Word of Salvation – June 2022

My Soul Thirsts for You

Sermon by Rev C.  Berends on Psalm 63

Scripture Reading: Psalm 63

Suggested Songs:  Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call,  O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer

One of my highlights in taking holidays in Australia has been the few times that we have spent time driving through the outback. There is something about these wide open spaces, somewhat desolate, that I just really enjoy. Long lines of horizon. The orange of the desert sand. The law lying shrubs. The night sky where you just have a dome. Ask me when I lived in NZ that I would actually like that and I would tell you you’re dreaming, but I do, very much. But as much as it's wonderful to look at, to live in and thrive in is a different story. While the indigenous people of Australia seemed to know how, its certainly not been the case for its settlers. In those early years of exploration many a mission came undone by the harshness of the land. Its barrenness, its lack of water. That’s what makes a desert a desert isn’t it, it’s lack of easily accessible water. The way that within hours you can be dehydrated, and within days you can be dead. Deserts are a desolate place where the number 1 goal is water. 

So, it’s interesting, isn’t it, that when David wants to describe his need for God, he uses the imagery of a desert. Verse 1 – my soul thirsts for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. He’s speaking of an experience of spiritual dryness, spiritual thirst, the need to have his soul refreshed. I wonder if you know the reality of spiritual dryness – of times when life and faith just seem hard, and faith in Jesus doesn’t seem to mean anything and we struggle to feel close to God and see his word in our lives and the world. I wonder if you know that reality. Maybe you don’t. Maybe I am speaking to a church of super spiritual giants who are always growing and charging and triumphant, who never struggle doubt or wonder. Maybe I am preaching to myself only this morning and no one else needs to listen and maybe if that is the case then would you please just allow me this little indulgence. Or maybe, or probably, or most certainly – we all know this to be a reality. We can all identify with times of doubt and struggle and hardship and uncertainty.

• In a Dry And Weary Land

Now when we turn and read Psalm 63 we read a Psalm written by David in a time of great physical need, great physical thirst. If you have Bible with you, always a good thing, there is a title, or a description to the Psalm. It indicates to us that it is a Psalm of David – David was one of the kings of Israel in the OT – probably the greatest of the earthly kings, a man God says after God’s own heart. And it tells us that it was written in the time when he was in the desert of Judah. And what was a king doing in the desert. Well, this king was on the run. In 2 Samuel 15 and 16 we read the very troubling story how David’s own son, Absalom sought to overthrow his Dad off the throne and so David and some of his loyal followers they have to flee Jerusalem for their lives and they end up spending quite a time living in the desert. And deserts are deserts because they have no water. And so it is a time of great need for David – he is fleeing, his kingship in tatters, and great physical thirst, great physical want.

But interestingly, it is not these needs that are upper most in his mind as he pens this Psalm, its not his great physical thirst – its something much deeper. What he does, or what God does, is that he reminds David, through his physical thirst that what he really needs in life, what he ultimately desires and what ultimately satisfies is God himself. And so God through David, reminds us today that what we ultimate desire and crave and long for in life is intimacy with God. And the Psalm is a reflection on that need.

And so have a look at verse 1. Look, I need water, I am thirsty but that is nothing compared to my desire for you. You are my God, you are the God of relationship and I seek you, I thirst for you I long for you. There is the expression of deep spiritual longing for God, of deep intimacy with God, of a deep passion for God.

And when we sit in times of spiritual drought, dryness, struggle and doubt, isn’t that so often what we want. Isn’t that what we desire, isn’t that what we crave after, but it seem so illusive and distant and we wonder if it is ever possible. It can feel like God has abandoned us. We wonder if there is a way out, or whether we simply have to endure. Sometimes we might even be tempted to give up. We ask what can we do?

Well, I believe that God, through David, in this Psalm gives us a key, a habit that God uses to unlock a spiritual thirst and hunger and longing for himself, that God does satisfy. And its quite amazingly simple, its not complicated, or costly, or difficult, or even that hard –it is simply this – remembering. Remembering.

• When I Remember You

Have a look at verse 6 with me. Look at what he does. Have a look at verse 2 and 3. What is he saying here, I thirst for you and I long for you, why, because I have, past action, I have seen you and I have seen your power and your glory, and I have seen that your love is better than life. Verse 6. At night, when I lie in bed and I think about my thirst and I think about the struggles of my life, what do I do – I remember you, I think about you. You see, a key to this life of passionately desiring God, of desiring intimacy with him, and whenever we desire that, God answers, God gives, a key to obtaining that is remembering. 

And so what does David remember? Does he simply go through lists of friends, or does he remember that its mother’s day and he must get his wives some bunches of flowers and phone his own mother after church? No, it’s a bit more specific than that.

Throughout David’s life there had been times of great trial and distress and need. We read that when David was a teenager he was a shepherd, and he was attacked by wild animals in defending his sheep. I don’t think that many of us have been in that sort of danger. A little older he was a soldier, and time and time again he comes up against enemies that are bigger, stronger and tougher than he, armies that far outnumber his own. A little while after that he was a fugitive fleeing from Saul, living in the desert, living in caves, always on the run. Time and time again David knew need and trial and danger and distress. And so what does he remember – he remembers the God who has been with him, and protected him and saved him. He remembers that God who has loved him and cared for him and never once abandoned him. He remembers his own failures and moral short comings and that God had still forgiven him. He remembers trips into the tabernacle with the finery and splendor that is there and the wonder and the majesty that it evokes and so he says – I have been into the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Your love is better than life. I remember you at night, I think about you and I am reminded how wonderful, how splendid, how powerful and kind and loving you are. And David’s mind is transformed – from the struggle and the need and the desire – to the Lord who answers prayer and is powerful and glorious and good.

You see a key for us in living lives of spiritual refreshing, and intimacy and longing and passion, even in times of desert, in times of dryness, of trial, even in times of doubt and wondering, even in times of hardship and oppression is not to retreat and withdraw and go looking somewhere else, its actually remembering, remembering God. Its to remember Christ and his work, to remember his power and love displayed on earth in his teaching his miracles and his healings. Its to remember that power and love ultimately displayed on the cross, in his dying for our sin, suffering the consequences that should have been ours, extinguishing the judgment of God that was ours – rising to a new life and giving us a place in his family. The key is to look at God’s calling on our lives, our sinful lives, his loved poured out on us, his grace and compassion on us, his forgiveness of us in Christ. The key is to see God’s faithfulness displayed again and again in his word as he deals with his sinful fallen people, to see how he, time and time again loves and brings back and shows his power and love and faithfulness. The key is to look at our own lives, and the history of our church, and the lives of those around about us, and to see the power and love of God work – to see his faithfulness to us, even in our times of unfaithfulness – to see the fresh starts and new beginnings, to see what he has done, time and time again.

Too often when we are dry and struggling and doubting we go looking in all of the wrong places. We misdiagnose the dryness and so we go looking for answers where they just can’t be found. Maybe if I get a new job, a change of scenery, that might do me good. No, what I really need is a new relationship, a new friend, a new boyfriend a new wife, this old one is making me stale. Hang on, what if I get a new haircut, that’ll bring out my eyes, match my complexion, give me a new lease on life. We bury ourselves in our hobbies, our marriages, our jobs, our causes our whatever, and all the time God is saying, no, don’t do that, you have misdiagnosed the problem – bury yourself in my word. Your real longing is a spiritual one, your real desiring is for me and my love and my power – so remember, remember what I have done, remember who I am, remember my work in you and through you. Remember.

• My Lips will Praise You

And look what results. Verse 3-4. David says, as I do that I am drawn to praise. I am drawn to honor you and love you, to sing and tell your greatness and your goodness. Verse 7. Verse 11. You see David, in tent, or in his cave, trouble and distress all around him, family divided against him, wondering if his kingship is over, what is he doing – he is praising God, he is rejoicing in God, he is celebrating God. Sometimes we sit or we lie down and with think, what have I got to thank God for, what reasons for praise have I got. And so we go through life grumpy and sour and bitter. We come along and mouth a few words here and there, but sometimes that even seems like a chore. And then we open our mouths over coffee and all we can speak about is the trouble and the hardship and bad case of luck that life has thrown our way. Well, what if we spent more time remembering God than dwelling on our issues, what if we spent more time calling to mind what God has done, reading and hearing about the power and the glory and the love of God, would it actually work – would we open our mouths and out would come praise, would we speak easily of the work of God because God had actually soften our hearts and opened our eyes to who he is and what he has done? Remembering results in praise.

Verse 5. Verse 8. David says, as I do this, as I remember my soul is satisfied in God. The turmoil and the disaster and the stress of life is diminished as the peace and stillness and satisfaction of God and from God, gets louder and louder and louder. You know what its like when you are really hungry? I don’t know what it like for you, but I get cranky, and short and irritable. You don’t want to be around me when I get hungry. But then you know what its like when you eat a meal, especially if you go out, and its really good, and the kids are at home with a baby sitter, and there’s a nice of glass of whatever takes your fancy and an empty plate of, well, maybe butter chicken, or fettuccini carbonara, or scotch fillet with potato mash and some fancy jus. Hmm, can you taste it. And compared to the hunger and crankiness and irritation of before, you just feel… you can smell the coffee being brewed and you just chill. Satisfied.

David says, I remember, that’s what I get. My soul chills, my soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods. Its good. Reality still there – but my soul is satisfied, my soul clings to you. I have peace. 

Its about 250 times in the Bible that God’s people are called to remember, or God’s people talk about remembering. That’s quite a lot, isn’t. A lot of God’s commandments seem really tough, don’t they. We struggle to do them and we fight against them. But you know what, this commandment, to remember, is actually not that hard, is it. Think about it. Even if you have a really bad memory, you can still remember different times in your life. One of the leading charges that God brought against his OT people, was that they forgot. The forgot God. They forgot his covenant, they forgot his works. And it usually ended badly for them. We don’t want to be a forgetful people, do we. We want to be a remembering people.