How much do you desire to know God?
David had walked with God for years, but he thirsted for more.
To seek after God means to pursue God alone.
To seek after God means to pursue God alone.
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
David had suffered terrible loss in his disaster.
He has fled from the throne. He left his possessions and his wives behind him. His own son whom he loved was attempting to kill him.
And yet in all of this, David wasn’t seeking for any of those things tocome back.
He wasn’t praying, “O God, give me my wives back. Give me my palace back. Give me my kingdom back.”
But rather, he prayed, “I shall seek You”; “my soul thirsts for You”; “my flesh yearns for You”; “Your love is better than life.” What amazing statements!
To seek God is to seek God alone and not for he things you hope he restores.
The fact is, it’s easy to fill your life with things other than God.
They may be good things, but they are not God, and God alone can satisfy your soul.
Thus seeking after God means to have an intimate personal relationship with Him; always to desire more of Him; and, to pursue God alone to fill the vacuum in your life.
2. What does the person look like who seeks after God?
2. What does the person look like who seeks after God?
Putting God in the center of your life gives you balance and perspective in the crises of life. Notice, briefly four things which characterize the person who seeks the Lord:
The person who seeks after God has inner satisfaction
The person who seeks after God has inner satisfaction
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
“My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness….”
David’s soul was at rest. Even in the middle of a calamity such as this rebellion, which would push many to fall apart emotionally, David had inner peace and calm.
The person who seeks after God has inner joy.
The person who seeks after God has inner joy.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
“My mouth offers praises with joyful lips” (63:5b). “In the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy” (63:7b). “But the king will rejoice in God… (63:11).
David had a joy not based on circumstances.
His whole world was falling apart, but he had the Lord and His loyal love, and so he could sing and rejoice in God. You can’t explain that apart from God!
The person who seeks after God has inner stability and strength in crisis
The person who seeks after God has inner stability and strength in crisis
7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
God was David’s help. David hid under God’s wing as a baby chick hides for protection under the mother hen’s wing.
God’s powerful hand upheld and sustained David.
He stayed steady in the storm because he had the inner resource of God’s strength.
The person who seeks after God has inner perspective and balance
The person who seeks after God has inner perspective and balance
9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
David wasn’t consumed with thoughts of getting even.
As he considered his circumstances, he realized that God is just; God would judge fairly.
The wicked would not prevail in the long run.
Thus David could commit the situation to the Lord and act with the right perspective and balance: He would make it his business to rejoice in God, and let God deal with his enemies and vindicate him. He knew his calling and that God would not fail to accomplish all that concerned him.
God did not call you just so you would suffer under a global pamdemic. He called you to be a light to the world and a example of God;s wonderful love and grace.
The point is, the person who seeks after God will be a person of strength and stability, a person with inner resources to meet every crisis in life.
Now for the crucial question:
3. How does a person seek after God?
3. How does a person seek after God?
I’m assuming that you already know God personally through Christ.
As I already mentioned, you begin a relationship with God when you realize that you have sinned against the holy God and when you flee for refuge to the provision God has made for your sin, the cross of Christ.
But once you’ve received it, how do you go on seeking after God? Three things:
You seek God by putting love for God at the center of your relationship with Him.
You seek God by putting love for God at the center of your relationship with Him.
8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
What a beautiful balance! David clings to God, but underneath it all, God’s powerful hand is under David.
The Hebrew word translated “clings” points to loyalty related to affection. It’s the same word used in Genesis 2:24, where it says that a man will “cleave” to his wife.
Your relationship with the Lord is comparable to a marriage relationship. Marriage is a relationship where intense feelings of passion and a lifelong commitment are intertwined.
When a couple falls in love, there are strong feelings, and there is nothing wrong with that.
But a marriage cannot be built on feelings alone, but on commitment.
The commitment carries you through the hard times when the feelings may fade.
Sometimes you have to work at the romance.
Seeking after God means keeping your passion for God alive.
Christianity is not just a matter of the head, but of the heart.
As you think on what God has done for you in Christ, it ought to move you emotionally.
As you reflect on His great love and faithfulness toward you over the years, in spite of your failures, you ought to feel love for Him.
In your marriage, keeping your passion alive means saying no to some things in order to say yes to your wife. Your job, outside interests, time with other friends, and even your church involvement—these are all good things in their place.
But they shouldn’t come before your marriage.
In the same way, nothing, not even your marriage and family life, should come before your love relationship with God. That leads to the second thing:
B. You seek God by spending consistent time alone with Him.
B. You seek God by spending consistent time alone with Him.
David was under intense pressure as he fled from And yet he did not neglect earnestly seeking God in this trying situation.
1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
David made it a priority to spend time alone with God.
If you love God, you’ll make time to spend with Him because you delight to do so. This includes time in His Word, renewing your mind so that you can please Him. It includes time in prayer, bringing your needs and others’ needs before Him. It includes time in praise and worship, expressing your love for Him.
You seek God by integrating Him into every area of your life.
You seek God by integrating Him into every area of your life.
He’s at the center of every decision you make.
He’s the Lord of every relationship you have.
You manage your money by considering what His Word says about it.
There is no area of your life, be it your business, your family, your education, or whatever, where God is not an integral part.
There is no division between sacred and secular; all of life is related to God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
How is it with you and God?
Review your past week or month and ask yourself, “Did my schedule reflect that seeking God was my number one priority?” You say, “Well, that’s my priority, but I’ve been under a lot of pressure!” Pressure is what reveals your true priorities. When the pressure is on, everything but the essential gets set aside. The Holy Spirit is telling us through David, “Seeking God is essential!” If it’s not essential for you, then you’ve got to join David, the man after God’s heart, in making it so.