But we're at Psalm 63. Just look at verse number five. It says,
My soul shall be satisfied. That's the title of the sermon tonight. My soul shall be satisfied.
What is it saying? I'm content. I'm fulfilled in life, says the Psalmist, right? I mean,
at what point would you say about your own life that your soul is satisfied? What level
of achievement do you feel you need to get to where you can say to the Lord, you know,
Lord, my soul is satisfied? Well, this is what's interesting about this Psalm is that David,
in fact, is in the Psalm of David. You'll have a look at it in a moment. But David is satisfied,
and he's in the middle of the wilderness. Because if you've got your barbers there,
the title that is given there in verse number one, a Psalm of David, when he was in the
wilderness of Judah, when he was in the wilderness of Judah, and he's able to say,
My soul shall be satisfied. You know, can your soul be satisfied in the wilderness?
Say David, but you know, you belong in Jerusalem. You've got, you know, the palace,
and you've got your riches and your power and your influence. But we find a time where
David is in the wilderness. Now, one thing that I forgot to mention
during the sermon, I did mention it afterwards. But when I looked at Psalm 61,
I was going to give you the timing of once again, you know, David is, he says in the
utmost parts of the earth, you know, he's away from Jerusalem. And we're looking at the fact
that, you know, the Bible seems to reference him as a king. We know that before he was a king,
he was being persecuted by King Saul. But when we looked at Psalm 61,
it appeared that he was referring to himself as the king. And one thing we also notice once
again, he's in the wilderness here. And if you look at verse number 11, Psalm 63 verse
number 11, he says, But the king shall rejoice in God. And once again, he seems to be
referring to himself there in the third person. And so the question was, well, at what point
is he persecuted? You know, before he became the king, yes, he was being persecuted by King Saul.
But at what point is he persecuted to the point that he's out to escape into the wilderness
now that he is the king? And the answer that I gave you guys after the sermon was,
of course, it's by the rebellion, the uprising of his son Absalom. You know,
when Absalom came into the kingdom, and he had men that were, you know,
seeking to put him into the position of king. And David had to flee for his life. He and
his men fled for their life in the wilderness. And so we're going to look at the story. And
so once we look at the story, we'll get a better understanding of what David is speaking
about in this psalm. So if you want to keep a finger there in Psalm 63, and come with me
to 2 Samuel, come with me to 2 Samuel chapter 15, 2 Samuel chapter 15, 2 Samuel chapter 15.
And once again, we don't have a very long psalm. So I'm going to,
you know, look at a lot of other passages to flesh out this psalm for us. But in 2 Samuel
chapter 15, look at verse number 10, 2 Samuel 15, verse number 10, But Absalom
sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the
trumpet, then you shall say, Absalom, rain off in Hebron. So this is a very sad time for
David when he's the king and his own son. I mean, it's one thing to be betrayed by your friends and
even by your church members is one thing, but to be betrayed and backstabbed by your own son,
your own flesh and blood. How hurtful that would be for David and Absalom. He wants to take
the power. He wants to be the king of all of Israel. So he starts to assemble. He got
his spies in the land. He starts to, you know, organize his overthrow of his father.
Verse number 11, it says, And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem that were called,
and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything. And Absalom sent for Athiphol,
the Gileanite, David's counselor from his city, even from Gilo, while he offered sacrifices.
That's interesting. And the conspiracy was strong for the people, increased continually with Absalom.
So Absalom is able to get David's counselor, Athiphol, which is actually the grandfather,
I believe, grandfather, I believe, yes, the grandfather of Bathsheba, you know, who David
committed adultery with, but he's able to get him on his side, you know, one of David's
counselors, you know, he's able to show, well, look, I have other men, other prominent men,
men that are respected. They're behind me as well. I find it interesting that he actually,
Absalom goes and offers sacrifices. You know, there are times, and I hope it doesn't happen
here at New Life Baptist Church, but there are going to be times when church members attempt
to overthrow the position of the pastor. And look, if the pastors committed grave sins,
obviously that pastor should step down. You know, obviously if that pastor has been disqualified,
he should step down. But there are times when even people in the congregation will
rise themselves up against the pastor, and they'll do things like offer sacrifices.
Well, I'm doing what the Lord wants. We're here seeking the Lord. Do you think the Lord
is behind Absalom? Do you think the Lord really wants Absalom to knock down David,
you know, to destroy David, to take over the kingdom? Of course it's not the Lord's will,
but there's Absalom offering sacrifices, making it appear that it's godly, you know,
making it appear that he's being led by the Lord, you know, either he's that thick,
thick that he thinks what he's doing is God's work, or he's putting on the show, you know,
to tell people, hey, this is of the Lord, this is the Lord, you know, I'm coming through,
I'm taking over the kingdom. Verse number 13, and there came a messenger to David saying,
the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said unto all his servants
that were with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee, for we shall not escape,
sorry, for we shall not else escape from Absalom, make speed to the path,
lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us and smite the city with the edge of
the sword. David goes, look, Absalom is going to destroy this city if we don't go.
Like if we stand here and we fight back, the city is going to be destroyed. But if we go,
the city will be taken peacefully. You know, David's got a heart for the people.
He doesn't want to see the people destroyed in battle. Verse number 15, and the king's servant
said unto the king, behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my Lord the king
shall appoint. You know, there might come a time, I don't know, I'm not trying to say I'm this
perfect man, this perfect pastor. There might come a time when you're going to have to make
a decision. You know, are you going to follow David or are you going to follow Absalom?
You know, both appear to be serving the Lord. We know David's been put into that
position by God. Absalom's doing the sacrifices, putting on the show.
Look how we're offering the sacrifice to the Lord. We're honoring the Lord.
And you're going to have to make a decision. Who do I follow? You know,
and you need to seek the Lord. Lord, you know, what is your, what is your direction?
What is your guidance here? But you see the servants of King David, they're loyal,
right? They're saying, look, we'll go with you, David. You know, we'll flee with you,
David. Verse number 16, and the king went forth and all his household after him. And the king
left 10 women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth and all the
people after him and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on
beside him. And all the Cerenthites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites,
600 men, which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Hey, even the non-Jews,
even the non-Israelites, you know, some from Gath, some of the Gittites.
You know, I say, you know what, we're going with you, David.
We know the Lord is behind you. We're going to follow you, David.
Verse number 19, then said the king to Etai, the Gittites,
wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place and abide with the king,
for thou art a stranger and also an exile. He said, look, you don't have to come with me,
he's telling the Gittites, you know, or Etai here specifically. Etai, yeah.
Like, you know, you're not even one of us. Like, don't worry, Absalom is not going to seek
to destroy you. You're not like this competition. You know, you're not who he's
after. You can just go back to the king because Absalom is making himself king. You know,
you'll be fine in Jerusalem if you want to stay there. Like, why would you want to come
out to the wilderness? But again, we see the loyalty even of those of other nations that
have been subdued under David. They highly honor David as king.
Verse number 20, whereas thou camest by yesterday, should I this day make thee go up
and down with us, seeing I go whither I may return thou and take back thy brethren.
Mercy and truth be with thee. So again, we see David is not trying to like,
just amass this great army or this great following. You can see his heart is for the
people. Like, even the people he's subdued, even the other nation that he's subdued.
You know, he's a, you know, to me he's a great man. Like, he's got a great love for the people
that he rules over. Verse number 21, and Etai answered the king and said, As the Lord liveth,
and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be,
whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Etai,
Go and pass over. And Etai the Gittite passed over, and all his men and all the little ones
that were with him, even little children, you know, are following David there into the wilderness.
Verse number 23, And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over.
The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over,
look at this, toward the way of the wilderness. Toward the way of the wilderness.
So they're going from David's palace, his power, prestige, honour, you know, wealth,
authority and power, and he's heading into wilderness with a great sum of people.
And so now we understand, when we get to Psalm 63, we have a bit of an idea of what David
is going through. What is suffering? Being betrayed by his own son, betrayed by his own
flesh and blood, and so we see David ultimately with his people in the wilderness.
Okay, so come back with me. You can stay in 2 Samuel if you want. You can stay in 2 Samuel.
We are going to refer to a lot of passages, and we are going to come back to 2 Samuel later on,
but if you come with me to Psalm 63, back to Psalm 63,
and let's start there in verse number 1. Okay, so again, keep in your mind,
David's not in Jerusalem, he's in the wilderness. Then he says in verse number 1,
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.
Look, he's in the wilderness. He goes, I'm in a place,
I'm in a dry and thirsty land, and obviously there's not sufficient water.
Like even his body is seeking, you know, to be satisfied by waters,
and then he likens that to his desire toward God. He goes, like my body is so thirsty
in this wilderness, in the same way my soul thirsts after you, Lord. He says,
early will I seek thee. I love that. Early will I seek thee.
You know how many times I preach, you know, I'll repeat it if I have to.
You know how many times I preach of the importance of waking up,
the first thing you ought to be thinking about is what? Early will I seek thee.
Now not early will I seek Facebook, not early will I seek my emails,
not only will I seek my breakfast or seek my video games, right?
Whatever else. It's kind of funny, but it happens, right brother? It happens.
You know, we seek everything else, but you see the Psalmist says, I'm so thirsty.
Have you ever woken up at night and you're so thirsty?
Your mouth's dry, and you say, I need a drink of water.
That's how David's feeling. I need my Lord. You know, I just feel so,
I just, I need him. I need his presence.
And once again, we just see the great example of David when he's in a tough place,
in a tough place emotionally, betrayed by his son, tough place physically, not just himself,
but he's led a great sum of men out in the wilderness. They're all struggling.
They're all thirsty. And he's seeking the Lord first and foremost.
You know, what you'll find in your spiritual life when you're not with the Lord,
when you're not seeking the Lord, you will get thirsty spiritually.
You will get dry within, okay? You will languish within when you're not with the Lord,
when you're not walking the Lord, when you're not spending time in fellowship with the Lord.
Let me encourage you every day, early, as soon as you wake up, think of the Lord,
speak to the Lord, praise the Lord. Verse number two, he says,
to see thy power and thy glory. Because I want to see your power, Lord. I want to see your glory.
I love what he says. So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary, the sanctuary for David was
a tabernacle, right? Because, you know, the excitement that I have in the tabernacle,
the excitement I have when I go and offer sacrifices, the excitement I have when I hear
the singing and the praises of our Lord, the excitement and seeing the power and the glory
when your word is preached there in the tabernacle. David's commander, that's where I
want to be. It's amazing. He's not like, I just want to get back home to my palace,
to my big house and my, you know, with all my bodyguards and all my wealth and all my,
you know, all the concubines and whatever else that he had there. Because I want to see
the power of the Lord, like in the sanctuary. And you know how many times I take the parallel
of the sanctuary as the house of the Lord. In the Old Testament, the house of the Lord
is the New Testament. And church, church is the house of the Lord in the New Testament,
the house of God. This is ought to be the place where we see his power. This ought to
be the place that we see his glory. You know, church ought to be a place where you're
excited to be with the Lord. And what I take out of this is, he's just thinking back, man,
the church was so good. Okay, for us, our application. Don't the church was so good.
You know, and I'm here in the wilderness, and I just want to see your power and your glory,
Lord, the same way that I saw it at church. We need New Life After Church to be a place
where we experience God's power and his glory. Where we're refreshed, we're excited
to be here. Because we're not always here. Sometimes we are in the wilderness,
spiritually speaking. You know, we don't have church 24-7. And there are times that it's going
to get dry and difficult, and you're going to go through all kinds of problems and maybe
betrayals. And so what I see with David is, he's like, man, I love church so much.
I want every day to be like church with God. So how about you do that? How about you make
every day of your life like church? Again, you don't have to wait to church to come and
sing praises. You can praise the Lord every day. You don't have to wait to church to
hear God's word preached. You can open God's word yourself and read it for yourself.
Moms and dads, you can teach it to your children. You know, you don't have to wait
to come to church, you know, to greet the brethren. Hey, send a text message, make a phone
call, you know, whatever it is, you know, catch up with the brethren if possible.
Try to find time of fellowship. Try to make every day a place where you experience God's
power and glory. So I hope church is that for you. I hope church is a sanctuary.
I think of the word sanctuary, a place of refuge. That's what I think of, a sanctuary.
A separated place unlike the world. That's what I want church to be. I want church to be
a place where you come and you learn some truths from God's word and the power that
you find in the word of God with the Holy Spirit moving within you, making the necessary
changes in your life. That's what I want you to experience at church. I don't want you
to just tick a box. Yeah, if I've been to church, I want to see your heart. I want my
heart to be like David's in the wilderness. Even in the wilderness, man, I want to see your
glory, Lord. Verse number three, because thy loving kindness 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. When that was read, I heard Pastor Stevenson go, amen. You know the
Baptist cost of that is. I've got no problems if you want to sing praises to the
Lord and you want to lift up your hands. I've got no problem with it. I see it
multiple times in the Psalms. We're simply just praising the Lord. We're not
seeking attention for oneself. I just like your voice. You lift up your voice,
speaking to the Lord. You move your body. You lift your hands. It doesn't bother me.
I mean, it's in the Bible. Why should it bother us? If physically it just puts you in
that position to glorify the Lord, I've got no problem. We shouldn't be scared of the
Charismatics. Forget that. Let's just live our life according to the Bible.
Okay, we don't need to think, oh, what if all people think. Well, people think that
you love the Bible. People think that you're trying to follow the patterns of the Bible,
should you worship the Lord in that way. But what I like about this, because I love in
kindness, the love in kindness, God being kind toward us, love in kindness, that's better.
That experience in that is better than life. You know, the greatest love in kindness that
we've all received is the Father sending His Son to die for us.
Let's use that as the example. That's the greatest love in kindness that I've had of the
Lord, my salvation, salvation of my soul. That's better than life.
Like, what life can offer. You know, if I just thought, all right, what in my life,
what can I attain in this world? All the pleasures, all the wealth, whatever it is,
you know, I can attain this life. You know, just a moment of the love in kindness of God
is better than what you can have in life. Isn't that true? I mean, what's the point of
having everything in life that the world can offer you in life, and not experience
the love in kindness of His salvation. You die and you go to hell. What's, I mean,
you've lost it. There's no comparison. You'd rather be a poor beggar, like Lazarus was.
Saved, and when you go, you're being comforted by Abraham. You're in heaven,
you're with the Lord. There's nothing better than that.
And so, you know, in the wilderness, your loving kindness is better than me in my life
of pleasure and goods and riches, is David's approach. Just want some of that, Lord.
Verse number five, oh sorry, verse number four again. Thus will I bless thee while I live.
You know, we should always bless the Lord, even in times of the wilderness,
even when you've been betrayed by your own family, been backstabbed by your own flesh
and blood. I mean, again, what could be worse than that? I don't think there's anything worse.
I mean, if Pastor Stevenson betrayed me, that would hurt me,
but he wouldn't hurt me as much if my own children betrayed me, right?
And he says, you know what, even then I'm going to bless the Lord.
It's hard, isn't it, when you're going through difficulties, you're going through problems,
and you might think that the Lord's forgotten you. It's easy to blame the Lord. These lips
need to be tamed. We know what damage these lips can make, and these lips can say horrible
things to the Lord when you're in the wilderness. The Psalmist says, I'm going to
bless him. I'm just going to rejoice in my Lord. I'm going to sing praises to him,
even though I'm in the midst of the greatest betrayal of my life here,
you know? And just remind yourself, when you're going through your difficulties,
we're all human beings. We're all going to sometimes say stupid things, and maybe even
stupid things to the Lord, but if you do, just be very quick to humble yourself before God.
Say, God, I'm sorry. I'm just a man with unclean lips. Lord, I want my lips to praise you.
I want my lips to bless you, and there's something about that. There's something about that.
You know, I've experienced that. I can't just be mean when you're going through hardships,
and you're saying, Lord, just thank you. Lord, you're a great God. You've done so
much for me. Thank you, Lord. It just comforts you. It just reminds you that the
Lord is looking out for your best. You know what, Lord, I'm not going to blame you.
You know, I know I have sin nature. I know this earth is cursed.
I know there's always going to be problems around the corner, but I'm going to bless you
in the good times, and Lord, I'm going to bless you in the hard times.
Verse number five, my soul, this is what we named the sermon, right? My soul shall be,
look at this, my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Like a good meal,
right? You've had a good meal, you know, great meat and the fat on the meat, just tasty,
right? Just eating some, a great barbecue. He goes, my soul be satisfied.
God, what are you talking about, David? You're not in the palace. You haven't got your chefs
all around you. You haven't got the best produce like you probably had in Jerusalem.
I mean, you haven't got your riches with you. You're on the run. You're in the wilderness.
You're thirsty. You don't even have enough water. And you're able to say that you're satisfied.
I mean, this blows me away. It doesn't blow you away, brethren.
I mean, I understand if he's in Jerusalem, in his kingdom, in his palace. I understand if he's
saying, oh man, you know, my soul is satisfied, even in the wilderness, his soul is satisfied.
For me, this Psalm, that was the main phrase that I sort of looked at and go, wow,
what do we have to complain about? You know, when we're with the Lord,
and when we're in his presence, and we have our sins forgiven before him,
and we have that clear conscience, and we just bless him, and we just praise him
for the great God that he is, your life will be satisfied. Your life will be content.
You will say, I've got more than I need. I have too much. I'm just so
satisfied to be in the presence of my Lord, to be forgiven, to be his child, to be walking in his
light. The satisfaction is of his soul, isn't it? We know he's struggling in the flesh,
but in his soul, he's satisfied. He says, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
Wow, now he's rejoicing in the wilderness. I mean, we don't really have these stories
in the scriptures when we see him fleeing into the wilderness. It looks like it's drab.
It looks like it's difficult. I'm sure it is, but if you were one of those people around
David following him, you know, you were loyal to David and you went out with him, you'll find
times during the day when he's just rejoicing, praising the Lord, joyful, happy. You're like,
what's wrong? David, what's wrong with you? David, we're not in a good position right now.
David, you're being hunted. We're lacking resources, David, and he's rejoicing in the
Lord. We have the Psalms to tell us these extra little bits of details about him.
You know, it just reminds me, you don't need to turn there just quickly, you know this.
First Peter chapter four, verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fire
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice.
That's a commandment, but rejoice when you're going for some fiery trial.
Don't think, oh man, this is strange. Why is this happening to me?
The instruction is just rejoice, but rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also of exceeding joy.
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happier ye. Oh, not really. You know, happier ye.
The new man, if you're in the new man, is rejoicing when you've been persecuted for the
name of Christ. Happier ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you,
on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
Amen.
I want that. On your part, he is glorified. I want that to be said about me.
Do you? I think we all want that said, that our life glorifies God,
even when we're going through the hardest times, even when we're fugitives in the middle
of the wilderness. You're like, man, there's something strange. His life just glorifies God.
He's just rejoicing. He's blessing the Lord. It's not easy. I mean, I don't know.
It's a command. Not all commands are easy. That's not an easy command,
but it must be achievable if it's said to do is what to do.
Look, I'm not saying there's ever a time to weep and mourn. We know there's a time for
all these things. That gives us an opportunity to just, you know, get it off our chest, and
ideally when you're trying to vent and mourn and weep, what you're trying to do is take it
off you, right? Sometimes, you know, when you say things, you say, because I feel better.
I shed it, but if you share it to a man, that man's not going to help you. If you
share it to a Lord, he'll take that from you, and he'll carry that for you, and then
you're free to rejoice. You've got that sadness. You've got that sorrow. You know it's in the
hands of the Lord. The Lord can manage this, and I'm just going to rejoice. The Lord knows
my trials. The Lord knows my difficulties. Man, I just love that. My soul shall be satisfied
as with marrow and fatness. You know, it's like he's putting on the weight. He's having
a good meal, right? He just rejoices, and verse number six.
Verse number six, I like it because it's in contrast with verse number two,
sorry, verse number one, which said, early will I seek thee. So not early in the morning you
need to seek the Lord, but what else does David do? He says, when I remember thee upon my bed
and meditate on thee in the night watches. He goes, the first thing I do when I wake up is
think of the Lord, meditate on the Lord, and the thing when I do when I go to bed
is I think upon the Lord. You know, going to bed, I think especially as a teenager,
a child, a teenager, it's a time where your mind can think of a lot of foolish things.
I know because I've done it. You know, where you start creating imaginations and
just ridiculous events playing out in your mind, ridiculous scenarios that cannot be true.
Because you're going to bed, I mean, as I'm older, like obviously since really
coming out and working a job, I don't think a lot when I go to bed. Like my head hits the
pillow and I'm out pretty quickly. Yeah, I'm out pretty quickly. But I remember as a child,
a lot of waste of time in this brain. So I encourage you, you know what, when you go to bed,
especially if you're kind of restless at night. David was restless. He had night watches.
There were times it was his time to stay up at night, watching for the enemies,
you know, his Absalom sending enemies, you know, sending his soldiers against us.
He wasn't having these perfect sleeps. Sometimes when we're going through difficulties,
we can wake up at the night and struggle to sleep because of the anxieties and the problems.
You know, if that's you, then take the instruction of David. You say, look,
I'm past, I'm struggling to sleep. I've got problems. I've got anxieties. I struggle to even
fall asleep. Then meditate on the Lord. Meditate on the Lord. I mean, maybe the Lord's
allowing you to stay awake so you can cry into him during those hours. One thing,
we have the technology. You can just put your audio Bible on your phone even.
Go to YouTube and type in King James Bible, audio Bible. Maybe just play that. Play God's
Word for you at night. Listen to the words. Listen to the stories as you fall asleep.
That's going to help your heart. It's going to help your mind.
It's going to encourage you in times of difficulties.
Yeah, so anyway, you can see, he's not having the best nights all the time. Sometimes it's his
turn to wake up. It's time to watch. Watch for the enemies. But he meditates on the Lord.
He thinks of the Lord. He thinks of his promises. He thinks of his word. Verse number seven,
because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
So even at night, he's rejoicing, still rejoicing in the Lord, right? Still rejoicing in the Lord,
rejoicing in the day, rejoicing in the night. And then he says, my soul,
sorry, verse number eight, my soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me.
So David's saying, look, I've not been lazy towards you, Lord. I followed hard.
You know, I've done the best I can, Lord, to seek your ways and to seek your heart.
You know, my faith is not just this, just this thing that I, you know, yes, I've been
saved from hell. Because I'm going to follow hard in your ways, Lord. I know your ways are
the best. I'm going to put the effort in. Yes, your commandments sometimes they might be
challenging. I know my flesh wants to do the opposite, but Lord, I'm going all in.
I'm going hard for you, Lord. Thy right hand upholdeth me. So following the Lord has been
his priority. Now I want you to notice that. So even though he's been following hard after the
Lord, he's still in the wilderness. He's still having persecution and troubles.
So that's going to be our lives. If you find yourself in the wilderness,
it's not necessarily time for you to think, well, let's say you find someone else in the
wilderness, another brother or sister in the Lord, or this pastor in the wilderness
for a period. Don't make the conclusion that, well, you know, that individual must be far
from the Lord. That individual must not be walking with the Lord, because otherwise,
you know, they would not be experiencing what they're experiencing.
Well, sometimes you're following hard after the Lord. You're doing the best you can.
You know, none of us are perfect. We're going to make mistakes. We've got weaknesses,
but you do what you can in the flesh that God has given you, and you still find yourself
in the wilderness. It's not the time to beat down on your brothers in the Lord or your
sisters in the Lord. Maybe they need you to go into the wilderness with them.
David had his support. You know, maybe, you know, you see your brother struggling with
something. You know what, brother, I'll do what I can. If there's anything that I can
do to help in your situation, let me know. I'm behind you, brother. I'm behind you, sister,
praying for you. You know, I believe that God is going to turn this for something great in
your life. God's going to accomplish something good for you as you go through the wilderness.
Yeah, so just, again, just a reminder, just because someone is going through difficulties,
problems, financial hardships, relationship issues, sicknesses, it doesn't mean that they're just,
oh, I know, you know, they're far from the Lord. The Lord will allow you to go through
this if that's not the way. You don't know. They could have been going hard for the Lord.
Just get behind them. Just pray for them. Support them. Tell them that you love them.
Verse number nine, but those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of
the earth. Now, this is a phrase that I've been wanting to get to at some point to cover,
the lower parts of the earth. What is that about? You know, this is something,
I've actually had this question asked of me multiple times as the pastor, and I just wanted
to get to an actual passage that actually has this phrase, and I wanted to walk you through this
phrase because there are different opinions as what this lower parts of the earth refers to.
But I want you to remember, those that seek after him is who? Absalom, his son, okay?
And Absalom's end will be the lower parts of the earth. Okay, so I guess it depends on
how you view this phrase or what it means. You'll have a different opinion on Absalom himself.
But one opinion out there is that the lower parts of the earth refers to hell.
And if that's the case, then Absalom was an unsaved man, you know, and he ultimately dies
and he went to hell. Another opinion might be the lower parts of the earth here might be
in reference to the grave, or if that's the grave, then surely he could have been a saved man,
just misguided wayward. He said, but he did horrible things like slept with his father's
concubines, but then you hear about the brother in first Corinthians five that slept with his
father's wife, right? I mean, even believers can do some pretty awful things. He could have
been saved and that could be referenced into the grave there, but let me just, if you can,
keep your finger there and come with me to Ezekiel 26. Come with me to Ezekiel 26.
Ezekiel 26.
Ezekiel 26. I know I'm going a little bit, I'm moving away a little bit from the Psalm, but
it's just, I was just waiting for a time to cover this in the chapter, verse by verse,
chapter by chapter studies of the Bible that we go through, because you'll find that this phrase
can mean multiple things, the lower parts of the earth, okay? So if you go to Ezekiel 26,
now for those that say this refers to hell, this is the reference, Ezekiel 26 verse 19.
Now it says here, for thus saith the Lord God, when I shall make thee a desolate city,
this desolate city, the city is Tyre, the sea of Tyre, okay? T-Y-R-E. Like the cities
that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee and great waters shall cover
thee. When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit with the people of old time
and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth. I want you to notice the,
the low parts of the earth there in reference to being lowered into the pit,
okay, in that verse there. In places desolate of old with them that go down to the pit,
that thou be not inhabited and I shall set glory in the land of the living. So it's where they're
going is not a land of the living, it's the land of the dead, if you want to look at it that way,
okay? Now I do strongly believe this is referring to the lower parts of the earth here,
the lower parts of the earth referring to hell, okay? I'll prove this shortly, but we know that
in the Bible a few times when the word, when the reference of the pit is referenced,
it's referring to hell. Such as in Isaiah 14 when speaking of Lucifer, when he was cast out of
heaven, it says that he was brought down to hell to the sides of the pit, may recall that,
okay? But you guys know as a pastor, I want you to be very specific with the way you study
your Bible. So when you want to figure out, oh what could the pit refer to exactly,
what do I often tell you to do? Stay within the context, stay within the chapter, okay?
And then if the chapter doesn't give you the answer, expand a little bit more, but try to stay
in the book. And if you, if you know, if Ezekiel had written another book, I guess you could go
to another book of Ezekiel or something like that, right? And if you still don't have the
answer, then go to the rest of the Bible. But the good thing is we do have Ezekiel,
Ezekiel does clarify what he means by this. If you go to Ezekiel 31, so we're staying within
the same book, this is the best way to get the answer. Ezekiel 31 verse number 16 please,
Ezekiel 31 verse number 16, Ezekiel 31 verse 16, it says, I made the nations to shake at the sound
of his fall. This fall is the fall of the Assyrian empire. When I cast him, look at this,
down to hell with them that descend into the pit and all the trees of Eden, the choice and
best of Lebanon, all that drink water shall be comforted in the never parts of the earth.
They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain the sword and they that were his
arm that dwelt under the shadow in the midst of the heathen. So notice the same language is
used about Assyria's downfall with the city of Tyre, going down into the pit, even the same,
like if you compare it, it's pretty much the same phraseology, but this time it's explaining
that that pit refers to hell, being cast into hell. And so the lower parts of the earth
here obviously refers to hell and I'm not going to argue that, that's true, that's what the Bible
teaches, all right? But come with me to another passage, come with me to Isaiah 44,
come with me to Isaiah 44 verse number 21. So look, this part of the sermon is a bit of a
Bible study, okay? Isaiah 44 please, Isaiah 44 verse number 21, Isaiah 44 verse number 21,
Isaiah 44 verse number 21. The Bible reads, remember these, O Jacob and Israel,
for thou art my servant, I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, thou shalt not
be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud
thy sins. Return unto me for I have redeemed thee. The Lord is speaking of his people,
of the old covenant, right? The two nations that were divided, Israel and Judah. He says look,
I've blotted out your sins, I've forgiven you, I don't even remember your sins anymore,
come back, right? So is this a positive thing or a negative thing? It's obviously a positive
thing, right? So then he says in verse number 23, sing O ye heavens, because it's a good
thing, right? That God has forgiven the sins. Sing O ye heavens, for the Lord have done it.
Shout, look at this, ye lower parts of the earth. Oh, so those in the lower parts of the
earth are also rejoicing that the sins of Israel and Judah, is that right? Yeah,
have been forgiven. Say, well what is that? Are people rejoicing in hell? You know,
those that have been tormented in hell fire, they rejoice in all the forgiveness,
you know, shouting about God's forgiveness to his people. Well, the Bible clarifies,
explains it in that verse, right? Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest,
and every tree therein, for the Lord have redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel.
So what is the lower parts of the earth in Isaiah 44, 23?
It's where the mountains, the forests, and the trees are.
You see how it's a different place now, because what you want to do when you look at the Bible
is when you're trying to understand a phrase, you want to understand the context but also
the reference of that phrase. So if you said, oh, sing O ye heavens,
well obviously the lower parts of the earth in reference to heaven
is the earth as we know it, where we walk, where the mountains, the forests, and the trees are.
So it's in reference, it's kind of like the word repent.
Say, well, what does the word repent mean? Well, it depends on the context. What's the
meaning of it? Depends on the context, where you find it, what you're referring it to.
Repent means to turn from sins. Well, then you have problems every time that God repents,
right? God never returned from his sins. God never had any sins.
Same idea. You look at a phrase, you need to understand the meaning by the context
or the reference. What is it being compared to? Sing O ye heavens, the lower parts of the earth?
Oh, there were trees, mountains, hills, singing about God's forgiveness
that he's given to his people. So we have a few different references here.
Come with me now to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. Psalm 139, please, verse number 13.
Psalm 139, verse number 13. Now this one should be pretty straightforward. Psalm 139,
139, verse number 13. For thou has possessed my reigns, thou has covered me in my mother's womb.
Okay, so we know the context. It's about the mother's womb when we're in mum's womb,
all right? It says in verse number 14, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Were you created in hell? Were you created on the earth?
Or were you created in mother's womb? You're created in the mother's womb, the lowest part,
what is it? Sorry, the lowest, lowest by the way, the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance yet been unperfect and in thy book all my members were
written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.
So I want you to notice that. I mean that's clearly about the mother's womb, right? I
don't think anyone's going to argue that point. But what I'm trying to say is when you
see a phrase in the Bible, you know, you need to be able to sort of manage your biases
a little bit. I encourage, look up every time that phrase appears, look at the context,
look at what it's referring to, what is it, you know, what is it being compared to
and then form your conclusion from there. Say, Pastor, what are you saying?
Well, I'm just saying study your Bibles, like be wise, like learn, be learned.
You know, I don't want us to be foolish people and, you know, for whatever doctrine or
whatever idea we may have, it's just a phrase, lowest parts of the earth, it just depends
where you find it. It can be a reference to hell. It can be a reference to just the earth.
It can be a reference to just the mother's womb. And the reason I say that, if you can
come with me quickly to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, verse number nine,
Ephesians chapter four, verse number nine.
And this is the question that I get a lot as a pastor, okay? Pastor, in Ephesians chapter
four, verses nine and ten, what does this mean? Now that he ascended, referring to Jesus,
what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things. So when it's said that Jesus Christ descended into lower
parts of the earth, what does it mean, Pastor? I'll be honest with you, I don't know.
But one thing that I do see, it's comparing his ascension into heaven,
and so the lower parts of the earth must be something about the earth.
That's all I know. Because here's the thing, did Jesus walk the earth where the trees and
the mountains are? Of course he did. So that ticks the box. Did the soul of Jesus go to hell
for three days and three nights? Acts chapter two says he did.
Was Jesus made in the womb of his mother Mary? He did. That's the lowest part of the earth,
according to the Psalms. So you say all those tick the box, tick, tick, tick. You could make
an argument for all of those. I could go to any references and show you, yeah, these are all
true. What I'm trying to say, brethren, is sometimes in the Bible you're not going to have
a solid answer. And you just need to learn to be content with that. And go, Lord, I'm just
going to have my faith on you. I'm not going to argue over it, because all of those are correct.
Jesus came to the earth. Jesus was born by Mary in a womb. Jesus' soul went to hell.
All those are correct positions. But I don't know exactly what Ephesians chapter four speaks of.
And when I say certain things like this, people kind of look at me like, again,
I've got two heads. But I want you to understand, I really do have a fear of the Lord.
And standing up behind this pulpit, I want to make sure I say things that are true, 100% true.
And we might differ on certain passages, but my main concern is, is the information true?
If it's true, it's good. But if it's false, it's wrong.
For example, let's say, well, I'm going to stand behind the lower part of the earth,
always referring to the mother's womb. Well, then you can have a problem with Absalom,
going back to the mother's womb. It's definitely talking about death there.
Now you're going to start believing some false ideas. Well, it's definitely,
you know, every time the lower part of the earth, it's definitely always about hell.
Well, you can have a problem. Were we made in hell? Did God create us in hell?
You know, like, if you're going to just stand up, that's what the phrase means. Again,
context. Read the surrounding passages. It's good for you. It's good for you to be challenged and
to learn and to get to a point sometimes where you're like, you know what, when I get to
Ephesians 4, it seems like all of those tick the box. So I'm not really sure where I'm going
to stand. And I'm not going to think my brother's stupid for having some questions about that.
Because I've been told, I've been told, hey, pastor, even when you don't know,
just preach it like you do know. I'll just tell you the different positions out there,
and I'll show you the scriptures and why they're all legitimate reasons.
And then we can ask the Lord when we get there. We can ask the Lord when we get to heaven.
Lord, what exactly did you mean by these passages? I think we're going to be surprised,
actually, when we get to heaven and certain things that we just thought we just know are
definitely a hundred percent, that all of us are like, no, look, you didn't read
all these other scriptures. I don't want to be like the Pharisees. Have you not read?
I don't want to be that way. And again, I'm not perfect. I'm sure there are things that I say
that aren't a hundred percent perfect. I try my best and I want to understand my fear of
saying the wrong things. You know, so I am maybe more careful than a lot of pastors
when it comes to preaching, but I want you to understand my heart.
I don't want to disappoint my Lord. And I don't want to disappoint you.
If I don't know, I don't know. But here are some answers. Here are some thoughts.
Here are some ideas. Now you go off and find out for yourself. You go and study the Bible.
You know, it's wonderful when we're able to, you know, use the knowledge and the
reasoning that God has given us to further our understanding of the scriptures.
All right. I did go a little bit off track there, but the reason I wanted to look at that is
how you interpret verse number nine in Psalm 63 is once again going to determine how you view
Absalom. If you believe and shall go into the lower parts of the earth there,
meaning hell, then Absalom was definitely an unsaved man.
And look, that's very possible. I accept that. But I kind of find it hard sometimes with
David as a man of the God's own heart, I kind of find it hard that he did not teach
his children the ways of the Lord. I find it hard to believe that Absalom was just this
complete, you know, potentially reprobate. I don't know. Maybe he was, you know, but
if it means the grave, because again, in reference to the living, you know,
that's a place of burial. It is a lower part from the place of living. It could refer to a
grave. It could refer to hell. Again, it depends on how you view Absalom, I think.
But anyway, if we go back to Psalm 63, Psalm 63 and verse number 10,
it says they shall fall by the sword, they shall be a portion for foxes. So Absalom and Absalom's
armies are going to fall by the sword. And not only that, they'll be a portion for foxes.
Foxes are going to eat their bodies, meaning when the battle takes place between
David and Absalom's men, there's not going to be enough time to bury those bodies properly.
You know, I remember we had this little, a little plover bird and Matthias tried his best to look
after one of the eggs and the egg hatched, but then the baby died pretty quickly afterwards,
after a couple of days, right? One or two days, the baby died. And so Matthias buried
the baby in the ground in our backyard. I don't know where we were. We went away for
a day or two, I think. When we came back to the backyard, where the baby bird was buried
was opened up and there were like pieces of, you know, the dead body.
You know, I don't know if a cat got there, some fox got there, but it was buried. It just wasn't
buried very deep. But some wild animal sniffed it out and got into our backyard and dug up a
hole and took that little birdie out. Okay. Well, that's the idea that, you know, as these
men fall, even if you have time to bury them, the foxes are going to dig them up. The foxes
are going to, you know, eat the bodies. If you can keep your finger there and come with me
back to Second Samuel. Let's have a look at the story here. Second Samuel chapter 18.
Second Samuel chapter 18 and verse number six. Remember, they shall fall by the sword,
they shall be a portion for foxes. In Second Samuel chapter 18 verse number six,
we have the conflict, we have the battle. You know, we have the war between Absalom's men
and David's men. And in Second Samuel 18 verse number six, Second Samuel 18 verse number six,
it says, so the people went out into the field against Israel. When it says against Israel,
Israel are the bad guys now because they're under King Absalom. Okay. Israel's Absalom's men in this
reference here. Okay. And the battle was in the wood of Ephraim. So it's in like a forest
where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David. And there was there a
great slaughter that day of 20,000 men. For the battle was there scattered over the face of
all the country. And the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
I believe that's just referring to the fact. It's saying that more people died by the forest
and the wood and the trees and all that than people by the sorter. I believe that's referring
to the fact probably injuries, right? They probably were injured. They ran into the woods
and they just perished there in the woods. They perished, you know, directly by, you know,
stab wound or something like that. Or it could be that within the woods, you know how you've
heard of the fog of war where sometimes you can be battling your own men because the confusion
is so great and instead of battling the opposing force that you're battling your own men. And the
forest potentially, you know, confused Absalom's men. But you can see there was a great slaughter,
20,000 men. And of course, are they going to bury 20,000 people in one day? Very unlikely.
Those foxes would have got in there. Those foxes would have eaten those bodies.
And that's the end of Absalom's army. If you can keep your finger there,
say they're in second Samuel 18 and come with me to Psalm 63. Come with me to Psalm 63
and verse number 11. So just the last verse there. It says,
but the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that swerved by him shall glory,
but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
So he's saying, man, Lord, when you come through and we kill our enemies,
you know what's interesting about this? Something else I find interesting. He's talking about
obviously his own son. And if you know the story, David told his men, look, go easy on
Absalom. Don't kill him because he loved his son. Go easy on him. But then in the Psalm,
he says, man, you're going to perish by the sword. You're going down to the lowest
parts of the earth. It's because David's been moved by the Holy Ghost. You know,
as he speaks his proper sign, God's word, even though his heart is like, oh man, I want Absalom
to live. As he's been moved by the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost, of course, is telling him
the future events to come, he knows his son's going to perish. But he says he's going to
rejoice. He's going to win that victory. Absalom's going to lose. He's going to be a return back
to his kingdom. And then it says everyone that swerved by him shall glory. So all of the men
that followed with David, all that, you know, will remain loyal to David are going to glory,
right? Glory in the Lord. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Absalom and
his men, their mouths are stopped that day. Come back to 2 Samuel 18. 2 Samuel 18, please.
Let's just see the end of Absalom here. 2 Samuel 18, verse number nine. And Absalom met
the servants of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule. And the mule went under the thick
boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak. And he was taken up between
the heaven and the earth. And the mule that was under him went away. This is such a,
like a, it's a funny story. Like if you know, Absalom had long, thick, flowing hair,
which is not appropriate for the men, by the way. This is why. If you want to learn a lesson,
this is why. This is one reason why you got your long flowing hair just blowing in the wind
as you're escaping David's men, passed by some branch, and that branch, your hair gets
all tangled up. The donkey keeps running, and he's just hanging there by the head. Just hanging there.
Then what happens? Verse number 10. And a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, Behold,
I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. Drop down to verse number 14. Then said Joab,
I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the
heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. It was like three spears
or three javelins, just straight, straight through Absalom. Three times, bang, bang, bang.
And then it says, verse number 15. And ten young men that bare Joab's armor,
compassed about and smote Absalom. So Absalom didn't even die. Like he was stabbed,
he got three javelins going through his body. He still hadn't fully died, right? Obviously,
he's bleeding out. But then other servants come and just finish him off and slew him.
And verse number 16. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after
Israel, for Joab held back the people. Okay, so like, all right, look, the leader's dead,
you know, you don't have to continue going after the people of Israel, because the people
of Israel, they're kind of David's people initially, originally. So like, hold back,
like, we've won, you know, the leader's dead. And it's such a sad story, I find.
Imagine having to go to war against your own son. Imagine how much it hurt David.
But even then, this is what surprises me. We know that in the wilderness,
he's blessing the Lord. We know in the wilderness, he's praising the Lord.
But then even when he defeats his enemy, his own son, as we saw in the Psalm itself,
but the king shall rejoice in God. So we know he mourned for his son, Absalom, Absalom.
We know if you know that story well, man, he was heavy hearted.
There's a part where you can be so heavy hearted for your rebellious child.
But then another part of you can just rejoice and say, Lord, but you've come through.
Lord, you delivered me once again. Lord, you've brought me back into the kingdom. Lord,
I can go back to your sanctuary. Lord, I can go back to church.
I can be there once again, seeing your power, seeing your glory.
I think David's amazing, an amazing example. I want to be like him. You know, in the Psalms,
we see his broken hearts have done so many times. But even while he's broken,
he's still praising the Lord. Even when he's in the wilderness, he's still praising the Lord.
Even at the death of his son, he's still praising the Lord. What a man. You know,
what an example. You know, if that's a man after God's own heart, then Reverend,
we need to seek God's heart. We need to be like this. I can't say that I'm like that
perfectly. I try. I try to be a good example to this church, but sometimes the sorrow and
the grief can overwhelm you. But, you know, our burdens are never so heavy that the Lord
can't carry them for us. Yeah. And once again, his love and kindness is better than life.
Even if your whole world turns upside down tomorrow, even if your whole life turns into
disaster tomorrow, man, you go, but you know what? I've had the loving kindness of my Lord.
I've been saved. Jesus died for me. I know my sins are forgiven. I know I'm right with the
Lord. No matter how horrible my life gets, man, I got to experience his loving kindness.
I know I'm going to be with my Lord for all eternity. All right, Brethren, let's pray.