2024-07-24- Needless Space

The speaker reflects on a song that talks about the desire to see Jesus. They mention how they sometimes struggle with cares and challenges in life, but find encouragement in the thought of seeing Jesus one day. They also discuss their past experiences of not taking things seriously, like school, but now they want to give their all in service for the Lord. The speaker then shares their personal connection to Psalm 63 and how it has been a source of comfort and inspiration for them. They highlight the importance of seeking God early and acknowledging Him as their God. The speaker emphasizes the need for a single-minded focus on God and the joy that comes from surrendering to Him. They also mention a conversation with someone who expressed their desire for the speaker's apparent success, but the speaker advises them to find happiness through coming back to the Lord. I was thinking about that song that Fr. Austin just sung, Oh, I Want to See Him, and never really paid much attention to it. I've sung it a million times, but never really paid attention to how the verses talk about Sister Andrea, how we're here below and how things are different. We have cares. But then the chorus, it's almost like this writer is just trying to encourage himself. And he says, Oh, I want to see him. Look upon his face. The chorus is talking about when we finally get to see Jesus. He said, Let me lift my voice. It says, When in service for my Lord, dark may be the night. I thought it might seem like a dark night to be in service. The pastor's not here. Things are a little bit different. And we do have cares right now in this world. I'm not feeling so great in my body tonight. And I know there is cares. But if we can get our eyes on him and think about him and think about how we're going to see him, and that day when the cares are all passed and we're home at last and we're ever to rejoice, I think we can get into the service tonight. And I thought about, as I was sitting there, Sister Carrie, I thought, you know, I didn't take school very serious as a kid. And I goofed off a whole lot. And then when I met Christi in 10th grade, it got even worse. And I just didn't care a whole lot about school. And then when I went to college, Sister Andrea, I wished I'd paid more attention. I wished I gave more to every day I went to school. And when there was a substitute teacher, it was even worse. It was like a feeding frenzy. I mean, it was a free day. Didn't have to do anything. We just knew we were just going to be able to sit back. And it was just a free day to goof off. But I don't want to be like that in service for the Lord. There's never a free night. I feel like a substitute teacher. You know, the pastor's not here. But I'm thankful for all. I'm thankful for what everybody's doing. Everybody that seemed like y'all are taking it serious. I'm thankful for my church. I'm thankful for the testimonies and the songs that's been brought forth. And just thankful for my church. I think if we got a glimpse of Jesus, and even if we got a glimpse of hell, we would take every service so serious. We really would. There wouldn't be no free services. There wouldn't be no, well, he's not the greatest preacher. The pastor's not here. Nothing like that. We would give it our all. And I want to give it our all. God is my audience tonight. I know y'all are a congregation. And it's fell on my lot to preach tonight. But God is our audience. This is our service. And everybody can take part and give God audience. If y'all will turn to Psalm 63. We talked about being on the battlefield for our Lord. We'll read some words of a man that was no stranger to the battlefield. Our psalmist David in Psalm 63. I have before testified maybe last year to a portion of this psalm. And this psalm means a whole lot to me. And I had it on my heart. This was since Brother Tim asked me just a couple, I don't know if it was yesterday or the day before, he asked me to step in and preach. And we'll read Psalm 63 there, 1 through 8. And just get into the word here. It says, O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in Thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness. And my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. When I remember Thee upon my bed and meditate on Thee in the night watches, because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after Thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. And that'll be all I'm reading right now. I would like to read the first sentence there of that Psalm in verse 8. It says, My soul followeth hard after Thee. And I'd like for you all to keep that in mind. And I want to title this message tonight, Needless Space. Needless Space. Let's pray tonight over the service. Dear Heavenly Father, God, we come before You tonight, Lord, in Your service, God, to do Your will. Lord, I trust, God, that You give me this message, Lord, for this very church, for this very hour. We appreciate these Psalms. We appreciate the life of David and the example that he led and the words that he left behind for us. And that it's Your anointed Word, Lord, that it's Your inspired Word, Lord. And we know we can profit from it, God. Lord, we ask You, Jesus, Lord, to get out of it, Lord, tonight, what You'd want us to get out of it, Lord. Help us, Jesus, Lord. See me, Lord, and my limitations, God. Lord, and fill in the gap, Lord. Oh God, in my weakness, Lord, Your strength is made perfect. Oh God, I will not be any help, Lord, without You, Lord, anoint me. God, anoint this service, Lord, and help us to do Your heavenly will. In Jesus' name we pray tonight, Amen. This Psalm, like I said, will always, Brother Austin, hold a dear place in my heart. There was a time in my life where I was at a place that I wasn't able to have the Word of God in my life. I wasn't able just to pull it out. And I was in a dark place. And so I wrote the words on my hand, Sister Carrie, Oh God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I wrote those words on my hand and it surely was like water in a dry and thirsty land. When I would get scared or feel alone or when the night got dark and those night watches, I could look down at that and it was like drinking from a well of water. And I was so thankful to have that little portion of Scripture. And I would like to, if you all don't mind, to kind of dissect this here. And I don't plan on keeping you long at all. I really don't. But I would refer to that over and over. My favorite part about this Psalm is that David, being the writer, in this Psalm here, he doesn't ask God for anything at all. We know that there's often times that he's pleading for God's help. And we often find ourselves pleading for God's help. And we can go to those Psalms and that can really, really help us. But here, he's just thankful. And thankful, we do have a right as a child of God to go to God and plead for things in our lives. But there's times that we can just go to Him and be thankful for just who He is. And I think that's what David does here. This time, this Psalm, David simply gives God some praise. So let's break this Psalm down. And like I said, we won't stay long. But verse 1 here says, David starts this Psalm and says, O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. He starts out by acknowledging, Christi, just who God is. Now, many prayed to God in David's day. There was nations and these people with a whole lot of people. Most people, I guess, would probably pray to God. But there was this polytheism where they would pray to not only the one true God, but they would pray to many gods. There was many pagan gods. The god of Baal. The god Marduk. The god Asherah. The god Asherah. The god Molech. But David knew there was only one true God. And that was his focus. That God of Moses. The God of Abraham and Isaac. And the God of the Bible. His God. You are my God. But not only that, you are God, but you are my God. The one and only God. You are God. That is a fact. But not only are you God, you are my God. You see, there is a difference. He is God whether you acknowledge Him or not. But David says, Thou art my God. I surrender all to You. And then he goes on and says, Early will I seek Thee. I think this is crucial. Seeking God took priority over everything for David in this moment. There was an eagerness to seek God. Early eagerness to seek God. In the next lines, David will compare God as water to a thirsty man. I wonder tonight, have you ever woke up thirsty? I do that often. I'll wake up. I have that CPAP or that BiPAP mask and it makes it even worse. I'll wake up and I'll just dine of thirst. And I'm sure many have done that or we've all done that at some point. But you wouldn't wait. When you wake up and your mouth is so dry, you wouldn't wait until noon, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock to get a drink of water. You would go right away and drink water. Seeking God was like that for David. He goes on to say, My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Water is one of the most essential things the body needs to survive. You will die without water. And I think this is why David uses this as a comparison. You will die without water and you will die without the Lord. For Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. David is experiencing the fullness of joy that only comes in the full surrender to God. Not only does his soul thirst for God, but his flesh longs for God. If there's a contradiction between what your soul wants and what your flesh wants, it will only lead to depression and instability in your life. And that's why James 1 and 8 says, A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. I thought me and Christy, maybe last week we ran into somebody that we would all know, and I'll keep it kind of general. She came up to me and she looked at me and smiled and kind of like tongue in cheek, she said, I hate you. And I said, Why? And she said, because she just expressed that I looked like I was successful in ways that she hasn't been. We've gone through some of the same avenues, and I'm trying to keep it general, to find happiness. And she said she's failed in these things. And I told her, I said, the secret is you need to come back to the Lord. That's really all that I've done for happiness, is come back to the Lord. You can try drugs, a career change, you can buy a better car, you can buy a bigger house, you can change your relationships, you can even change church denominations. But until your soul and your flesh is in sync, and you totally surrender to the one true God, that's the only way you'll be satisfied. In verse 2 he goes on to say, To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. David sought the Lord in his sanctuary as a thirsty man sought water in a desert. Did you come to the house of God thirsty tonight? Did you pour out your heart and your prayer closet so much that you came to a weeknight service needing a refilling? Did you come to the well hoping to fill your bucket with God's power and His glory, which is here tonight, or is it just full of other things? See, that is why people don't see the need to come to church, because they have no room for God. There's no sense in going to the grocery store if your cabinet and your refrigerator, Brother Quentin, is full of junk food. I mean, there's no sense in going. Verse 3 says, Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. David regarded God's mercy over his own life, for God's lovingkindness is life. Proverbs 21 and 21 says, He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor. We are not on a pursuit of happiness. We are on a pursuit of God's mercy, and that is where we will find happiness. Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 16 and 24, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. We see so many get saved, and then they shortly stop coming back to the house of God. I wonder, why is this? It's because they find out that God's will doesn't fit into their lifestyle. They get saved, they secure their place in heaven, is what they think, and then they go back to their homes, and their televisions, and everything that they've got, and their lifestyles, and they soon realize that God does not fit in anywhere in their life. They don't want to change their life. They just want to go to heaven once they get done doing everything they want to do. We cannot be like that. We are not to value our lives over God's love. In the pursuit of God's love, we will have life more abundantly than we could ever afford life for ourselves. Because He did in fact come to give us life, and life more abundantly. Verse 4 goes on, Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up My hands in thy name. Because your love is better than life itself, I will spend My life blessing and praising your name. I will lift up My hands in thy name. The hands lifted up was the most common posture of prayer for Hebrews, and they serve several purposes even for us today. Number one, we praise Him by lifting up our hands. We all know that, right? We praise Him by lifting up our hands. But it's not only an act of praise, it is an act of surrender. Think of a soldier on the battlefield that's ready to give up and surrender. What do they do? They raise up their hands. I give up. I give you my life. My life is in your hands to do what you will with it. But I give up. I stop fighting. My life is in your hands. You decide my fate. Do you surrender your life to God today? Also, lifting hands is an act of receiving. We see some people praise God like this. Receiving. Lord, my hands are empty. Look, my hands are empty. Pour out your blessings upon me. Lastly, lifting hands is a sign of dependence. I thought one time, and I testified about this years ago, I was in my prayer closet, Sister Andrea, and I couldn't feel God, and I really wanted to. And I was praising Him, and then I started singing songs, and it just seemed like my prayers wasn't going anywhere. And so I decided to just start asking Him for things. You know how you do. And then I tried to sing another song. And everything I tried to do, I tried to wait on God. I tried to think about blessings. And it just seemed like everything I did, it wasn't working. And I didn't know why. And I decided I would just give up and go to church. It was Sunday morning, and maybe I would feel God there. And as I started to get up, I felt God. Or, you know, not audibly, but I just felt the need to praise Him one more time, Sister Carrie. And I raised my hand and I praised Him. And as soon as I did that, I had a flashback of Kelsen when she was a little kid. And we was in the Walmart or the grocery store, something that she often did. And we'd been walking around for hours, and Kelsen just came up to me and lifted her hands and just leaned on me like that. And I knew exactly what that meant. It meant she wanted me to pick her up. And she didn't have a doubt in her mind that I could do it, because I'd done it many, many times before. She knew that I could carry her weight. She was dependent upon me to carry her. And so lifting our hands is an act of dependence upon the Lord. Verse 5 says, My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. There is not a life more satisfied than a life that is totally surrendered to God. Many people are filling their appetites with the garbage of this world, and it's not sustainable. If you have a diet of candy, which I have before, what is it? It's exciting. It's usually wrapped in bright, enticing colors, Brother Landon. It's cheap. It's everywhere. It tastes great. You can't get enough of it. It's sugary. It's sweet. We love it. If you eat enough of it, you will get full. You can get full off of candy. I've done it. But soon, it will leave you sick, lethargic, and you'll have a mouth full of cavities. Your bellyache is over. You'll just be hungry again, and it won't take long. You'll need something else. But your soul can be satisfied with marrow and fatness. I thought, what did the Father prepare for the prodigal son to eat? Does anybody remember what the Father prepared for the prodigal son? He prepared the fatted calf. That's right, Cameron. Greek for the fatted calf is situtos. That means grain-fed. I had a co-worker one time, and some of y'all that's raised cattle or maybe grew up around a farm, I never have, but he told me what he does to have a good fat calf or good fat cow. First, they would be out in the field. But when it was come close to time to slaughter it, Sister Lindsey, they would take it into the barn in just a little room, and they would start feeding it grain. And while they would do that, they didn't get any exercise. And they would just sit there and eat that grain, eat the grain, and they would get so fat that it would eventually be prime steak. And that was the go. And that tells me two things. The father of the prodigal son was anticipating the return of his son. He had a grain-fed calf just waiting for such an occasion. He wanted and anticipated for such an occasion that his son would return home. Two, he wanted the best for him when he did come back. Nothing will satisfy you like living for the Lord. Marrow and fatness. Verse 6 says, "...when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches." There were not enough hours in the day for David to praise the Lord. Remember verse 1, "...early will I seek thee." And now in verse 6, Brother Camden, "...and meditate on thee in the night watches." God, I will raise up early and seek you. I will praise you all the day long, but even then it won't be enough for what you have done for me. I've got to find time in the night watches to seek your love and your mercy. All the day long, all the night long. God, I can't get enough of you. Verse 7 says, "...because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." As I stated at the start, David is not asking God for anything. He acknowledges here, God, you have provided it all. All I need is the loving kindness that I feel right now. You're all that I need. I am in the shadow of thy wings, and all I can do is rejoice. And verse 8 here says, "...my soul falleth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me." And I want to end right here and focus on this point. One thing that I haven't told you, and you Bible readers will already know, or you might have already noticed by reading this psalm, you would assume that David was at the point in his life where all of his enemies had been defeated. We remember a time when he was laid back in his palace, and he had everything he needed, and he thought, I want to build God a temple. Here I am in Cedars, and God is in a tent. And he had everything that he possibly needed. But that's not so. The Bible says that David here was in the wilderness of Judah when he wrote this psalm. Most likely and commonly believed that he was on the run from King Saul. And we remember that time. In a wilderness, being pursued by an enemy. And all he could think to do is praise God, Brother Austin. And I thought, that is the warning. I was asking God, what do you want me to see in this? I feel like, Sister Anne, that is the warning, and the contrast I'd like to bring to you tonight. If y'all go ahead and get a song, I told you I wouldn't keep you long. David said in verse 8, My soul followeth hard after thee. I think our present danger tonight, and what I feel God has shown me in prayer, is not the pursuit of an enemy. It's not that we are starving in a wilderness. All of us will go home with plenty to eat, I believe that. We may not feel a present danger on the pursuit. But it's in these times where there's no clear and present danger that we may fail to follow hard after the Lord. That we might let some needless space between us and God. Life can be very distracting. Some distractions are flat out sin, we know those. But some can come in the form of blessings and convenience. Jobs, school, vacation, groceries in the cabinets, a roof over our heads, the ease of Zion. And I know there's sickness, I'm not trying to be tone deaf, and I need a healing in my body. I'm not ignorant of that, but we are a blessed people. We're not trying to find our way back home with the smell of the hog lot on our shoes. We're not wondering, will the Father accept me? He already has, and we know that He will. We're not starving in the wilderness. We have access to God's Word. We are free from addiction, we're free from sin. And I thank God for it. But don't let that be our downfall. Follow hard after the Lord. Don't let the daily affairs make you lose sight of God and what is truly important. When life is easy, when things aren't so bad. Just because we're not in the wilderness with King Saul in the pursuit, let's not forget that we need to draw nigh to Him, and He will draw nigh to us. I would like for everybody to come seek the Lord and just see if we're as close as we possibly can. Are we as close as we one time was? Have we gotten lazy? Have we gotten distracted? I feel like God showed me there's room for me to get closer to Him this week. Let's be honest with ourselves. Everybody come around, find you a place to pray. Are we as close as we possibly can be? Jesus, help us, Lord. God, I love You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I love You tonight, Lord. God, that was Jesus. God, I love You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. God, I appreciate You. God, I appreciate You. Help us, Lord, to draw nigh to You. 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