A0304_You Are My God
Date: 15th April 2007 (Sunday AM) Ref: A0304
Place: Kambah P.S.
Title: You Are My God
Text: & Psalm 63:1-2
Illust: Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (NKJV) – John Chrysostom one of the early church fathers from the 4th century the reformist bishop of Constantinople took the words of this verse to heart; speaking of our text this AM, he claimed “That it was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.” J.J. Stewart Perowne a 19th century English Bishop who wrote a 2 volume Commentary on the Book of Psalms stated that this Psalm is “unquestionably one of the most beautiful and touching Psalms in the whole Psalter. – Lets look then on this ‘imperial’ Psalm this AM
I. My God
A. Profound Truth
i. O God, You are my God; ~ what does this mean? Think about what David is saying. This is no light thing, this is a profound statement. Two amazing thoughts in these simple words.
ii. World religions, multiple gods, with human aspects, or a largely unknowable God. A truth here that is more than just wishful thinking. This is an aspect of the divine nature of God that He desires to be known. He desires to be Your God. See this from the very beginning.
Genesis 3:8-9 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (NKJV)
The heart & longing of God is to reach out to you ~ “Where are you?” – He is God & wants to be “My God”
iii. Secondly there is a Faith in the Psalmist to reach out, to cry out to God in the midst of the wilderness time and claim the promises of God, claim His divine protection, enabling, strength. - O God, You are my God;
B. How
i. How is this made possible, how is it made real in your life. Clever theological arguments don’t help us. Need reality, especially when we are in the wilderness.
ii. Firstly by Choice: - This starts with God’s choice, Adam was hiding God was seeking, man is running from God, God is always seeking to restore relationship to be “My God” to all who would come to Him
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)
Galatians 2:20 I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (NKJV)
Then there is the choice of David. ~ Throughout his life, David made clear that his personal choice was to pursue a relationship with his God. – Evident in the many Psalms attributed to David & the testimony of God.
Acts 13:22 He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ (NKJV)
Even in the midst of his failures.
Psalm 51:10-11 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. (NKJV)
iii. Secondly it is by Covenant: This is a covenant of God. His commitment, His purpose. His Grace. – That the God of all creation reaches down to covenant to be “My God”
A dictionary defines; Covenant, in its most general sense, is a word for a solemn promise or similar undertaking. More specifically, a covenant, in contrast to a contract, is a one-way agreement whereby the covenantor is the only party bound by the promise.
Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. (NKJV)
Leviticus 26:12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. (NKJV)
iv. Thirdly it is by Confession: - The confession of faith. This is what we see in our text, David claiming the benefit of His relationship with God, claiming the covenant of God to walk with him and be his God, reaffirming his choice to make God his portion.
What do you confess? – do you claim the promise of God to be your God, Do you pursue your relationship with God. Is God calling to you today “Where are you?” – “I hardly see you at prayer!”
II. God in the Wilderness
A. The Wilderness Experience
i. This AM, the psalmist speaks to you & I a message. – Your relationship with God is the most important thing in your life. It is vital that you cultivate, foster and desire to build that relationship. It will see you through the hard times.
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, (NKJV)
ii. This is the scenario behind this psalm, read the 1st words again. A Psalm of David When He Was in the Wilderness of Judah. – David was in the wilderness of life. This Psalm was written by David as he has left Jerusalem fleeing for his life into the vast Judean wilderness to escape the rebellion of his son Absalom.
2 Samuel 15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” (NKJV)
His own son seeks his life; many of his senior advisers are against him; the people have turned against him. – Read the account found in 2 Samuel 15-18. – danger, court intrigue, rebellion, faithfulness. All there – wilderness experience, figuratively & literally.
iii. You are going to go through Wilderness times. Critical to your making it through will be the depth of you relationship with God. That you can cry out to Him, O God, You are my God; with all the wonderful promises of divine enablement that it entails.
B. Seeing God
i. We also need to see that many times it is in the wilderness experiences of life that you can meet with God in a new & real way if you will cry out to Him.
Hagar met God in the wilderness –
Genesis 16:7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. (NKJV)
It was in the wilderness of life, having fled Egypt, that Moses met with God & received his commission to be the deliverer of God’s people.
Exodus 3:1-2 1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (NKJV)
ii. David & Elijah met with God in the wilderness. Even Jesus spent 40 days & nights in the wilderness. It was following this experience that He began His ministry in earnest
Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. (NKJV)
iii. In the wilderness times of life? – Don’t doubt, don’t fear, don’t get angry with God; Cry out to God ~ O God, You are my God; - Find that you will meet Him afresh, in a new and powerful way.
III. An Earnest Desire
A. Seek Him Early
i. David makes a commitment, even in the wilderness; Early will I seek You; ~ David went into the wilderness on the 1st day and we read that:
2 Samuel 17:22 So David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By morning light not one of them was left who had not gone over the Jordan. (NKJV)
This psalm to have been written in the wilderness, was probably therefore written on that 1st night as he & his household are fleeing.
ii. This is giving us an indication of the priority of David’s life. Early! 1st thing, not late in the day, not after being in the wilderness for weeks. Right now, as I go into this wilderness, I am going to cry out to God. Not the last resort. My 1st resort. –
One author puts it this way: “Early;” in the morning, before all things, God is to be sought, otherwise he is sought in vain: as the manna unless collected at early dawn, dissolves – Simon de Muis
Exodus 16:21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. (NKJV)
iii. Seek God & His provision early. – Importance of Morning prayer, but much more than that:
Philippians 4:6-7 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV)
B. The Power and Glory
i. Lastly there was a deep desire & hunger for God that David expressed that needs to be ours My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. – Here David in the wilderness shows us his heart. – Will you thirst & hunger after God?
ii. David had personal intimacy with God, but he also had a deeper desire to meet God in the sanctuary. To come into the house of God. Do you come to church with this Psalm on your lips?
After being in the waterless places of this dry & barren world. In Church ~ 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
Do you go to pray with this Psalm in your heart?
iii. We desperately need in our lives as individuals and corporately as a church to see God’s power and glory.