Our Soul Satisfaction

As we look at a psalm written by David, we see that even in perhaps the darkest circumstances of his life, he was satisfied with his God. And I want us to see how we too can be satisfied in him. Psalm 63.

Transcript

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And if you have a copy of God's word with you, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm chapter 63 as we get to kick off a sermon series that we're gonna walk through this summer, just looking into the book of Psalms at different Psalms throughout the summer as we preach for us and come through, because, you know, I think the book of Psalms is very unique. You know, it's it's unlike a lot of the other scriptures in the fact that it's a completely different genre, and I think it does a very purposeful thing. Because we know how music impacts our lives regularly, right? Like music has this ability to bring forth emotion like few other things. I mean, look, think about it. If you were to hear a song, it takes you back, right? Like you hear a song that maybe you listened to whenever you were in high school, and you you think of the junker car that you had, but that you were proud of, unrightfully so, and it takes you back to driving around and listening to that song whenever it came out. Whenever you listen to, maybe it's the song you dance to on your wedding day. It brings you back to a day of great joy, a time of great emotion. Like that's what music so often does. You can be listening to a song and instantly be reminded of a season of your life that's joyful or sorrowful. Music has a way of helping us feel the emotion rather than just see them or just sit in them. Music connects with us deep within our soul. I mean, think, it's the song that you dance to your wedding, the song that your kids have listened to maybe a thousand times, and maybe in animosity you look back to it. Or maybe it's a song that you listen to to get you through a hard time, or things like that. I think of myself. Whenever I hear my wedding song, the song that Emily and I danced to at our wedding, immediately I'm taken back to that day. I'm taken back to the day of our wedding and all of the people and the loved ones there, but it's so much more than that, right? Like I hear the song, and not only do I think of that day, but I think of, I think of all the years that were to follow. You know, like it's it's almost an anthem of our marriage in a lot of ways, reminding me of the joyful times, of the goodness, of what our marriage has been. And I think a lot of us understand that even in the midst of songs, we can be reminded of deep truths. See, this is what the book of Psalms is for the nation of Israel. Literally translated, psalm means song. And it's often called that the book of Psalms is the nation of Israel's hymn book. And as we hear them, as we read them, we see that they are written for very intentional purposes. They had purposes to remind people of spiritual truths, to teach people theological ones. They were written in a way to where they could be recited or memorized so that they could be at the forefront of their people's tongues and they could be taught the things and the character of God. Oftentimes we can see the characteristics or the circumstances in which the Psalms were written. We see descriptors of written by this man at this time, or we see that it's written for the congregation as a whole. Anytime you see in the book of Psalms to the choir master, it's written to the congregation at large to be saying within the temple. They're meeting us in specific times and specific places and specific moments. They help us see the writer's emotion, how he responded in the situation that he was in, and ultimately to teach us how we too can respond. And the psalm we're looking at this morning does just that. It teaches us in the life of David, in the season of great heartache, the character of God. It shows us the character of God in the midst of victory and the help and it helps us connect to God in a deep and meaningful way. The title of our sermon this morning is Our Soul Satisfaction. And as we look at a psalm written by David, that we see that in even perhaps the darkest circumstance of his life, he was satisfied with his God. And what I want us to do is I want us to see how we too can be satisfied in the Lord, just as David was. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read through our whole psalm together. We're gonna get a little bit of the context in which we are he is writing it, and then we're gonna jump in. So would you read with me as we walk through Psalm 63, reading verses 1 through 11? God's word says this O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory, because your steadfast love is better than life. My lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live. In your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, and I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night. For you have been my help in the shadow of your wings, and I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth, they shall be given over to the power of the sword, and they shall be a portion for the jackals, but the king shall rejoice in God. All who swear by him shall exalt, for the mouths of the liars will be stopped. This is the psalm that we see. And as we get the setting, you know, oftentimes in your Bibles you see descripting factors even before verse one begins. For our text this morning, we see in in Psalm 23 that this is a or in Psalm 63, this is a Psalm of David, whenever he was in the wilderness of Judah. We see this that it's showing us the time in which they believed the author wrote this. And Jews were very historical, very intentional to keep the writings of their history and date them well. This is why we often don't really question the Old Testament canon, because we had the Jewish text so well preserved as what we know that they read and they had and they walked through. So as they look in Psalm 63, we see it's an intentional Psalm written by the man of David whenever he was in the wilderness of Judah. Now there were two seasons of David's life where he went into the wilderness of Judah, the first of which is whenever he was fleeing from Saul, the king of the land. Saul had heard that David had been coronated or made king or was going to be made king, and he sought to kill him so that he would not take over his throne. But then there's another time that David fled into the wilderness. It was after he had already been reigning as king, whenever his son, Absalom, created an uprising and was seeking to kill his father, ultimately to take over his kingdom. Most scholars believe that it is this instance in which David is writing. Because he refers to himself as king in verse 11. It's that he's already taken on the rightful role and has been reigning as king. But either way, whichever circumstance we find he finds himself in, we know ultimately he is facing death. We know that a man of power with influence around him is seeking to kill him. He's seeking to come after him, seeking to find him, seeking to take away his power or authority or whatever it may be. He is not in what a high point of life is. Either way, he is fearing death. And even in the midst of this horrific season, he can write, My soul will be satisfied. I mean, wow. How did he get there? Because I don't know about you. Oftentimes, in seasons of questioning and seasons of wanting, it's really hard for me to believe that I'll be satisfied, right? I mean, satisfaction is what we all are longing for. I think it's human nature. We have this need for satisfaction, not just physically, but spiritually. I mean, brands have built their brand on satisfaction. That's why we can hear Snickers satisfies. And we know, like, although it's really probably not that true. I know a guy in high school who would eat two Snickers before practice, and he says it was just enough to get me through a four-hour-long football practice. I'm just like, I just don't believe you. It's not that satisfying. But we know it even to the opposite. To the opposite where Lay's has made the claim that you can't have just one, it would never satisfy you. And if you have the discipline to eat one Lay's potato chip and stop, then kudos to you. One bag maybe doesn't satisfy me, let alone one chip. But this is funny in trivial ways that we look for satisfaction, but we look for satisfaction in deeper ways than that. It's a spiritual need of ours. We look to satisfaction to fill ourselves however we can in relationships. If this person just cared for me, or if I just had someone to love me, then I would be full. In pleasures, if I could just feel this, if I could just run to that again, then I would be full. In status, if people just looked at me this way, if in comforts, if I could just stop worrying or had enough in possessions, if I've just had these things. See, we chase all of these things because we think that they will ultimately fill us. It is in our nature to be longing for satisfaction. And yet, David, whenever he even writes himself how thirsty and how hungry and how dry he is, he can say, I'm satisfied. How? In that season of life. How? This is what I want us to look for this morning. This is where I think this text really meets us in the midst of maybe a season of non-known, in maybe of a season of wanting. How can we be satisfied as David has been satisfied? So let's jump in. Reading verses one through four again. It says this, O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you, every part of me, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I've looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live. In your name I will lift my hands. The first thing we see that the satisfied soul does is one, it seeks God's presence. It seeks God's presence. Do you realize that's what David is doing here as he begins? As he writes out this prayer of his own. Do you see that that's where he begins? That he is in a great place of need. Yes. I mean, we've been told that by the setting. He's in a literal wilderness, in a literal desert, in a place where he is wanting, in a place where he needs not just physical sense, but he needs something more. I mean, we look, look back in verse one. Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you. Every aspect of myself, my entire being, needs you. As in a dry and weary land where there is no water. David, as he walks in the midst of this desert, thirsty, it's not hard for him to see something that he can immediately relate to. As he looks into a land that is dry, as he hears the rumble of his own belly, as he feels the dryness and the chapness of his lips just needing water, he sees and feels and meets himself in the midst of this physically to where he immediately knows his state spiritually. It's giving him a grand picture of what he ultimately needs. But in the midst of all of this, he knows where to look. Derek Kidner is a famed uh scholar of the Psalms. See, he writes a couple great commentaries on it. And as reading this week over this Psalm, he says, see, David here is not writing as a stranger, groping in the darkness, seeking to find someone. Rather, he is intentionally looking to know where the friend that he needs is. Look back in verse one. See how he begins it. Oh God, you are my God. You are my God. Do we realize the power in this statement? That David here, that David here immediately connects himself with the Lord. That he knows the relationship that he has with him. This entire verse, he says, you, you, you. It's someone he's speaking to. You are my God. The power here. In the midst of his circumstance, what does he do? He reminds himself of this covenant truth, that God has made David his, and David has made God his own. And that line, O God, you are my God, is the secret to everything that follows. Everything that follows the text and the psalm and the song in which he writes flows from this. He knows that because of the relationship that he has is the heart of the covenant that he has with his Lord. He believes what God told to Abraham in Genesis 17, that he would send him into a land and that he would show him, and that all of the generations to follow Abraham would have the Lord as their God. He knows that. He knows the culmination of this. Even whenever God says to Moses in Exodus 6 that he's sending him back into the land of Egypt to bring his people out. Why? So that the people of Israel can be his people and that God, Yahweh God, can be their God. See, David believes this. He believes the relationship that he has. He trusts that God has made him his own. And because he knows that you are mine, what does he do? He says, I seek you. Earnestly, I seek you. Some of your translations may say, Early I seek you. Or with eagerness, I seek you. The picture of this is the first longing of my day. As I wake up, what I want more than anything else is you, Lord. I'm looking for you. Urgently, he is the one who David is looking for. A few weeks back, uh, Emily and my kids and some friends were out at the pavilion. And the best part about hanging out at the pavilion is you, as the adults, can hang out at the pavilion, and your children can run rampant on the playground, which is what my child does at all times is running rampant. And Abigail was out there with a bunch of other kids and they were playing, and she was on that little bus that they have out there, which is awesome. Way too, you know, I'm way too big for that, but she loves it. And she's rocking around, and I hear a scream, and I look over and she's grabbing her head. She apparently bonked her head on the bus, I'm sure, not doing anything wrong on her own way. And she runs to me. She yells to me and she begins to run to me. Well, by the time she gets to the gate, the bonk no longer hurts, right? I mean, she's completely fine, tears have stopped flowing, but yet she still runs to me. But naturally so, whenever she gets to the pavilion, it's all anew again, it's a fresh again. She begins to cry, she grabs her head, Daddy, hit my head, I bought my head on the bus and all of the things. And she runs to me. She comes to me, why? Because she knows that I am hers. There are plenty of other kids around her. There are older kids that could look to her and say, Abigail, it's not that big of a deal. Abigail, it's just a bump, it's just a scratch, the pain will go away. But she runs to me first. Why? Because she knows that before anyone else cares about her needs, I do. She runs to me because she knows I am hers. This is what David is showing us. That he runs to the Lord in the midst of his heartache, in the midst of his pain, in the midst of his confusion, in the midst of all of this, he runs to God because he knows that God has been his. And this has been his practice. He reminds himself of this in verse 2. He says, So I've looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. He thinks back to a time whenever he looked at God, he ran to God in the midst of his affluence, in the midst of his prosperity, in the midst of the temple. Whenever he looks to God in the midst of the sanctuary, he says in the power of glory. Often this is synonymous for whenever he's around the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant often represented the power and glory of God. But David is reminding himself: just as I looked on you then, whenever I had no need, I look on you now because I realize you're not a God who is bound to a sanctuary. Matter of fact, whenever we believe he wrote this right before he actually sent away the Ark of the Covenant to protect it, because he realized that the presence of his Lord isn't bound into a room or into a building or with an artifact, but his God was everywhere. So as he's earnestly seeking God in the midst of the wilderness, he knows that the Lord will appear because the Lord's appeared for him before. And he reminds himself of the character of who God is. This is what he says in verses three and four. He says, Because of your steadfast love, because it is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift your hand. Why? Because ultimately he knew that the Lord is the one that David needed. More so than life. What did he need? His steadfast love. He needed his presence. As he's literally fleeing for his life. I mean, he can say more than life, boast that God, your presence is better than life. And it's not just a love that is trivial, but one that is steadfast. See, David's kingdom at this point was fickle. His son had created an army, a mass that turned against their king. I mean, it had to be enough of a following to know that it feared David was fearful. Enough people wanted him dead that he needed to flee. A kingdom that once bowed to him, a kingdom that once gave praises to him. But it was fickle, but he knew his Lord was not. See, friends, oftentimes in the midst of need, in the midst of wanting, we look to the kingdoms that we have created, to the job that we earned ourselves, to the influence that we have created, to the family that completes us, to the money that we have accrued. And don't get me wrong, not all of these things are inherently bad things, but they're fickle. They'll leave us. We know what it's like to be laid off from a job that we've poured our heart into. Whenever they decide it's in better interest to them to go in a different direction. We know what it's like to be abandoned by a friend whenever it doesn't seem to be going that way anymore. We know what it's like whenever the money runs out, or the debts just keep rising. See, David understood I can set my hope on the kingdoms that I have created, or I can set my hope on the Lord and his steadfast love. This is the same mindset that Paul has in Acts 20. As the leaders of the church he's in are plonging for him to stay with them because it's safer. He says opposite in Acts 20, verses 22 and following. He says, Now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction awaits me. I know what's ahead of me. But I do not account my life of any more value nor is precious to myself, if only that I may finish the course and the ministry that I've received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. See, Paul understands that it is in God's love, it is in God's will, and it is in God's mission. To be there is worth more than life itself. This is the same truth that David understands. He knows this that being with his Lord is better even than life. So he praises him. He lifts his hands to him. Actions reflect the truth of his praise. In the midst of the crowd of the temple, Or in the midst of the solitude of himself, he understands and he makes the name of God known. This whole stanza that David has written shows us that God is the true desire of David's heart above all else. More than protection, more than clarity, more than safety, more than status. God is his desire, and he wants nothing more than to be in the presence of his Lord. Friends, is this true for us? Is this true for you? The verbiage, the adage that if I have Jesus plus nothing, I have everything. Do you believe that? Honestly. Do you think that in the morning there's nothing more that I need to satisfy me than my Lord? Maybe you found yourself today, and you can relate to a dry and weary land, to one that is longing. To one where you don't know where ends and meets may come from, or where confusion just domineers. Maybe he knows what it feels like to be hungry, to be thirsty. Do you see that Jesus, even before he sought to attend, or David, even before he sought to attend to his physical needs, he understood the reality of the spiritual one was much more pressing. His desire was God more than anything else. In the verses that follow, we see that the faith and persistence of David is abundantly rewarded. So let's read on. In verses five, he says, My soul will be satisfied as with rich and fat food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. When I remember you upon my bed and meditate you on the watches of the night, for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me. We see that the satisfied soul, one, seeks for God's presence, but two, remembers God's provision. He remembers God's provision. See what great contrast verse 5 is to verse 1. No longer is he thirsty, but rather he knows that he will be satisfied. But it's not even just a quenching of a thirst, it's a much more emphatic word than that. He says, I'll be satisfied. Some of your translations may say, feasting. It's not just I'll have a little taste or something to get the rumble off my stomach, but I will be made full and abundant. I will be made completely satisfied. And I will see this, and because of it, my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. He says, it will well up in me, the fullness of you will well up into me to where I will not be able to help myself, but praise you. The picture of this praise is beautiful. And I think praising God is something that honestly we don't always fully understand because it doesn't make sense to us in a lot of ways that God demands and asks us to praise Him. C.S. Lewis writes a collection of essays in a book entitled A Reflection on the Psalms. And in the introduction, he actually writes, you know, knowingly, he says, I'm not writing to you as a scholar, I'm writing to you as one ignorant man to another who does not understand all of which he's reading in this book. But he says, I want to ask the questions that I've been asked and seek to give you a little bit of the insight of a one who's walked a little further down the road. And as he talks about praising in the Psalms, he talks about something that he often struggled to understand early on in his Christian life. See, he saw God as one who is egotistical, one that was demanding that we praise him. Is God really so prideful that he longs for me to give him praise? But he says, the longer that I have walked with him, the more I realize what praise ultimately does. He says that this praise is the consummation of a joy that I have experienced. He likens it to whenever we see a lover who looks immaculate, we must praise them, not just simply out of giving them a compliment, but out of showing the fullness of our joy in them. And friends, we know what this is. Whenever we hear a song that is good or that we discovered, what do we first long to do? We want to show it to someone, right? We want to, hey, listen to this. You won't imagine how good the beat drop is or the melody or whatever it is. Like we want to tell people about it. Whenever we see a sunset, we didn't really see it if we don't post it on our Instagram story, if we don't yell at our spouse to come outside and look at this. Why? Because a joy so great has to be consummated in praise. It has to be told to someone. Whenever our team is doing well, or whenever our kids do the most average, menial things. I mean, my son is walking around like a drunken stupor right now, completely normal, but man, do you, y'all should see it because it's incredible. Because the things in which bring us the most joy, we long to give praise. And we don't just long to praise it ourselves, but invite people into that praise. For you too to have the fullness of our joy in this. See, this is what praise is: it is the fullness of our joy expressed. David, as he realizes, I will be made full by God, I will be satisfied in him. I cannot help but express that fullness through praise. See, we often think, we often think that joy is a thing that brings about gratitude, but in reality, gratitude is the thing that brings about joy. Whenever we see the Lord and what he has done, joy flows from it. How did David get here? How does he know that his soul will be satisfied? It's because of what he says. In verses six through eight, he tells himself, I will see it. Whenever I remember you upon my bed and meditate you on the watches of the night, for you have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your right hand upholds me. See, David is intentionally seeking to remember the Lord's provision throughout his life. David, as much as anyone has had example after example of the Lord's provision for him. A man who stood against a literal giant knows what it means for the Lord to provide for him. The man who has won battle after battle, who has been saved before from a man seeking to kill him, knows how the Lord has provided. He's reminding himself, he's experienced it. Think back to my daughter. She runs to me after she bonks her head. Why? Because she's experienced before that I'll be there for her. And the times in which she scraped her knee, and the times in which she's fallen down, whether there's blood or not, she's ran to me and I've been there. I've said, let me kiss it and make it better. Let me put a band-aid. I mean, we fly through band-aids in our house because every little bump has to have a band-aid on it. But she's experienced time and time again, Dad cares. Dad hears. Dad seeks to do whatever he can to make me feel better. It's the same reason she comes running to me whenever mom says no to the cookie. I can go to dad, and more than likely, he'll say yes. She's experienced it. It's the same with David. What is he doing in his moment of needs? He's reminding himself, God's provided for me before. He's met me here before. He's cared for me before. The gratitude of his life is what is producing the joy. And David's joy is a product of his dedication to remember. On my bed, in the watches of the night, in the still silence, I choose to think of you. In the shadow of your wings, whenever I need your protection, you are the one I come to. Your right hand upholds me, and my soul clings to you because you are the one that brings me comfort. He's choosing to remember how the Lord has provided. Deuteronomy 8 is one of my favorite passages in scripture. I read it often. Because it's Moses as he's encouraging his people, knowing that he doesn't get to lead his people into the promised land. He doesn't get to lead them into the land that the Lord has given them to possess. So he gives him a final handbook of how does life in the land look. And in Deuteronomy 8, he tells them, he tells them of the reality of their tendency. He tells them what their human nature will lead them to. And he charges his people before they enter into the promised land. He warns them of their tendency and challenges them to live differently. In Deuteronomy 8, 17 and 18, he says this: Beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. But rather you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers as it is to this day. See, Moses knew our tendency to think that in our abundance we are the ones that have done something. We are the ones that have created this comfort for ourselves. We are the ones who have brought us into this land of plenty. He knew that whenever things started going their way in the land, their tendency was to think that the sweat of their own brow and the might of their own back got him. And he says, No, remember often that the Lord fed you the man in the wilderness. The Lord gave you the victory over your foes. The Lord did this and did that. And David is seeking to combat his nature here. As he remembers God in his sanctuary, amidst his abundance, he knows that ultimately the Lord has given him that abundance. As he meditates on him, as he thinks on his faithfulness, he's reminded of the Lord's provision over and over again and is choosing to remind himself of us. And all of the comfort that he has felt from the Lord in the times past, he is choosing to rest in again. Friends, is this our tendency? What do we do more often? Do we try to find comfort in the things that maybe we have done? In the midst of a season of need, are we reminded how God's provided for us in the small so he can provide for me in the big? Or I think that he can provide in the big things, but yet I don't come to him with the trivial. Do we run and choose to remind ourselves of God's faithfulness whenever we need it? Or do we let our current situation blot out the past faithfulness of the Lord? That sure God defeated the giant once, but there's no way he can take down this one. Or sure, he's led us in the unknown once, but there's no way he can lead me now. David has a certain type of confidence about him now because he has chosen to remember how the Lord leads. He's chosen to remember how the Lord provides, he's chosen to remember how the Lord's hand has been on him all of his life. A confidence that David has and he makes known to us in verses 9 through 11. He says, But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth. They shall be given over to the power of the sword, and they shall become a portion for the jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God, and all who swear by him shall exalt, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. The satisfied soul not only seeks God's presence, remembers God's provision, but we see that it trusts God's protection. The satisfied soul trusts God's protection. See, David has this confidence about himself now. You know what's interesting is we read this prayer of his. Where does he run to first? He doesn't run to his current situation physically. That's not the first thing he tells us about. He doesn't focus on the external circumstances he fattens himself in. Rather, he recognizes his spiritual one. He's real with the Lord. God, I need you. I'm looking for you. But how does he immediately follow that up? He's reminding himself of who God is. He's reminding himself of God's character. He's reminding himself of God's kindness. He's reminding himself of God's faithfulness. He's reminding himself of God's provision. He's doing all that he can to magnify his Lord. He's doing all that he can to make his God bigger. He's doing all that he can to fill his heart with the things of the Lord. Because often we do the opposite. Often we look at a situation and we play out every negative scenario in whatever way we can. Often we think, well, if this happens, then this happens, or if I do this, then this will happen. And we begin to magnify not our God, but our situation. The giant in front of us. We seek to make it bigger and bigger, in which we belittle our Lord. But David here is doing the opposite. He's making God so big in his heart and his mind that nothing else can pale in comparison to him. Nothing else can even begin to stand against the God of whom has loved him and served him for his lifetime up until this point. And he is so infatuated, so fixated, so intense has David's focus been on God that he is just now getting around to talk about the place in which he finds himself now. It's almost an afterthought of where he finds himself in the midst of this wilderness. He understands the threat is real. That's why he goes to the Lord in the first place, but he knows ultimately that God is bigger. And he knows that he serves a God of justice. Again, in verse 9 and 10, he says, But those who seek to destroy my life, they shall go down into the depths of the earth. Ultimately, I am not the one to die, but they will be. They shall be given over to the power of the sword, and they shall be a portion for the jackal. David knows that justice is going to come. Look even at his terminology, he knows that something's going to be given to him. It's not the power of his sword, but it's the power of the sword. They will be given over to the power of the sword. They will become a portion for the jackals. An outside force is going to intervene. The Lord is going to provide, and I will be protected. See, David's talked about before in previous Psalms. He's written numerous songs of what it looks like to come to the Lord for protection. One such instance is in Psalm 28, as he says in verse 7, The Lord is my strength and my shield. In him my heart trusts, and I am helped. My heart exalts, and with my song I give thanks to him. This is the practical sense of what does it really look like for the Lord to be his shield? What does it really mean to believe that the Lord will protect me? Not just know the truth, not just be able to recite the verse, or not just be able to say, yeah, okay, cognitively I know that's true, but to believe it. To know that the Lord will provide. To know that he is not shaken by this, to know that he's a God of justice. He's trusted his shield long enough to protect him from the arrows in battle. I don't have much experience with arrows and shields, but I do remember vividly whenever I started playing football in the seventh grade. I was a portly adolescent, and so I was put on the offensive line because I wasn't that fast and I could memorize plays decently well. So I remember there, but I remember standing against guys that were just monsters to me. I mean, I was a bigger kid, but I was nothing compared to some of the guys. Guy that I practiced with all throughout high school was me and Marquez Littleton. And his name is probably better said Little Ton. I mean, the man was huge. He's six, like, six four, some 340 pounds. And me in high school, I was like 6'2, 240. I was like, you have so much weight on me, it is laughable. And he was a monster of a man. But I learned to do what? I learned to trust the pads that I was wearing. That he can hit me, and all I'm gonna do is fall over. And all I may do is just be a stumbling block over him as he moves on the paths, but it won't hurt. Why? Because the pads have protected me time and time again. I have a confidence that I can take a lick. Why? Because let me tell you, plenty of times did I get hit by that man. And I always remember, well, I could get back up. Probably didn't have that many concussions. We'll see. See, David knows what it looks like to trust his shield. To have the Lord protect him from the onslaught of arrows, from a literal giant, yes, but even the heaping words of the people in the midst of his kingdom. The people seeking to belittle him, people seeking to turn people against him. He knows what it looks like to trust the Lord as his shield. And in the same way that he has been provided for before, he knows the experience to wholeheartedly trust in his Lord. Because the Lord has protected him again and again. His enemies will become food for the jackals. They will be the final scavengers of the land, the very leavings of mankind. In the same dry and weary land that he's looking at, he realizes that that will be their fate. That they will not be saved from it. Rather, he will. But rather, David will assume the role in which God has given him is which he says in verse 11. But the king shall rejoice in God. Again, the confidence of the Lord's protection. That just because his circumstances has changed does not mean his commission has. It doesn't mean that his role has, but rather God has still set him as king of his nation. As David is running for his life because his son wants to overthrow him as king, he's gathered an army to do so. In the midst of this, David knows that the Lord's calling on his life has not changed. He is the king that God has established. And he is set to rule as the king, as God has called him to do. And he is called to lead his people into trusting the Lord, that by him rejoicing in God, all who swear by him shall exalt the Lord's name. The leadership that he has pledged, that set the tone of their exaltation. His followers will follow him in his trust of the Lord. He understands that even whenever things aren't going in the way he thinks they should be, that God has protected him and has set him as the king of his nation. This is incredible that he has such a confidence to trust the justice of the Lord. And guys, and I think in a lot of ways, the only thing David fully understands, fully realizes how he can trust in the Lord like this. How he can trust a God who will be just to the end. David's family is tumultuous to say the least. He has a son rape one of his daughters. The same son that is seeking to kill him killed that other son for raping his sister. The family tree is a little wild. And a lot of it you can trace back to his own sin, his own injustice. As he commits adultery with Bathsheba and then murders her husband. It's really from there that we see cracks begin to work its way through his family. And David has to wonder, God, why do you restore me as king, though I deserve your judgment just as much as he does? It's because he's tasted God's grace. He's tasted the Lord covering for him, loving him in spite of his sin. We see psalm after psalm about it. We see him experience the grace of God. And do we realize, friends, that we get to see the picture of this culmination so much more than David ever did? That David's sin can be looked over because there will be one that comes who the sin would be put upon. That David can still be king because there will be king that will be punished for the sin. That the wilderness that David finds himself in now, the wilderness of Judah, will be the wilderness that King Jesus finds himself in and he is not rescued from. Rather, the Lord places on him the judgment that was due to David. The judgment that was due to all of the nation of Israel. The judgment that was due not just for the sins of the past, but the sins of the present and the sins of the future. That God could be so gracious to a king that does not deserve it because he knew ultimately his justice would be made known on a king that did not deserve it. This is why the picture of God's grace is shown to us. That in all of this we can see perfect satisfaction, not just because of God blindly provides for us, but intentionally does in the personal work of Jesus Christ. That we can find full satisfaction because Christ has taken our burden. That we can be made whole because Jesus has done the work to make us so. Friends, the point of the sermon, the point of all of this is for us to see that in a wilderness world, it is Jesus alone that satisfies our soul. And this, my friends, is where the reality of our faith becomes beautiful. It becomes something so much more than something we just know cognitively. Because whenever God meets us in our sin, but yet tells us he still loves us, it's beautiful. Whenever God pulls from us our shame, because he's told us that it has no place for children of his, it's beautiful. This is where our faith becomes practical to know that if God has provided for us in our ultimate need with Christ on the cross, then he will provide us in every other thing. Friends, the world that we live in is wild to say the least. Spend 10 minutes on social media or watch the news for mere moments and we can see that. And the world puts in front of us, this desert puts in front of us, mirage after mirage of saying, this will be the thing that quench your thirst, this will be the thing that satisfies. But we know that that is not true. That ultimately people can't satisfy, family can't satisfy, wealth, comfort, all of these things, though they may be good things, they cannot satisfy us like Jesus can. So we come to him. We do as David has done in this whole song. We look to him, we learn from him, and he will exalt us. Better than that, we will be made an heir with him. The king is not just inviting us to sing praises with him, but inviting us into his kingdom. He's leading his people into ultimate rest, into true satisfaction. As Jesus comes on the scene, he tells the people what does it look to be satisfied? In Matthew 5, 6, he says this: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Friends, Jesus is righteousness. So whenever we hunger and we thirst for him, then alone we'll be satisfied. This entire psalm is a reminder to us that there is one thing that ultimately satisfies our soul, and it's Jesus. So will we learn from David? We'll be one who seeks Jesus' presence by coming to him in our time of need and our time of plenty. We'll be people who remember Jesus' provision on the cross for us, yes. And also every moment thereafter. We trust Jesus' protection from the onslaught of the world and believe him whenever he says, I have you in my hand, and not even the father of all liars can take you from me. Friends, will we come to Jesus and we find our soul satisfaction? Would you bow with me? As the man comes up and begins to lead us in the time of response. Friends, I'd be remiss to ask, to not ask. Have you ever seen Jesus' provision for you? The fullness of what he has done for you on the cross, that he takes away the death that you deserve and offers you the life that is rightfully his. Will you see that he has made a way for you to come into his kingdom with him? Will you respond rightly to that as David did? Understanding that the Lordship of Christ, that God's presence is all you need. We surrender to that. Believer, do you remember this truth? Can it be said of you that you earnestly seek the Lord? Or have you neglected to remember what he has done for you? Have you let the constant times where he's provided you become old? Or have you let the wilderness of this world distract you? Believer, will you repent and turn back to him? Look back to Jesus and see that he is the one of whom your soul needs more than anything else. Lord, I pray that you help us see you. See you as you are, the fullness of what we need. The one who provided for us upon salvation, the one who continues to provide for every need that we have. Lord, help us look to you. Help us trust in you. Lord, please meet us in this place and help us walk in the satisfaction that you long to bring to us.