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The Blessing of a Quiet Time (Psalm 84)
11 Plays7 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 09 November 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Gratitude for Sabbaticals and Family Connection
00:00:10
Speaker
You didn't give me time to say I missed you so much. um Man, I missed you so much. Jody, our family, when we were all together, we would watch on live stream.
00:00:21
Speaker
And I'm so thankful for live stream. And every time I would get this lump in my throat, and I would think, that right there is my family. And it just would really... really tag us every time, but it's so good to be with you in person and just thanking the Lord so much for the sabbatical. It was a ah very kind and generous and thoughtful gift, and I'm so grateful for it. You would not believe how God, he rested us, he refreshed us.
00:00:47
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And just recharged us in so many
Appreciation for Veterans
00:00:50
Speaker
ways. And we had great times as a family. And anyway, just so many wonderful blessings. And it's all because of you guys. And I appreciate your your kindness and your generosity to extend that to us.
00:01:04
Speaker
Actually, I've come back with my heart overflowing. And definitely one of the things I'm so thankful for is for the veterans who have served this country. You know, this coming Tuesday is Veterans Day.
00:01:17
Speaker
And I hope that today, if you see a veteran in our church family, pass them in the hall, they're in your Sunday school class, just pause and thank them. for their service. You know, we we appreciate all of you men and women who have served in the armed forces.
00:01:32
Speaker
We don't ever want to forget the sacrifices that you made and also your family made. And I wanted us to say a prayer, if we could, for those who are serving now. They're deployed. They're out there. They're protecting us. So let's pray for them. Would you
Prayer for Deployed Soldiers
00:01:46
Speaker
join me?
00:01:46
Speaker
Lord, I do thank you so much for the freedoms that we have in this country. ah thank you, Lord, for those who have served, those who were standing just a few moments ago. ah Thank you for how they served.
00:01:59
Speaker
We know that there are some who are serving right now. They're deployed in different locations around the world. We pray that you would be their shield. and we pray that you give their commanders wisdom and discernment of what to do, what is right.
00:02:12
Speaker
We just thank you once again for your blessings upon our country and those who have defended our freedoms. ah We thank you most of all for freedom in Christ. We thank you for all that you've done for us, Jesus.
00:02:24
Speaker
So bless our time as we look now in your word and speak to us. May we hear your voice as we look into the word of God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, like I said, it is great to be with
The Importance of Daily Quiet Time
00:02:37
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you. i want to talk to you today about the quiet time.
00:02:41
Speaker
I hope that each morning you take God's word, you take maybe a journal, an ink pen, and you meet with God. You listen to what he says through his word. I hope that you'll spend time talking with him and listening to him because he's very real.
00:02:56
Speaker
As a matter of fact, Hebrews 4.16 says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy. and find grace to help in time of need.
00:03:09
Speaker
Do you realize that Jesus himself had a morning quiet time? If you were to read Mark 1 35, it talks about how Jesus, whenever the day before the day would begin, that he would go and spend time with the Father.
00:03:24
Speaker
I hope that you've learned the importance of a quiet time. One of the things that I enjoyed the most about the sabbatical was those extended quiet times that I could just linger in God's presence and just say, Lord, please speak to me. Please feed me.
00:03:42
Speaker
Please renew me. And he did. and he will renew you in real time. You know, one of the things that keeps me going ah even in real time, whenever I'm serving and working and all of those things, it's Him, Him, meeting with Him each and every day.
00:04:00
Speaker
You know, one morning on October 14th, to be exact, during the sabbatical, I read Psalm 84, and I never viewed Psalm 84 as a Psalm, as being like a portrait of personally meeting with God.
00:04:16
Speaker
But that particular day, the Lord said, doesn't this remind you of our times together? And it was captivating to me to look at this psalm in that regard. Perhaps that's why Spurgeon nicknamed Psalm 84 the pearl of the psalms.
00:04:31
Speaker
ah the psalms Another theologian named Calvin, John Calvin, he said that the Psalms could be called the anatomy of the soul. And it was like God was speaking to me each morning. It didn't have to be in the Psalms. I was reading all through different locations in God's word.
00:04:50
Speaker
But I hope that as we look at Psalm 84 together, that you will sense the Lord speaking to you about the discipline of a quiet time. At the end of the service, I want to invite you to make a personal commitment.
00:05:04
Speaker
Lord, help me try. Help me try to rearrange my schedule so that I can meet with you every day. I want to give you from this Psalm the reasons why you should do that. You won't be sorry, I guarantee you, if you will carve out time every single morning to spend time alone with God, just you, His Word, and prayer. If you want to write down what He says, then I recommend a journal and an ink pen. Have it all ready. One of the challenges in my life has always been When I get ready
Understanding Psalm 84
00:05:35
Speaker
to have a quiet time, I can't find an ink pen in the house. So you got to get this stuff ready beforehand so that it's all ready.
00:05:43
Speaker
But it's possible that the setting of what we're about to read, the setting of this psalm, it was written by... the sons of Korah, and it was written during this time when King David's son Absalom was rebelling.
00:05:58
Speaker
So I'm not saying that every quiet time morning is going to be everything's going great for you. I'm not saying that at all. That's not when this psalm was written. This psalm was written when King David, the sons of Korah, others that were loyal to the king, they all left Jerusalem. They left the capital and they had to go into the wilderness and And so there they were in the wilderness, away from their homes, away from the throne, but they were also away from the tabernacle.
00:06:27
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And so I want you to listen to references to the tabernacle as we go through this passage. Let's stand together and let me read Psalm 84, beginning of verse 1, down through verse 12.
00:06:39
Speaker
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
00:06:54
Speaker
Even the sparrows find a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
00:07:07
Speaker
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs.
00:07:24
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The early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer.
00:07:37
Speaker
Give ear, O God of Jacob. Behold, I was shield, O God. Look on the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
00:07:52
Speaker
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor.
00:08:04
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No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Let's go to the Father.
00:08:17
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Lord, these are timeless words. These are powerful words, inspiring words. But words like these can be read any morning when we wake up, if we will just make the time to listen to you and to read your word and to pray and talk to you about the burdens that are on our hearts, the challenges that we face, or perhaps the blessings and the joys that we have in our lives.
Yearning for God's Presence
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Speaker
And so please make us hungry for that private time with you. Even if no one else knows about that time, Lord, you will. And you will bless us if we will spend time with you. So make us willing to pay the price that we could meet with you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated.
00:09:07
Speaker
You know, when I was in Colorado, when I was in Dallas-Fort Worth area on this sabbatical, different places, I would always yearn to be back with you. I would be thinking about you and praying for you.
00:09:20
Speaker
Well, that's kind of what you hear in Psalm 84, verse 2, don't you? My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. He said, my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
00:09:32
Speaker
It's like he was longing to be in the tabernacle. Although he cannot offer sacrifices outside of the tabernacle, he can still praise God.
00:09:43
Speaker
He can still pray to God. Even in a dry, barren wilderness, he was there and he was valuing presence with God. He often references the tabernacle, viewing it as, well, let's say dwelling place,
00:09:59
Speaker
You know i was struck by one thing he says in verse seven, how each one appears before God. I thought to myself, that's really what a quiet time is. When you and I individually, personally, spend time with God each morning. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I've been doing it ever since the very first year that I became a Christian. And I pray that you are as well. Did you know that the Hebrew word for tabernacle, it's a Hebrew word called mishkan? It actually means dwelling place.
00:10:31
Speaker
You see, the tabernacle was a tent. It was set apart by God as a portable sanctuary so that God's presence could be with his people as they traveled.
00:10:44
Speaker
So when you travel, let's say you're making Thanksgiving plans or Christmas plans, Are you planning to skip your quiet time? Are you planning to make sure it's front and center? If you'll put it front and center, it will make so much more.
00:10:58
Speaker
It'll make your holidays more meaningful. You know, someone said, since they were not actually having a pleasant time when this was written, someone has said that the good life is not about having everything you wanted.
00:11:14
Speaker
It's about having God, even if it's in the midst of nothing you wanted. Maybe it's hard for you. Maybe these are difficult times and you say, there's nothing going right in my life. Oh, listen, friend, don't skip the time with God.
00:11:31
Speaker
Have that personal private time and read the scriptures and let God speak to your heart. You know, as your eye scans the Psalm, did you pay attention to the personal pronouns?
00:11:43
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I put some of them on the screen for you. You know, it's interesting. He's kind of talking and reflecting about the tabernacle, right? But it's not about the place. Did you catch it?
00:11:54
Speaker
It's not about the place. It's ah about time with the person. He's not talking about God. He's talking to God. Do you ever just open up God's word and you say, Lord, would you speak to me today? i need you, God.
00:12:12
Speaker
You ever just talk to him that directly? He says, your dwelling place. See, he's talking to God. He talks about your altars, singing your praise. Strength is found in you.
00:12:24
Speaker
Look how personal the relationship is with God. He says, my soul longs. Have you ever just said that to God? Lord, my soul longs for you. My heart and my flesh, they sing, my king, my God.
00:12:39
Speaker
He's not saying you are the king, you are the God, the Lord God. He's saying, you're my king, you're my God. It's like he's so loyal to God. You see all of these personal pronouns, there's some there on the screen, but that's just half the song.
00:12:53
Speaker
The other half, it continues. Listen, do you want to talk to God? Do you want for God to talk to you? He will.
00:13:04
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He will talk to you. The writer of Psalm 84 wants God to hear his private prayer. He says, hear my prayer. You could say that too.
00:13:15
Speaker
Maybe tomorrow morning you could wake up and say, Lord, I got a busy week. Would you hear my prayer? This is from me, God. You know, I love the balance, though.
00:13:26
Speaker
When I was growing up, my dad was a country music singer. And so sometimes on our weekends, until I got old enough to go where I wanted to go in my own car, I remember we'd go with my dad to these country music halls.
00:13:39
Speaker
And I remember one of the the religious songs they sang, they would sing, Me and Jesus. Got our own thing going, me and Jesus. Got it all worked out. i don't know if you ever heard that old song, but I love the balance that verse 9 is.
00:13:54
Speaker
Because like I said, I couldn't wait to be back with you. Because you are my church family. We worship the Lord together. You know, verse nine says, you are our shield.
00:14:07
Speaker
He doesn't say you're my shield. He's been saying those kinds of things, but now he says, no, you know what? Lord, you're our shield. And we share a lot of things together here
Spiritual Thirst and Seeking God
00:14:17
Speaker
in Christ as this church family.
00:14:20
Speaker
The sons of Korah, I said, wrote this. Do you know that they were the gatekeepers? First Chronicles 9, 19 says they were the gatekeepers. I love the way it sums it all up in verse 12 when he says, blessed is the one.
00:14:36
Speaker
Blessed is the one. You could be that one. You could say, Lord, nobody else is around. Here I am this morning presenting myself, surrendering myself to you. Lord, I want you to please bless me.
00:14:51
Speaker
Do you know that this beautiful psalm talks about where the blessings are found? Did you hear him say blessed three times? He says it in verse 12, of course. Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts you in you. Verse 12.
00:15:06
Speaker
But then he also said it again in verse four and verse five. What's the song of the blessed? Well, when we're singing your praise, when you come in worship, you'll go away feeling blessed.
00:15:18
Speaker
You'll go away saying, I forgot this week who God is. You know, verse five says, the strength that comes from God's blessing. He can strengthen us, but where is the strength found?
00:15:30
Speaker
To finish the race that God has you on. That strength is found in him. It's in Christ, it's in the Lord. It's too bad, you know, that many in our world don't know about this.
00:15:43
Speaker
A theologian from long ago named Calvin Miller wrote these words. He said, the world is poor because her fortune is buried in the sky and all her treasure maps are of the earth.
00:15:57
Speaker
Isn't that sad? It's like he says, I value, I value you, Lord. But it's so sad that all those around me who don't know you yet, they're looking for something, but they don't know what they're looking for.
00:16:12
Speaker
So why should you spend time with God each morning? The writer of the psalm leaves a biblical treasure map to five blessings that come from a quiet time.
00:16:22
Speaker
So let me give those to you before we dismiss this morning. They're all found only in God's presence. The first thing that is found in God's presence is something quenches that thirst.
00:16:36
Speaker
the slacking of the thirst only within his presence. You know, these same ones that wrote this Psalm, they also wrote Psalm 42, the sons of Korah.
00:16:47
Speaker
And when they started Psalm 42 verses one and two, it sounds a lot like Psalm 84 and how he's so hungry and so thirsty. And here's what they said in Psalm 42, one and two, as the deer pants,
00:17:01
Speaker
For flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God. you know, that's what we're thirsting for. We're thirsting for God.
00:17:13
Speaker
And that's why he says in Psalm 84, verse 2, my soul longs, yes, faints for the courts. you remember when Jesus had a conversation with a lady at a place called Sychar? It was kind of off the beaten path. It was in a region called Samaria. And he sat down in a well and he just talked to her real gently, real kindly, but truthfully.
00:17:36
Speaker
And he told that lady, he said, I know you're here to get water, but if you drink of this water... you're going to thirst again. But he said, if you'll drink of the water that I give, referring to salvation in Christ, of course, he says, you will never be thirsty again.
00:17:52
Speaker
Wouldn't that be nice? There's something we're looking for and we look all over the place for it. You know, David found it. David said, the Lord's my shepherd. I shall not want.
00:18:03
Speaker
What he's talking about is thirst. He said, you know what? I don't have to have anything else. Once I have the Lord, Jesus invited anyone who thirsts to come to him and drink in John 7, 37 to 39. There's an interesting book by a man named Don Whitney.
00:18:22
Speaker
It's called 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. And he actually has a chapter in that book, Own Spiritual Thirst. And found it interesting. He gives three different types of thirst.
00:18:34
Speaker
One thirst is by the man who's not a believer, the woman who's not a believer, the teenager who's not a believer. Their thirst is the thirst of an empty soul.
00:18:44
Speaker
It's like there's something missing in their life and they don't know what it is. So they'll look to work, they'll look to money, to sports, to fame, to family, they'll look to love, to sex, they'll look anywhere else.
00:18:58
Speaker
But they're just saying, I know I'm missing something. I just can't figure out what it is. Romans 3.11 says, no one seeks God. We're going to have to help them.
00:19:08
Speaker
We're going to have to tell them, I was just like you. i was just like you look looking in all the wrong places. And Jesus is what I was looking for. We will have to tell them.
00:19:20
Speaker
you know, the other thing I thought was interesting is how Don Whitney in his book said, not only is there the thirst of an empty soul an unbeliever, but did you know that there are spiritual Christians, matureing maturing, growing Christians, and there are carnal Christians?
00:19:37
Speaker
You can find this described in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1 through 3. But he describes the thirst, secondly, of a dry soul. Amen. It's like maybe they're a believer, but you know what? Christ is not on the throne in their life. Christ is not the center.
00:19:53
Speaker
And so they're not drinking from the fountain that he wants to give. They're drinking from the world's fountains. Man, are they ever sometimes putrid and destructive and dangerous. But then he mentions the third thirst, the thirst of a satisfied soul.
00:20:08
Speaker
You know what? Every day I wake up, I'm still thirsty. I'm thirsty because I'm a satisfied soul. I know that if I meet with God, He will satisfy me so that I don't i don't go into the day with a deficit.
00:20:24
Speaker
I go into the day with an overflow. And I'm saying, I have something i can share. I have joy and I have love and I have hope. I have peace. Well, let me give you a second thing.
00:20:36
Speaker
If you were to spend time with God in the quiet time, he's gonna quench that thirst. But the second thing is found in verses three and four in verse nine, security. The security that comes from trusting him.
00:20:49
Speaker
You come out of God's presence in the quiet time and you feel like, you know what? I have a sense of security. You know, as Baptists, sometimes we talk a lot about eternal security and we should, that once we trust Jesus Christ,
00:21:04
Speaker
We are so saved, not because we stay committed throughout the rest of our life, but we're saved because of the finished, perfect work of Christ. Eternal security is real, and it's offered to us in Christ.
00:21:18
Speaker
But you know there's another kind of security? It's internal. internal, inside, internal security. And I think that's what he's talking about in verses three and four in verse nine.
00:21:31
Speaker
He's talking about a place where you can find comfort, just like the bird. You ever seen a bird? They seem like some of the most nervous creatures. So the birds and the squirrels stress me out. I don't like to even watch them you know they just so they just seem like they're always moving around. I thought, i can I'm hyper myself. I don't need to look at something else that's hyper.
00:21:51
Speaker
But you know, where can you go and find rest? You know what you could have? You know what I can have? We can have a sabbatical any day we want whenever we'll spend time with God and say, Lord, I come to you and I'm just going to rest right now and let you just love on me.
Praying for Children and Finding Joy
00:22:08
Speaker
The other thing I think we find in terms of a secure place in the quiet time is we find a place to entrust our children, don't we? It's interesting when he's in the metaphor about the birds, he's talking that illustration, that analogy of these birds.
00:22:25
Speaker
He says, the swallow finds a place where she can lay her young. You ever feel concerned and burdened for your kids, for their future? How's it going to turn out with them? You want the very, very best for your children and for your grandchildren.
00:22:41
Speaker
You know where you can find that? The quiet time. You know where you can love on your kids, even if they live in another part of the area down here or maybe another state? You can love on your kids anytime when you say to God, God, I'm meeting with you this morning.
00:22:56
Speaker
Bless this one. Bless that one. Guide this one. Comfort this one. Man, the the place to entrust your children is the altars of God. So why not every day trust entrust them to the Lord? Also, the secure place of a quiet time is a place where you can say, you know what?
00:23:16
Speaker
I surrender. I'm going to resign from thinking that I am the CEO of my life, that I am the CEO of the universe. we need to We need to daily say, okay, Lord, you know what? You control things.
00:23:29
Speaker
You are in charge. You rule and you reign. And so it's a secure place to surrender control. Because sometimes we get stressed because we're thinking, I got to fix this. I got to manipulate this and manipulate that.
00:23:43
Speaker
No. Why don't you say to the Lord, you know what? You're the Lord of hosts. You're my king. You're my God. And I'm going to trust you with all this stuff that I can't control anyway.
00:23:57
Speaker
It's a secure place also to discover your cheerfulness. Maybe at one time as a believer, you had joy. You had the joy the Lord. You had laughter. You laughed a lot.
00:24:07
Speaker
You were just overflowing, but something happened along the way. You know where you can rediscover that? You can rediscover that in a quiet time every morning, anytime you want.
00:24:20
Speaker
Because he says, blessed are those who dwell in your house, in your presence, ever singing your praise. Ever singing, still singing your praise, some translations say. Wow, a secure place to discover your cheerfulness.
00:24:36
Speaker
Also, it's a secure place to remember your custody. You know, sometimes we're afraid. Maybe you've gone to the doctor and maybe the diagnosis or the prognosis is not what you wish.
00:24:48
Speaker
Or maybe there's other things. Maybe it's financial. You're just really afraid. Behold our shield, O God, he says in verse 9. Look on the face of your anointed. You know what? God will give you that inner sense of security and peace that you're looking for.
00:25:05
Speaker
So let me go to the third one. Strength. Strength for trials. You know, sometimes life's not easy and we need strength just to go through those hard times.
00:25:17
Speaker
Maybe you assumed that if you became a Christian, you wouldn't even have any hard times. Maybe you thought, why am I having a hard time? I'm trying to do what is right. Well, you know what?
00:25:29
Speaker
God gives us the strength to go through the
Strength in Difficult Times
00:25:32
Speaker
trials. He's making a testimony. You can glorify him and say, you know what? I would give up going through what I'm going through, but here's the one that's giving me strength and he can give you strength.
00:25:44
Speaker
Do you know that the word blessed is mentioned 112 times in the New Testament? That's a lot of times, isn't it? Surely out of somewhere in there, one of those blessings is going to be material blessings, right? All right. Man, now going to get that that new car. i'm going to get that new house. going to get that new outfit.
00:26:02
Speaker
You know, I'm going to get that raise. you know what's really interesting? I read getting ready for this message out of 112 times in the New Testament. It's not about material things.
00:26:14
Speaker
It's about spiritual blessings, spiritual blessings that help us deal with real life. The blessing is strength in the Lord. Strength is in you, he says in verse 5.
00:26:26
Speaker
But verse 6 says, he gives us strength even in the valleys. The valley of Baca means the valley of weeping. It's the valley where there's sorrow. Have you gone through sorrow lately?
00:26:39
Speaker
Do you know that when you're going through sorrow, he can give you strength so that you don't crater in that. You know, the Valley of Baca, they can't even find where is that geographic location.
00:26:51
Speaker
They can't find it. You know why? i have an idea about that. I think they can't find it because it's not about a geographic location. No, I think it's about a traumatic situation.
00:27:05
Speaker
It's through something you're going through and you're saying, this is really hard for me. I feel like I'm pulling the load by myself. Well, let God get in there. Because if you'll let God's strength see you through it, you know what he's going to do?
00:27:18
Speaker
He's going to help you to be like a spring, he says, like a spring that will water all of the place in that valley of Baca. So all these people are going to be seeing you in your life and how God's working in your life.
00:27:35
Speaker
And now it's going to help them to deal with their sorrows. Strength is renewable. Strength to strength, he says in verse 7. It doesn't end.
00:27:45
Speaker
Strength until you finally reach the finish line. You know, I was thinking when I read this about strength in trials, I thought about a a man who led our worship in Fairview, Alberta, Canada.
00:27:59
Speaker
When I was a pastor there, there was a man named Harvey Lubeck and he would lead the singing with his guitar. And he was kind country guy. And I actually thought he might be from Tennessee, but he wasn't. He was just an Alberta cowboy. But I remember Harvey one time singing a song by Paul Overstreet.
00:28:17
Speaker
Maybe you've heard this song before. Paul Overstreet has an album called Living by the Book. living by the book. And in the song, Paul Overstreet entitled the song, Dig Another Well.
00:28:30
Speaker
And he sings the song of Isaac. You see, Isaac inherited his dad, Abraham. He inherited his well, but some bad guys came along and filled up the well.
00:28:42
Speaker
So you know what Isaac did? Isaac said, you know what, I'm gonna dig another well. So he dug that well, you know what they did? They came and filled up that well. So he said, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna dig another well.
00:28:53
Speaker
And he did it four times. And so the song that I remember Harvey singing so many times for us was, you know, dig another well. Don't let the trials stop you.
00:29:05
Speaker
You dig another well, because God's got an overflowing spring. He can give you in the midst of that. Well, let me also move to the fourth one, the satisfaction.
00:29:17
Speaker
The satisfaction with the treasure of the presence of God.
Value of God's Presence Over Material Possessions
00:29:20
Speaker
Do you realize what a treasure we have in Christ? Do you realize what a treasure we have in the presence of God?
00:29:28
Speaker
I remember when I was growing up, sometimes my parents would say, sit down, Billy Graham's on. I don't want to sit down, I got to go. And they said, sit down, you're going to be blessed. And I'd sit down and I would hear a guy named George Beverly Shea.
00:29:41
Speaker
And he would sing this song. And the song said, I'd rather have Jesus. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. As an as ah a high school student, it impacted me.
00:29:54
Speaker
It impacted me so much that I remember one Christmas, I closed the door to the living room And this was a Christmas Eve and nobody was there. And I put on the song, Fall on Your Knees.
00:30:06
Speaker
You ever heard that song, Fall on Your Knees? I put that song on and right there in that living room, I just bowed down and I said, you are Lord.
00:30:17
Speaker
And I don't live for you, but I acknowledge that you're real. And it wasn't too much longer when I went to college, when I totally gave him my life in a minute. But you know what?
00:30:29
Speaker
That's what he's talking about in verse 10 and verse 11. He's talking about the satisfaction that he has with one thing, being in God's presence.
00:30:41
Speaker
And so it's interesting how he contrasted, he said, you know what? I would rather spend one day I'd rather spend one day in God's presence than a thousand somewhere else.
00:30:53
Speaker
And then he talks about it from the perspective, not of duration of time, but location and territory. He said, I'd rather spend one day in your courts. than a thousand in the tents of wickedness.
00:31:06
Speaker
He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper. You know, I thought, what will happen on the day when I'm no longer a pastor? Will I still come to church? Will I still worship the Lord? You bet, you bet, because I'm gonna still worship the Lord like I do every morning that I wake up.
00:31:24
Speaker
I go to him, I pray to him, I worship him, I thank him, and I talk to him about all the things that are going on in my life. I don't have to have a position. Do you have to have a position? Do you have to have a position?
00:31:36
Speaker
This guy that wrote this said, you know what? I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the temple of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. The other thing is his contemplation.
00:31:48
Speaker
I think it's contemplation maybe during temptation. You know what the oldest temptation in the Bible is? It's whenever the devil says to us, you know what?
00:31:59
Speaker
You could have it so much better if you did this. You can have it so much better. Don't you know God's withholding something good from you? Man, if you don't know any verse in the Bible, you ought to have Psalm 84, 11 underlined in your Bible. I'm sorry. I mean, it's the way I feel.
00:32:15
Speaker
For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing. No good thing. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
00:32:26
Speaker
Do you remember? Remember what he told Eve and Adam? Don't eat of the one tree. And yet the enemy came and said, you're missing out. God knows if you ate that one tree, you're going to be so much more wise. You'll have all God's wisdom.
00:32:44
Speaker
You know what? We need to be satisfied with what God says and satisfied with God's presence. I love Psalm 90 verse 14. Psalm 90 verse 14 reminds me of a quiet time. It says, satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may be glad all our days.
00:33:03
Speaker
That's a great life verse. Just fill up on the Lord's presence in the morning.
Peace in God's Control
00:33:08
Speaker
You'll be whistling as you go through the day. For he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things. That's Psalm 107, verse 9.
00:33:20
Speaker
Well, let me close with one last thing and then we're done. The sovereignty, the sovereignty over the trauma, the sovereignty over the trauma in his presence. Remember what's going on.
00:33:33
Speaker
Remember, he's got a rebellious son. He's got people in his kingdom that are betraying him. Remember, he's got this coup that's trying to overthrow him. He's had to evacuate suddenly.
00:33:46
Speaker
He's away from his home. He's away from the king being on the throne. Whoever this son of Korah was, man, he's like, oh, buddy, you know, it's a rough time in his life.
00:33:57
Speaker
Maybe it's a rough time in yours. Well, look at how he wraps it up in verse 12. Oh, Lord of hosts. Oh, Lord of hosts. Have you heard that before? Some say, I don't think so.
00:34:08
Speaker
Yeah, you heard it three other times in this passage. i I missed it too. I didn't get it until I got to the last verse. And I'm like, wow, that's pretty cool name for God. And then I realized he'd already said it three times. You know, that's four times.
00:34:23
Speaker
you know during the quiet time. And so anyway, do you know, we it reminds us that God's in charge. What it means is he's the Lord of heaven's armies. What it means is whoever's the Lord of heaven's armies, and he doesn't have any problem.
00:34:37
Speaker
That's why some people, in some translations say the Lord God, the Almighty. Do you know that you have an opportunity every morning to hear from the Lord God, the Almighty. You have an opportunity every morning to lay your children.
00:34:51
Speaker
You have an opportunity every morning to lay your burdens down on the Lord God, the Almighty, to lay them down and to say, Lord, you can handle this. I went back through those four times that old Lord of hosts is mentioned. And let me just say this.
00:35:08
Speaker
Verse one, the sovereign God is with you. He's with you. That's why he starts out saying, O Lord of hosts, and he's he can't believe it. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.
00:35:23
Speaker
But then he goes down in verse three, the sovereign God is not only with you, he's in you. He's in you. You know, just like those birds, remember, it's like the nest. And where we rest and where we find peace, it's in Christ.
00:35:37
Speaker
It's by turning it all over to him. Verse eight, his provision. He says, oh Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, oh God of Jacob. And then verse 12, the sovereign God not only hears us, is in us and with us, but he's for you.
00:35:56
Speaker
You ever feel like God's against you? When my dad had cancer, I felt like God was against me. and i was a missionary. And I thought, why? I mean, my dad, he loves you, Lord.
00:36:07
Speaker
He's a soul winner. He's a deacon. Why has he got cancer? But you know what I learned? That God's for me, not against me. Man, when you get into God's word, it will recalibrate your thinking.
00:36:22
Speaker
Imagine if you were Horatio Spafford. You might not feel that you know who Horatio Spafford is, but but we do. We sang a song that Horatio Spafford wrote a little bit earlier called, It Is Well With My Soul.
00:36:37
Speaker
See, he was an attorney in Chicago And it had been a tough year. He lost a lot through the great fire, the Chicago fire. And so a lot of his properties burned down.
00:36:48
Speaker
So a couple of years later, he says, you know, I need a break. So he and his wife and his four daughters, they were just going to go sail to Europe and they're going to spend some time in Europe, be refreshed and come back.
00:37:01
Speaker
Well, right when they were at the dock, he got a call from the office and they said, it's an emergency. I hate to bother you. I know you're trying to go. Can you just come back? And so he told his wife and his daughters, y'all go on ahead.
00:37:14
Speaker
I'm going to go back. And then he gets that telegram that tells him that there was a shipwreck and that the ship they were on sank and that his four daughters perished, but his wife survived.
00:37:29
Speaker
by hanging on to one piece of wood or something like that. But he was dealing with that. And you know, when you hear something like that, how do you deal with it? What's your response?
00:37:42
Speaker
Well, what he did was he met with God and out of his time with God came those beautiful words, it's well with my soul. If you'll spend time with God every day, then you'll be ready whenever things like that happen.
00:37:57
Speaker
And you'll say, okay, this devastates me, but I'm going to trust you and I'm going to depend on you. Do know that the New Testament actually tells us that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit?
Renewed Commitment to Quiet Time
00:38:12
Speaker
You know, it's interesting how the tabernacle was a ah mobile sanctuary, but the temple was a permanent sanctuary. Well, there's not many of us who always stay put in one place. Like I said, I'm kind of hyper, so I'm always doing something.
00:38:27
Speaker
I even move in my sleep. Just ask Jody. She's been kicked several times. But anyway, do you know that you, you, If you are a born-again Christian, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. You're like a mobile tabernacle.
00:38:42
Speaker
So that wherever you go at Thanksgiving, wherever you go Christmas, wherever you go in business, man, you can talk to God right there. Because God goes with you.
00:38:52
Speaker
And you have the opportunity to honor Him. So I just want to challenge you here at the end to just say, hey. Why don't you make a commitment? When we sing this last song, I'll invite our musicians if they would come.
00:39:05
Speaker
As we sing this last song about God's great love, why don't you just say, Lord, I've not really been drinking of your love each morning, but I know better. And especially now that I read Psalm 84, I know better.
00:39:18
Speaker
Would you stand with me? Let's pray. And we're going to sing this great song about God's love. And I'll be standing down here if you need to make a public decision. But if you just need to renew your private time with God, why don't you just pause? Don't sing it for that that part of the song and just say, Lord.
00:39:37
Speaker
I want to return to loving you and letting you love on me every single morning. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much for this time to look into your word.
00:39:47
Speaker
I pray that you've spoken to hearts. Lord, please just make us hungry for you. If nothing else comes, if your people... are hungry to meet with you every single day to open up your word, to talk to you and to listen to you.
00:40:02
Speaker
I believe revival, awakening, it's it's unlimited what could happen in our midst. But you bless this time as we celebrate and sing and worship you for your great love. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:40:21
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.