Summer in the Psalms - Week 1: “When I Need God’s Presence

Turns out friends, listen, God has some great things that he wants to show you, that he wants you to see. For years we lived in the mountains. And when you live in the mountain, when you're in the mountains and you look down into the valley, from the top to the bottom, everything looks small. But when you're in the valley and you're looking up to the mountains, everything looks bigger. Friends, it's only from the valley of the shadow of death and you can see how great God's mercy truly is. [00:56:02] (31 seconds)  #ValleyRevealsMercy

David says his cup is overflowing. Why is this cup overflowing? Because God is filling it. Why is God filling it? Because David is at the table that God is prepared. And if you come to the table like God prepared, God will fill your cup in the same way. So here's a question. I ask myself and I ask you, are you looking in other places to fill the cup that only God can fill? [01:03:46] (23 seconds)  #OverflowingCup

Are you taking your little cup to other people expecting them to fill a cup that they cannot fill? Are you going to relationships? Are you looking to achievements or accomplishments, some kind of status? Are you looking for some kind of substance to help you get where where are you bringing your cup? Because listen, friends, God is a gracious host, and he's a generous host. And he invites you to the table he has prepared. And if you come and you sit and you bring your cup, he will not only fill it, David experienced, he will fill it to overflowing. [01:04:09] (32 seconds)  #BringYourCupToGod

So here we see David pictured, you know, he sees God as the shepherd of his soul, the leader of his life. And basically, David's like, every time I got off track, guess what happened? God restores my soul. He just brings me back to the paths of righteousness. That one place where walking with him, I can flourish. Let me ask you, are you flourishing today? The question is, how do I know if God's my shepherd? [00:49:26] (23 seconds)  #FlourishWithTheShepherd

It's the covenant love of a covenant keeping God. A God whose love, listen, knows no limit. A God whose love has no breaking point, has no boundary, and comes to no end. Here is a love that you can never earn or deserve. Here is a love that cannot be taken away from you, and here is a love that will never let you go. The question is, where can I find such love? We'll let Jesus answer that for you. [01:09:33] (32 seconds)  #CovenantLoveForever

So now we're on the subject of love. Let's just talk about love very quickly. It's two kinds of love. Human love, which is reward love. We don't mean it to. We don't intend it to be, but ever since we're kids, we know that we kinda love people with a lot of conditions. Hey, I love you so long as if you do different stuff from that, or I love you when, and when the when isn't happening, then it changes. We've all had people we love or said they love us walk out on us. [01:06:49] (33 seconds)  #HumanLoveIsConditional

Let's just quiet our hearts for a moment and just respond to God's word together. Church of Psalm 23 reminds us that God is not giving us some information to learn, but an but a relationship to encounter, to enter. And today, the invitation is really simple. Don't keep God at a distance. Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, don't lean back, but lean in. Because the more you seek him, the more you will find him and the better you can know him. [01:13:55] (34 seconds)  #LeanInToGod

Now listen friends. Here's some great I got some great news for you today. All throughout the scripture is very, clear. The imagery used in the bible to depict a relationship with God is not highly religious imagery. It's highly relational imagery. And imagery of Psalm 23 is not religious imagery at all. It's highly relational imagery. This is how God describes what it looks like to know him. [00:45:23] (25 seconds)  #GodIsRelational

Because David is seated, if you notice in the passage, he's seated in the presence of his enemies. But it doesn't seem like the enemy's presence bothers him very much. Why is that? I think for David, his the enemy's presence, the presence of his enemies means nothing. Why? Because the presence of God means everything. And when the presence of God means everything, the presence of other people doesn't mean anything. It is our highest good. In fact, write this down. Psalm seventy three twenty eight. [01:02:45] (35 seconds)  #GodsPresenceFirst

For centuries, theologians have referred to God with these two Latin terms, the summum bonum. Summ bonum means the highest good. There is no other higher good. Listen, if God is your good, if he is your highest good, then nothing and no one can ever take your good away from you. And David changes the imagery here in the Psalm to show us that God's presence is the highest good you will ever know. [01:00:39] (34 seconds)  #GodIsTheHighestGood

has said, refers to to to God's covenantal love. It's based on God's commitment to those who choose to walk with him. Has said, It's based on God's commitment to his promises. It's not based on our commitment to our promises. It's all on God's end. We will ever and always be the recipients of a gift love, not the performers who deserve it. Jesus deserve it. We are the recipients of what he earned and deserved if we are in him. [01:08:14] (33 seconds)  #GodsCommitmentNotOurs

So what does it mean as he's shepherd? Well, he provides for my needs. Second thing very quickly, he leads my life. And continue along, verse three, he restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Notice where here, paths. Paths. Has it occurred to you that when you when you go through life, there are a lot of paths you could choose. Have you discovered that? [00:48:37] (20 seconds)  #GodLeadsAndRestores

David continues, and he says, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now did you notice the change there? Because in verses two and three, five different times, David speaks of God in the third person. Did you notice that? He, his, he, his, five times. Now in verse four, sudden change. Did you notice that? Now he's speaking to God in the second person. You, your, your. [00:57:02] (27 seconds)  #SpeakingToGod

And I will dwell. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Can can you just hear David's heart right here? I just wanna dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I just wanna be at home with God now and always. And listen, David's heart mirrors God's heart. More than anything, God wants to relate with you. He wants you to know him the way he knows you. He wants you to be at home with him so you could be in a intimate relationship together. Home. [01:05:05] (25 seconds)  #AtHomeWithGod

Now think about homelessness. What is homeless? It's not so much having no place to sleep as much as it's having no place to belong. Deep down inside, we all long to find that place in this world where we fit, where we belong, where we can be loved. Now here's a little news flash friends. That place, that home that we've all been looking for, it's not a place. [01:05:30] (25 seconds)  #HomeIsBelonging

So often I feel like we're that way with God. We make all of our noise. Like we're the ones that are making life go this way and that way as if we're under control. But but the reality is we're just under the illusion of control. Life's ups and downs teach us that. Hey. Everyone point to the one who's really in control. There we go. So the question is if God is really in control, where is he taking us? [00:52:53] (26 seconds)  #GodIsInControl

Because God is a loving wise good shepherd, will lead you to, to lead you through difficult changes. An old saying, when you're going through hell, keep going, but you don't go alone. You have a shepherd who leads you. So friends, listen. The more I seek God, the closer I walk with him. And there's some practices here. The first one is confessing dependence on God. The second was trusting in the faithfulness of God. And the third one, and very quickly, we're talking about prioritizing the presence of God. [00:59:34] (29 seconds)  #PrioritizeGodsPresence

Look at Psalm 23 verse two. He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside still waters. Now notice, green pastures, still waters. Simple imagery, green pastures is where sheep find food. Still waters is where sheep find drink. So what are we being told here? Here's what we're being told, that God provides for the stuff of life, the things that we need. [00:46:54] (25 seconds)  #GodProvidesForLife

It's only from the deep dark valleys that we see how great God's compassion, how great his wisdom, how great his goodness, how great his faithfulness really is. Turns out, God forms deep people by taking them into deep places, deep dark valleys with him. So our circumstances change. What else changes? Well, our closeness to God will change. Notice the second part of verse four. [00:56:32] (30 seconds)  #DeepPlacesDeepFaith

The New Testament writers picked up this theme, and so the New Testament writers quote the Psalms more than any other Old Testament book. There are at least 400 quotations, allusions, or references to the Psalms. So what are we saying? Here's what we're saying. Psalms are vital to our spiritual life. They shape the heart of Jesus and should shape the heart of a Jesus follower. Yet, for many of us today, we're like, this is like the first time I've heard of that. [00:34:18] (25 seconds)  #PsalmsAreVital