Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hi there, and welcome to another Prayer through
Speaker 1: the Psalms episode of the Praying Christian Women podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Jamie Hampton, and I am really excited today to get
Speaker 1: to talk about and pray through Psalm sixty three. So
Speaker 1: before we actually read the psalm and get into our
Speaker 1: prayer time and our devotion, I want to give you
Speaker 1: a little bit of background, because this is really fun
Speaker 1: that this Psalm gives us a footnote with some extra
Speaker 1: scriptures that give us a background into what David's mindset
Speaker 1: was and what his situation was when he wrote this psalm.
Speaker 1: This is Psalm sixty three. It's called the Thirsting Soul
Speaker 1: Satisfied in God. It's a psalm of David when he
Speaker 1: was in the wilderness of Judah. And this little footnote
Speaker 1: that we get is First Samuel twenty two five and
Speaker 1: twenty three fourteen. So I want to go a little
Speaker 1: bit further back First Samuel twenty two. I want to
Speaker 1: just kind of read the beginning in a nutshell. David
Speaker 1: was fleeing Saul. That was the theme of when we
Speaker 1: get into First Samuel chapter twenty two. So David departed
Speaker 1: from there and escaped to the cave of Agilam, and
Speaker 1: when his brothers and all his father's household heard about it,
Speaker 1: they went down there to him. Then everyone who was
Speaker 1: in distress, and everyone who is in debt, and everyone
Speaker 1: who was discontented gathered to him, and he became captain
Speaker 1: over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
Speaker 1: So a few things are happening here. David is fleeing
Speaker 1: from Saul. He has found this nice little cave in Agilam,
Speaker 1: and it's called a stronghold. Caves were great places of
Speaker 1: military strategy because usually they're up high in a mountain.
Speaker 1: You have a great vantage point to look and see
Speaker 1: when your enemies are coming. Typically you're surrounded on all
Speaker 1: sides by rock. So unless they're coming through a mountain
Speaker 1: from the other side through corridors, which you know, more
Speaker 1: power to them. If they go to that trouble, then
Speaker 1: I guess they deserve to win. But other than that,
Speaker 1: you basically are secure on all sides but one, and
Speaker 1: so you can have a great strategic vantage point. And
Speaker 1: David himself calls God a stronghold, and that can be
Speaker 1: this picture of being in the safe, secure cave on
Speaker 1: a high vantage point solid rock all around you. Then
Speaker 1: he's got his family that came down to this strongholder,
Speaker 1: came to this stronghold with him, who heard about him
Speaker 1: fleeing there. And also this whole other group, everyone who
Speaker 1: is in distress, everyone who is in debt, everyone who
Speaker 1: is discontented, gathered to him and he became captain over them,
Speaker 1: and there were about four hundred men. Later on, there
Speaker 1: is a group of men that David kind of considers
Speaker 1: his inner circle, and they came from this core group
Speaker 1: of men that originally decided to follow him. Were guessing
Speaker 1: if they were in debt, if they're discontented, if they're
Speaker 1: in distress, that they're not enjoying Saul's leadership and the
Speaker 1: way that he does things. So they're basically pledging their
Speaker 1: loyalty to David, and he became captain, which is a
Speaker 1: military term, so he basically became their leader. He kind
Speaker 1: of had like a militia beginning to form, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't small. So David went from there to Mispah of
Speaker 1: Moab and he said to the King of Moab, please
Speaker 1: let my father and mother come and stay with you
Speaker 1: until I know what God will do for me. So
Speaker 1: he knew God would do something. He was a man
Speaker 1: after God's own heart. God was his leader, his general,
Speaker 1: so to speak. But he didn't know what his fate
Speaker 1: would be, and so he wanted his parents to be safe,
Speaker 1: so he tucks them away in Misbah, where the King
Speaker 1: of Moab kept his parents safe. And presumably he goes
Speaker 1: back to this stronghold with his band of brothers of
Speaker 1: these four hundred people, and it says that they stayed
Speaker 1: with that king until the whole time that David was
Speaker 1: in the stronghold. But God, the prophet said to David,
Speaker 1: do not stay in the stronghold, leave and go into
Speaker 1: the land of Judah. So David left and went into
Speaker 1: the forest of Herath. And this is where we find
Speaker 1: David writing Psalm sixty three, is when he is in
Speaker 1: the wilderness, in the forest of Herath, after basically leaving
Speaker 1: the ideal strategic military situation in this stronghold, surrounded by
Speaker 1: a bunch of loyal men, his parents tucked away safely
Speaker 1: with the King of Moab. But he did it because
Speaker 1: God told him through this prophet God, to leave and
Speaker 1: to go into this unprotected land, into this forest where
Speaker 1: he would be open to his enemies. He would be
Speaker 1: not safe like he would be in the stronghold, but
Speaker 1: he chose to obey. So I just really want us
Speaker 1: to kind of be in that mindset as we go
Speaker 1: into Psalm sixty three, because I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can relate or not, but I totally can living a
Speaker 1: life where you feel secure, you feel like everything is good,
Speaker 1: and then God throws you a curveball and he's like, Nope,
Speaker 1: it's time to go somewhere else that's not as safe,
Speaker 1: that's not as secure. But what David knew, and what
Speaker 1: you and I know, at least in our brain, if
Speaker 1: we can't always internalize it, is that we would rather
Speaker 1: go to an unideal, less secure, more dangerous situation with
Speaker 1: God than to stay back in safety without him. And
Speaker 1: that is what this psalm boils down to. All right,
Speaker 1: let's pray Father God. We just we just thank you
Speaker 1: so much for being our general, for being the one
Speaker 1: who leads us into whatever battle you choose for us
Speaker 1: to go into next. And we know that when we
Speaker 1: follow you, even if it's scary, even if it doesn't
Speaker 1: make sense in a worldly sense, even if it's not logical,
Speaker 1: even if it doesn't seem like the best strategic move
Speaker 1: for the moment that when you lead us, that good
Speaker 1: will come of it. And I just pray for those
Speaker 1: that are listening right now, who are being called out
Speaker 1: of the security of a stronghold that feels right and
Speaker 1: safe and logical into a forest that feels scary and
Speaker 1: open and vulnerable. Just give them the peace that transcends
Speaker 1: understanding to guard their hearts and their minds. In Christ,
Speaker 1: Jesus Father, we want to hear from you clearly. We
Speaker 1: don't want to miss your voice. We don't want to
Speaker 1: go into things or rush into things recklessly or carelessly.
Speaker 1: We want to be good stewards of our lives and
Speaker 1: of our finances, and of our family, and of the
Speaker 1: people and the things and the ministries and the gifts
Speaker 1: in our care. But we don't want to miss your
Speaker 1: best by playing it safe. And so we just come
Speaker 1: before you begging you speak to us, Lord, like the
Speaker 1: verse that says, whether you go to the right or
Speaker 1: to the left, you'll hear a voice behind you saying
Speaker 1: this is the way walk in it. We just pray
Speaker 1: for that voice, for that word, for that guidance, that
Speaker 1: it would be clear, and thank you God that we
Speaker 1: don't have to get it right every time we're in
Speaker 1: a relationship with you, so we can keep asking. We
Speaker 1: can keep asking for confirmation and clarity. And we know
Speaker 1: that when we ask, you will be faithful to show us.
Speaker 1: And we claim that and we stand on it in
Speaker 1: Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's jump into Psalm sixty three.
Speaker 1: We're reading as usual from the Nasby nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 1: And like I said, this is the thirsting soul satisfied
Speaker 1: in God, a psalm of David when he was in
Speaker 1: the wilderness of Judah. Oh God, you are my God.
Speaker 1: I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirsts for you.
Speaker 1: My flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary
Speaker 1: land where there is no water. Thus I have seen
Speaker 1: you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory.
Speaker 1: Because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips
Speaker 1: will praise you, so I will bless you as long
Speaker 1: as I live. I will lift up my hands in
Speaker 1: your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
Speaker 1: and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I
Speaker 1: remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in
Speaker 1: the night, watches for you have been my help, and
Speaker 1: in the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy.
Speaker 1: My soul clings to you. Your right hand upholds me.
Speaker 1: But those who seek my life to destroy it will
Speaker 1: go into the depths of the earth. They will be
Speaker 1: delivered over to the power of the sword. They will
Speaker 1: be a prey for foxes. But the King will rejoice
Speaker 1: in God. Everyone who swears by him will glory, for
Speaker 1: the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
Speaker 1: So here's David in the forest, in the wilderness. I'm
Speaker 1: guessing that he is probably physically thirsty, physically tired, physically hungry, weary,
Speaker 1: maybe even feeling a little hopeless. And as we know
Speaker 1: with David, I hate saying fake it till you make it.
Speaker 1: But I feel like David speaks truth before he can
Speaker 1: internalize it. Like I said, we can know things in
Speaker 1: our mind and in our brain and not be on
Speaker 1: board with it completely with our hearts and our feelings
Speaker 1: and emotions. And what David does so many times is
Speaker 1: he speaks truth before he actually is necessarily caught up
Speaker 1: with his heart and spirit and emotions. And I feel
Speaker 1: like that's what he's saying. He's saying, I will seek
Speaker 1: you earnestly. I am thirsty in body, my soul thirst
Speaker 1: for you. I am hungry in byes. My flesh yearns
Speaker 1: for you in a dry and weary land where there's
Speaker 1: no water. I've seen you in the sanctuary, to see
Speaker 1: your power and glory. And he says, because your loving
Speaker 1: kindness is better than life. And that word loving kindness,
Speaker 1: the original Hebrew word, is covenant language. It's not just oh,
Speaker 1: you're being nice to someone or showing someone mercy. It
Speaker 1: is your loving kindness that you have bound yourself to me.
Speaker 1: A human, the creator of the universe has chosen to
Speaker 1: adopt a human as his own. It's a permanence, it's
Speaker 1: an agape love and also an all encompassing adoption and sonship.
Speaker 1: And because that is better than life, my lips will
Speaker 1: praise you. And I think David is saying, you know what,
Speaker 1: even if all of this was for nothing, even if
Speaker 1: I come out here and I starve to death, or
Speaker 1: I die of thirst, or I get eaten by jackals,
Speaker 1: it's worth it because you're here and that cave might
Speaker 1: have been safer, but you weren't there. And so even
Speaker 1: if I die, your loving kindness being bound to you,
Speaker 1: being a bond servant to you, Lord, It's better than life,
Speaker 1: and death doesn't scare me when you're with me. I
Speaker 1: love this, he says. When I remember you on my bed,
Speaker 1: I meditate on you in the night watches, for you
Speaker 1: have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings,
Speaker 1: I sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your
Speaker 1: right hand upholds me. So as David goes to sleep
Speaker 1: in this scary wilderness, he's probably needing to be watchful
Speaker 1: for predators, for enemy, for bandits, for robbers, and so
Speaker 1: he meditates on God during the night watches, where presumably
Speaker 1: it's scary. I'm guessing, but God has been his help
Speaker 1: And I love this picture. We've talked about it before.
Speaker 1: In the shadow of your wings, I sing for joy.
Speaker 1: Think of that picture. You cannot sing for joy. If
Speaker 1: you're being hypervigilant. You can sing, you know, Like I
Speaker 1: remember when we would go hiking in the Alaskan wilderness.
Speaker 1: We would sing sometimes or whistle or do something because
Speaker 1: we wanted to make ourselves known to any bears, because
Speaker 1: bears don't really want to come across humans typically, but
Speaker 1: if you sneak up on them, they might just eat
Speaker 1: you or maul you if you scare them, especially if
Speaker 1: they have babies. So we wanted to be singing or
Speaker 1: talking loud, or have bear bells, although some people call
Speaker 1: bear bells dinner bells. But you wanted to have something
Speaker 1: to let them know you're there, because the bears would
Speaker 1: not necessarily want to be there. But so you could
Speaker 1: be singing and still be vigilant, but singing for joy,
Speaker 1: Like I kind of have you ever just been singing
Speaker 1: a praise song and just you kind of get lost
Speaker 1: in it. When you're singing for joy, your attention's all
Speaker 1: on God. And David says, and I wonder if he
Speaker 1: sang for joy out there in the wilderness, knowing that
Speaker 1: he was musical, knowing that he did sing and play
Speaker 1: the lyre in different instruments. But he said, in the
Speaker 1: shadow of your wings, I sing for joy, whether it's
Speaker 1: metaphorical or actually practical. When he feels held by God
Speaker 1: in a protective sense, in the shadow of his wings
Speaker 1: where nothing can get to him, then you have that
Speaker 1: freedom to sing for joy. So going back to our
Speaker 1: example of is God calling you out of a place
Speaker 1: of safety into a place that feels more vulnerable, that
Speaker 1: feels more dangerous, that feels more uncertain. I just I
Speaker 1: want a picture for me, that imagery of I want
Speaker 1: to get to the place where I feel so held
Speaker 1: in God's perfect will for my life, that I have
Speaker 1: the freedom to sing, that I don't have to be
Speaker 1: hypervigilant or scared, and then no matter what chaos is
Speaker 1: going around going on around me, that I can be
Speaker 1: kind of in that holy cocoon of God's wings sheltering
Speaker 1: me and giving me the freedom to absolutely sing for joy.
Speaker 1: Let's pray, Father, God, we praise you for being bigger
Speaker 1: than anything we could ever imagine. There is no problem,
Speaker 1: there is no enemy, there's no hurdle, there's no barrier,
Speaker 1: nothing that can stand in the way of us and
Speaker 1: the perfect plans that you have for our lives. There
Speaker 1: is no safer place than being right in the middle
Speaker 1: of your will for us. And it doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: we will necessarily have the privilege of being physically safe
Speaker 1: or even to keep our lives. There are plenty of
Speaker 1: people who lose their lives in the service of the king.
Speaker 1: But as David said, you are far greater. You are
Speaker 1: far better than the safety that has afforded us apart
Speaker 1: from you. So even if we step into danger, even
Speaker 1: if things that we wish hadn't happened to us, we
Speaker 1: know that you are there with us, and that you
Speaker 1: are accomplishing good in us and through us. So Lord,
Speaker 1: we again just ask for your words, your instruction, your
Speaker 1: direction to be louder than any of the other stuff
Speaker 1: around us. Please diminish and quiet all of those other
Speaker 1: things so that your voice would be clear. Just attune
Speaker 1: our ears to the frequency of your voice and your
Speaker 1: voice alone. And I just pray Lord that whatever it
Speaker 1: is that you're calling us into, or have called us into,
Speaker 1: that you would remove fear. You've not given us a
Speaker 1: spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of
Speaker 1: love and of a sound mind. All fear does is
Speaker 1: paralyze us and keep us from the abundant life that
Speaker 1: you have planned for us. So help us to live
Speaker 1: in freedom and enjoy that we could sing songs of joy, Lord,
Speaker 1: and embrace what you have for us. Next and where
Speaker 1: you have called us, you will also equip us and
Speaker 1: protect us to be able to accomplish those things that
Speaker 1: you have for us. Lord, Amen, we'd like to take
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