Everyday Praise: A Heart After God
January 23, 2018
Years ago I read this quote from John Piper that has always helped me evaluate the state of my relationship with God. It goes like this: “If you could go to heaven and have all the best experiences of earth, have all your friends and loved ones, enjoy the best weather, eat all the best food and have your days filled with all kinds of laughter and fun, but you couldn’t have God, would you really want to go to heaven?”
This question really speaks to the condition of our hearts. Do we have a heart that truly wants to be with God, to enjoy God, to find contentment in our relationship with God? Or do we really just want all the benefits we can get from God? In other words, if get the gist of this question, what it is really asking us is this: Do I have a heart after God?
This question helps us understand the difference between those who are simply religious – those who do things for God to gain God’s approval, get His acceptance, or cash in on His benefits – with those who simply love God – who want to be with God, learn what pleases Him and delight in being His child. Its this second kind of person, “the one who loves God” that displays a heart after God, because this is the person who will bring praise to God everyday.
So this morning as we continue our series on Everyday Praise, we are going to look at what characterizes a person who has a heart after God. And how we’re going to do that is by looking at David’s heart expressed in Psalm 63. David after all, was called, “a man after God’s own heart.” And in Psalm 63, he gives us four characteristics of a person who loves God. So if you brought your Bible’s with you today, let me encourage you to find Psalm 63, where we will begin by looking at the first of these characteristics. And the first one is this:
Those with a heart after God have deep longings for God David’s opening words reveal a heart that is desperately longing for God, a heart that thirsts for God’s presence. David penned this psalm in the desert. And he uses his desert experience to communicate the state of his heart, saying: You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there isno water. Psalm 63:1
This isn’t the plea of a stranger to God. It is a PERSONAL plea of a friend, and intimate, whoDESIRES connection with HIS GOD. Now we find David as a parched traveler searching for God like looking for water in the desert. We’re familiar with this. We all live in a desert. I learned quickly living here that you must constantly drink water, especially if you are outside, or you will quickly dehydrate. When you are dehydrated you get sleepy, get a headache and may even get dizzy and pass out. In the desert, water means life. You go long enough without it and you will die.
That’ what we hear in David’s plea. He thirsts for God, because He needs God in order to live. God is like water to David. God is life to David. There is nothing greater to him in life than experiencing God’s presence… Ever been there? Have you ever found yourself thirsting for more than what this world offers? If you have, then you know what David is getting at. He wants God more than God’s gifts. His desire for God is greater than every other desire in life.
Think about desires with me for a moment. We all long to have our desires fulfilled. This is what much of life is about. In fact, everyone of us are experts at satisfying our desires. Our hearts are desire factories:
We have longings to be loved, for deep friendships, laughter and meaning. We desire significance – believing our lives matter. We hunger for relationship: longing to be accepted, appreciated, and loved. And we desire success: we want to win at life. And there’s a reason your heart is a desire factory. It’s because God created you that way. He made you with all kinds of desires, and longings. That’s who we are… But
Can you say you want God more than you want His gifts? Can you say you desire relationship with Him more than His benefits? You see, everyone of us will experience times when our souls are parched. There will be times when the stuff of earth will not satisfy. There will be times when you spouse won’t fulfill you. There will be times when succeeding will leave you empty. And that’s ok. For if we could find soul satisfaction apart from God, then we would never need God. But we do need Him. For with Him there is peace, love, joy, contentment and so much more.
And David understood that. So David sought hard after God. He made a deliberate focused search for the One who satisfies the soul. What does that tell us? Like David, we need to chase hard after God – to make a deliberate focused pursuit of the one who created us. We need to cry out to him in prayer. We need to seek Him in His word. We need to listen to His Spirit.
But I want you to notice something here, David didn’t have a copy of God’s Word with him in the desert, so he couldn’t seek God that way. So what did he do? What did David do to help him connect with the God? That’s what we see next in this Psalm. He used his MEMORY. He remembered when God was close to him, when God was real for him. And that leads us to the next characteristic of a heart after God:
Those with a heart after God have experienced meaningful encounters with God David follows his cry for God with a memory of His vision of God: I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Psalm 63:2 David is recalling a time when he experienced God in a big way. These were happier days when God revealed himself to David in worship: as the awesome God, a God of vast power and majestic beauty. God had met him in worship. And meeting God in worship filled David with joy, encouragement and confidence. He seeks that same kind of encounter now.
Why? Because life had been difficult for David. David wrote this Psalm, not in the palace of the King, but in the desert of Judah. In fact, by the time David penned this Psalm, had been on the run from King Saul for quite a while. From 1 Samuel 19 through 27, David had tried to deliver himself from the hands of Saul. First, David ran to Samuel in Ramah, but found no relief; next he looked to his friend Jonathan; when that didn’t work he sought another priest: Ahimelech. When that failed he escaped to the cave of Adulam. He even stooped so low as to seek aid from the fool Nabal. And when that failed he joined forces with the Philistines. And by the time God rescued him from the hands of the Philistines, he was tired of running, tired of taking matters into his own hands.
So it was here, in the desert, tired and desperate that David stopped and remembered the time God met him in the sanctuary. And the God David remembered was all-powerful. And that vision of God sustained him. It gave him strength to keep going. It gave him confidence that if God was that powerful in the sanctuary, He would be no less powerful in the desert…
Can you say you have a vision of God that is big enough to carry you through life’s desert experiences? Do you have a memory of a time when God showed you how great He is, how powerful He is, how faithful He is? Do you remember the day God saved you? Do you remember when God provided for you? Do you remember when God helped you?
One of my favorite memories of a Big God came the day I went across the boarder to Canada, to begin leading my first church plant. That day, the customs officer made a mistake with me. Since I told her I was entering Canada to begin a ministry in Langley, she told me that I had to declare every item I would be bringing into Canada. Now, we weren’t going to move for about three weeks, so at that time I had to fill out this form that would list every item from my home and its estimated value. So as I filled out the form, I went through every room and wrote down every item I could think of. Finally, about 90 minutes later I finished. Then signed and I dated it. It was February 19th. Wow. February 19th may seem just like another date to you, but not to me. For that was the date I came to faith in Jesus. Right then and there God met me. God gave me a wink and basically told me right at that moment, “See, I saved you for this!”
You can’t believe the confidence that God gave me that day. Here I was going to a foreign Country. I’d never been the lead guy before. But all my worries vanished that day. For I knew that the God who saved me, had prepared me, and had led me to this very place, was going to be with me and help me every step of the way.
Do you have some memories of a big God like that? Memories where He met with you, helped you or carried you through a difficult time? If so, the next time you need encouragement or confidence, remember how God has been there for you. That’s what we are going to do in two weeks. We are going to remember what God has done for us this past year. That’s why every month we remember what Jesus did on the cross for us through communion. God’s people need to always be remembering how God has worked in the past. That’s what David did, and it not only did remembering His great God give him confidence, but it gave him even more than that. And that leads us to the next characteristic of a heart after God, and that is this:
Those with a heart after God have true contentment with God Listen now as David moves from desperate longing to joyful satisfaction: Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:3-5
Now this is just an incredible shift of heart by David here: Alone in the desert, on the run from his enemies, but then after remembering how great His God is, He breaks into praise. That last line in particular, David uses the Hebrew words, “marrow and fat” in describing his contentment. Eugene Peterson translates this verse like this: “I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy; I smack my lips. It’s time to shout praise.” What a great picture of contentment.
It is well and good to praise God for the good things in our lives – a loving family, great friendships, financial success, a great church. But here David shows that a man with a heart after God doesn’t praise God just when things are going well. Here he praises God when life isn’t going his way. This is why David is a great example OF EVERYDAY PRAISE. Like I said previously, when we praise God: when we remember how good He is, how merciful He is, how He delivers us from sin and set us on the Rock… when we praise Him for ALL THIS… our present troubles become NOTHING and He becomes EVERYTHING. AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS OUR HEART’S become CONTENT!
So here’s TOUGH question for you: Can you praise God when life is not going your way? Can you praise God when you are sick? Can you praise God when your finances go south? Can you praise God when your car breaks down? Can you praise God when your children are at odds with you? Can you praise God when life throws you a curve?
David praised God in his worst moments: He sought God with all his heart, and then remembered God in His greatness, before He found contentment with God. And that leads us to David’s conclusion: His praise of God didn’t just sustain him, but gave him what he needed to keep following hard after God.
That’s the last characteristic of a heart after God: Those with a heart after God have a deep commitment for God Listen how David expresses this final characteristic: On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:6-8 David provides three images that reveal the source of his confidence: The first is David’s bed. David had many a sleepless night on the run. But he used those waking hours to think about God. What a great example for us. This past week, I’ve been sick. The first night I was sick, I took some nighttime cold & flu medication. Worked great. Knocked me right out. But the next night I couldn’t sleep. So I got up and read. But after reading this verse, I thought “What if I used my sleepless nights to focus my thoughts on God?” What a great way to build my confidence in God.
The second image is of David singing under God’s wings. Now this image is a metaphor of divine shelter. Singing under God’s wings meant that David was in a safe place. This is a comforting picture of God’s protective presence even though David was in the wilderness. I love this picture because it reminds us that God is always there to protect us no matter where we might find ourselves.
The third image, has two parts to it: The first, is of David clinging to God. The word David uses speaks of a strenuous clinging. It carries within it this idea of “pursuit” and communicates the idea that David was constantly trying to get a grip on God. This picture is quickly followed by a picture of God’s side in the relationship: God’s right hand holding him firmly. What a great picture: although David struggles to hold onto God, God has a firm grip on David.
And now safe under God’s protective presence and secure in God’s firm grip David is able to face his enemies and say: Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in Him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced. Psalm 63:9-11
God’s safe and secure hold on David left no doubt in his mind that God would fight for him, and that God would win the day. This is why David had a heart after God. For there is no one more personal, no one more powerful, no one more satisfying and no one more secure than God.
And knowing this about God gave David the confidence he needed to face life’s toughest battles. You see it’s easy to stay committed to God when life is good… its easy to praise God when everything is going your way. But when life gets tough, when people and circumstances go against you, can you still praise God? Do you have the kind of confidence in God that gives you a deep commitment for God?
David did, because he had a heart after God. David trusted that God held Him in the grip of His mighty right hand. Do you have the same confidence in God? Do you believe He is able to fight your battles? Can you be content in Him when life doesn’t go your way? Do you believe He can carry you through your wilderness experiences? Do you want Him more than you want His gifts?
If you can say yes to those questions, then like David… you too have a heart after God. But if you struggle to say yes, but want to say yes, and you really want to believe in a God like this, the good news is that you can. Because the same God David cried out to in the wilderness, the same God who held him firm, is the same God who gave us Jesus.
1) It is Jesus who makes God known in a personal way: He lived as a man to show you what God is like, then he died for you, to bring you to God. Through faith in Jesus you can now know God as a friend, as your Father.
2) It is Jesus who makes God known in a powerful way. For Jesus didn’t just die for your sins. No, he was buried and then on the third day rose again. In his resurrection He defeated sin and death. And if he did that, there’s nothing He can’t do in your life.
3) It is Jesus who can satisfy the longings in your heart. If you put your trust in Him, He will give you a peace that is beyond understanding and a joy will fill your heart.
4) And it is Jesus who promises to never let you go.
You want a heart after God?
Give your heart to Jesus.
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