The King Delights in God
Good morning, Cities Church. This morning, we have come to Psalm 63, and I'm very excited to look at this Psalm with you.
But before we do that, before we look at this Psalm, I just want to pause and acknowledge something for a moment. Most of you know this already, my wife and I, our family, we will be relocating to the state of Florida in a few weeks, God-willing.
This morning is probably the last time that I will preach to you from this pulpit as one of your pastors. And I just want to pause and say, Cities Church, it has been an unbelievable joy to serve as one of your pastors. It has been an unbelievable privilege and honor to come to this pulpit and to bring God’s Word to you. To my brother pastors, I just want to say, thank you, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to do what I love, to serve in this capacity at Cities Church. And to Cities Church, I love the friendships I’ve built here. I love you. And I will miss you.
So, one last time, as one of your pastors, I get to exposit a passage of Scripture with you. And it’s a Psalm that has been, personally, very dear to me. This has been a Psalm that I have read quite a bit and have come back to multiple times, and have found it incredibly helpful.
And I’m not the only one. Lots of people love Psalm 63. In fact, it has had a unique place in Christian history. When we look at early church fathers, those are earliest pastors and theologians and apologists from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries, Psalm 63 is one of the most frequently cited Psalms in their writings. Also, Psalm 63 was the Psalm that was most-commonly-sang Psalms in the early church.
Why? Why was this Psalm so popular. Well, one early church father answers that for us. John Chrysostom was a preacher and theologian in the late 4th century, often considered the greatest preacher of the ancient world, he said,
“The church [of the earlier generations believed] ordained that no day should pass without the public singing of this psalm [because] the spirit and soul of the whole book of Psalms is contracted [and summed up] in this Psalm.”
The early church fathers saw Psalm 63 as sort of a microcosm of the entire book of Psalms. All the themes and motifs that we see in all of the Psalms, they’re summed up right here in Psalm 63. So that’s that Psalm we’ll be looking at this morning. Would you pray with me and then we’ll dive in.
Father in heaven, thank you for the time I’ve had here at Cities Church would you bless this church family and use this congregation to show your glory in these Twin Cities I pray. God, Cities Church has seen your kindness and provision many times your faithfulness has been on display many times. Thank you God. I praise you for that. And now, Lord, I ask, as we turn to Psalm 63, would you use your Word this morning to shape us, to mold us, to make us to be more like your Son, for your glory. I ask these things in the matchless name of Jesus, Amen.
Well, right off the bat, we see here in Psalm 63 that this is another Psalm of David. The superscript says:
“A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.”
David is writing this in the wilderness. Now, when you look at the life of David, there’s two seasons of his life when he was living in the wilderness. One earlier in his life when he’s being chased by Saul and the other, 40 years later when Absalom launches a rebellion. But towards the end of this Psalm, he refers to himself as “king” so most Biblical scholars believe that this was written during that second wilderness season, after David had already been king, and David is in his 60s at this point. If you want to read about this moment in David’s life, you can find that in 2 Samuel 15.
So, David is living in the wilderness. He had been king, but Absalom launched a rebellion and David is forced to flee. He went from the throne room to the wilderness. This is no small issue. David is in the wilderness, living in exile, because his own son has betrayed him and sought to overthrow him. Can you imagine the pain David is feeling right now?
I’m a father, my daughter Lettie just turned 2 years old this week. And I just cannot imagine the heartbreak that David is feeling in this moment. Think about this situation and ask yourself “how would I respond in that moment?”
Now, look at how David responded, look at verse 1,
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,”
This is a remarkable response. I earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you.
In these sort of moments, when life is hard, when we’re experiencing this sort of heartbreak or difficulty, when we’re in the wilderness, when we feel alone or betrayed or confused, it’s so easy to respond by questioning God or becoming bitter But that’s not how David responds. David makes it clear. You know what I need most right now? I need God. You know what my heart longs for most? It’s not to be rescued from the wilderness, not to be back on the throne, no, what I want most is to be satisfied in God.
Then David tells us what has inspired him to find his satisfaction in God. Look at verse 2:
“2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.”
Here in verse 2, David is remembering back to his moments in the sanctuary. He’s referring to the tabernacle where the presence of God lives. Another English translation renders it like this:
“I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.”
David is reflecting back to the times when he was in the sanctuary remembering how he saw the power and glory of God. He’s remembering back to moments where God’s power and glory were on display. And then as David is reflecting, as he’s remembering, he then declares why he will praise God.
Look at verse 3:
“3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.”
He declares that his lips will praise God because the love of God is better than being alive.
The steadfast love of God is better than life itself. And that truth inspires us to want God. David is telling us the reason my lips are gonna praise God is because I remember gazing upon the sanctuary, I remember that and I know that he loves us, that’s why these lips are gonna praise him.
Sometimes people ask “How do I get myself to want God more?” I desire God, but I want to desire him more. How do I do that. Well, David is giving us a model here that we can follow.
David is not thinking about the problems he’s facing. He’s not looking at his present circumstances. He’s thinking back to when he gazed upon the sanctuary. He’s reflecting upon his previous experiences that displayed the power and glory of God. We saw a similar sentiment from the writer of Hebrews back in Hebrews 2 when he says that the way we keep from drifting away from the faith is to continually remind ourselves about Jesus. Remember, he said, back in Hebrews 2:
“pay more close attention to what you’ve heard about Jesus.”
Remembering who God is will cultivate your desire for him and will keep you close. David reiterates this in the next few verses. Look at verses 5-6:
“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;”
He’s like, do you know when my soul is going to be satisfied?
When I remember him, when I’m meditating upon him.
And I love the imagery here he’s like, “My soul is going to feel satisfied like I just had some great fatty meal.” I just had a grade A ribeye or a big premium juicy burger. He’s like, “When I remember God, when I remember his power and glory and steadfast love, that’s when my soul feels satisfied, and that’s when my mouth will sing. That’s when these joyful lips will sing his praise, the living God.
David is modeling for us how to respond when we find ourselves in seasons of wilderness, to remember back to those moments when we saw his power and glory on display and remind ourselves of the steadfast love of God.
Through your remembering the Holy Spirit will strengthen you so that you can flourish, even in the midst of the wilderness. Let me give you four practical things, none of these will be a shock:
1) Remind yourself of moments you’ve experienced. This is why journaling can be helpful at times.
2) Read the Bible. Often times, when people think about looking back at God’s goodness, they look back to things that have happen in their own lives, but it’s important to remember that the ultimate source where we, today, can see God’s power and glory on display is the Bible.
3) Church history. I love reading books about how God has been faithful to Christians over the last 2,000 years. It’s one of the reasons I’ve loved biographies, I’ve read a lot of biographies in my life, and I love seeing the power and glory of God on display in their lives.
4) Other believers. We were not meant to live the Christian life alone this is why community groups and life groups are so helpful, this is why church membership matters.
Just this week a young man came to me and said “hey, my wife and I are struggling with this transition.” He asked, “how have you dealt with this?”
I was able to share a few stories from my own life, of God’s faithfulness through some of my transitions and he was greatly encouraged. We can serve each other by reminding each other of the steadfast love of God.
Whenever you find yourself in those tough seasons of life, like David is here, intentionally find ways to remind yourself of who God is, find ways to gaze upon his power and glory and love that will strengthen you and inspire you even in the midst of difficulties, remembering God will stoke and satisfy your desire for him!
Then in verse 9 there’s a shift in the Psalm. David begins to contrast himself versus those who are seeking to attack him. Look at verse 9:
“But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.”
Throughout this Psalm, we see David wanting to find his satisfaction in God but here in verse 9 we see that these other men are seeking to destroy David because they want power. Absalom and his men want control over the kingdom. They're finding their satisfaction on power, not finding satisfaction in God. Here David says I know the destiny that they’re facing. David’s like, “I know things aren’t going to go well for them.”
They’re going to “go down into the depths of the earth” and they’re gonna be a “portion for jackals.” So, David’s like, “I'm not gonna do what those guys do, I don’t wanna end up as a meal for jackals, I don’t wanna be a jackal happy meal.” Then he contrasts himself to them again. Look at verse 11:
“But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”
David is referring to himself, he’s the king and he declares that the king will rejoice in God.
Those other guys, the guys usurping David, the guys wanting to attack David, those guys delight in power. They’re gonna end up as food for jackals. But the king, me, the king, is going to delight in God.
This is interesting because David was in the wilderness, he’s not sitting on the throne. Absalom has taken power in Hebron, and many people in Israel are loyal to Absalom. Functionally, David isn’t running things anymore. But David still refers to himself as the king and still intends to behave as a good king, and a good king delights in God.
David understood his calling – he was called to be a good king – and whether he was functionally king or not, he was still gonna behave like a king. David is reminding himself, talking in third person, he’s reminding himself, I am the king even if the nation no longer acknowledges that I’m the rightful king. I was called by God to be the king and a good king behaves in certain ways. I’m gonna do what a good king is called to do, whether I’m officially the king or not.
Imagine one of David’s men catches up with him in the wilderness and says, “David, Absalom is sinning, he’s destroying the kingdom. Why don’t you go do something about this?”
I think David might respond with something like, “but in order for me to stop this rebellion, I’m going to need to pull some of the dirty tricks he pulled on me? To fight to get the kingdom back, I’m gonna have to fight fire with fire?”
And David’s friend says, “yeah!” David just says, “Nah! I’m not doing that. People who do that, they end up as food for jackals.” His friend says, “Then what are you gonna do?” David says, “Me, what am I gonna do, I’m the king, I’m going to do what a good king does, the king will delight in God.”
One Old Testament commentator put it this way, “David refused to behave in a manner unbecoming of a king.” This is an important lesson we can learn from David. We want to ensure that we behave in line with our calling. We are called into the family of God and there’s certain behaviors that are appropriate for that calling.
The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 4, says, “[I] urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
There are certain things that are unbecoming of a Christian. Do not do those things. In our toxic political climate, there are people saying that Christians need to “fight fire with fire.” Um, no. That’s not the way. There’s a lot of crazy things happening in our society and I’m all for fighting for what’s right, I’m all for fighting for truth, and fighting to protect children from genital mutilation, and fighting for the unborn, fighting to ensure that our government officials are just in their dealings, yes, those are all good fights worthy of our efforts, but we must be careful that in our fights we must never be willing to do evil things or use manipulative tactics. We don’t even want to do anything that’s even a little grey or just a little shady, nah, no we don’t go down those roads.
In our fighting for righteous things we must never behave in a manner that is unbecoming of a Christian, we must continually delight in God and behave in accordance with his ways. In every arena of life, live a life worthy of the calling you have received!
David modeled this many times in his life but as we all know, he didn’t always behave the way a good king ought to behave. He had several moments of great sin but here in Psalm 63, he’s a good model for us, but he wasn’t always a good model for us to follow.
But there is another king who modeled this perfectly. A king who always behaves like a good king because he is a good king, King Jesus! And he delights in God, his Father!
King Jesus came to serve the people and they turned on him, they refused to acknowledge his authority, and they crucified him. Yet, Jesus still behaved like a good king. He did what a good king should always do, Jesus delighted in God, his Father.
And his delight in God strengthen him.
Hebrews 12:2,
“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.”
Jesus knew that through the cross and after the cross there would be great joy to be had for him, and for the Father, and the redeemed (God’s people, us).
Jesus was looking at that joy, and that inspired and strengthened him to endure, and the writer of Hebrews says, “look to Jesus, he’s our example.” He’s the one we look to.
So just as King Jesus delighted in God, we too ought to delight in God. There is a joy that has been set before us too, right now, in this life, no matter what we face, our souls can feast upon him, we can thirst for him and he will satisfy us. And there is future joy too, the joy of knowing that we will enjoy him forever, that joy has been set before us.
And just as King Jesus was inspired and strengthened by the joy set before him. You as well will be inspired and strengthened by the joy set before you. Cities Church, may we delight in God and he will give us strength.
David said it this way in verse 8, last verse we’ll look at together, look at verse 8:
David said,
“My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.”
As our souls cling to him, he will uphold us. Cities Church, my last exhortation to you as one of your pastors: Remember him. Remember God and who he is and what he has done, reflect upon his power and his glory and his steadfast love, delight in him, and cling to him, and know that God will uphold you. Would you pray with me again.
Father in heaven, thank you again for your kindness and faithfulness to our church. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this church for this season. Thank you, King Jesus, thank you for ensuring the cross. God, help us to remember you, to gaze upon your power and glory, help us to remember that your steadfast love is better than life and may that inspire us to worship you, may our souls feast on you, may we thirst on you and may we find our satisfactions in you. God your spirit to strengthen us, please, help us to cling to you and as we do, we know that you will uphold us, with your might hand. Thank you God. Amen.