# Eyes on Jesus

Key Passage: Psalms 63
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Psalms 63. Psalms chapter number 63. I had planned on starting a new series for a couple weeks, I’d say, but the Lord would not give me peace about that. You pray with me about it. I still think He wants to do it, but I don’t have it narrowed down to what He wants. So pray with me about that. I felt like the Lord, um, kind of late in the ball game, just changed and said, let’s just go over to Psalm 63 for a bit this morning. And we’ll maybe have a touch more of a Bible study than the typical Sunday morning.

But we’re always going to be preaching, teaching God’s Word, amen. That’s what changes lives. But this Psalm, I don’t know, maybe a year, nine months ago, really just spoke to my heart and has been a blessing to me. I hope it will be a blessing to you this morning. Maybe God just stirs your heart. This is how the Lord has used it in my life a little bit. I, of course, have been…

Been here for 23 years and started preaching around 20. I’m 33 now, so that’s 13 years. And, you know, so you see a lot. And I’ll be honest with you, if you’re not careful, you just kind of get a little numb and maybe a little bit where, well, I’ve seen this one before, different face, but same situation. And if you’re not careful, I’ll lose my faith that God can work. And I don’t want to just go through ritualistic church. I want to see God move. I want God to work. And I felt like I was maybe falling in a rut a little bit there. And so things like this, chapters like this, really just help me know that we serve a real God. Amen.

And it’s a mighty God answering prayers and changing lives and getting people out of the rut and helping them overcome addictions and so on and so on. And this Psalm is just a blessing to me in that way. And I hope maybe in praying that the Lord would use it to make God just real to you. Sometimes we blame everybody else, but the real issue is here. You know, we always look at here horizontally, but the real issue is here, vertically, you know. And it helped me get my eyes vertical, we’ll just say it that way.

But Psalm 63, we’re going to read the first two verses, then we’ll pray, and then we’ll see how far we get. I’m going to try to be—and I’m not going to say it because you’re not going to believe me if I want to go there—I’ll just say I’ll be aware of the time, all right. We’ll just leave it that way this morning.

Psalm 63, would you please stand if you’re able to, to show respect for the Word of God? God’s Holy Word. It’s worthy of it. By the way, side note on that, this old world is so catawampus, and it changes. Twenty years from now, it’ll be totally different. You know, twenty years ago, it’s totally different. Praise the Lord, we have a never-changing God’s Word.

You say, “What does a poll say about so-and-so?” I don’t really care that much. I care what God’s poll says, you know. And praise the Lord for God’s Word. It’s a wonderful, wonderful book.

But we’re going to read the first verse here. Psalm 63, verse number one. The Bible says, “O God, time out for just a second.” I apologize. David is the one that God used to pen this. Most think it was when David was running from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. And he’s kind of out there just hiding in caves and places when he wrote this, all right? Maybe that had a little meaning as we read it. Here we go: “O God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen in the sanctuary.”

Would you pray with me that God would just stir in our hearts where He is more real to us? Would you pray that? Father, it’s your shame—I have to pray that. I have to pray about myself. I know You’re real. You’re mighty. You’re all-powerful. My Lord, my lack of faith and my doubt—me—get in my mind and my eyes on people and problems and situations and off of You. Forgive me, Lord. Father, would You use this Psalm and Your Word today to get our hearts and our minds and our faith back in and on You? Lord, would You just take a simple preacher, but Your wonderful Word and Your Spirit, and would You direct our hearts and our minds to You and Your power and Your might? And Lord, we thank You for what You do. We’ll brag on You for it. And Father, we ask for this, Father, in faith, we ask because we’re asking in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Years ago, I was in Laverne. I was witnessing, just out telling people about Jesus Christ, and I knocked on a door. A man came to the door, and he was Muslim, very kind. We began to talk. And of course, I’m telling about the God of the Bible, Jehovah God, and about Jesus Christ. And he began to try to tell me a little bit about Muslim and Islam—how they believe. Of course, they always say they believe in Jesus. And I said, “Well, do you believe Jesus died on the cross and rose again and so on and so on?” No, they don’t believe all that. “And are you putting your belief in Jesus to pay for your sins?” No, they don’t believe that.

And we went back and forth and ended up—I think they invited me in, if I remember right. I can’t remember everything about it, but there was a group of men. I remember that group of men there, all Muslims. And I was a lone Baptist, amen, the Lone Ranger, you know. And they were—you know, it wasn’t physical or anything—but we did have a heated discussion, but it was very appropriate, right? And it kind of ended up here at this: you know, they were saying their thing, I was saying my, or God’s thing, God’s Word. And I said, “Well, let me tell you. Let me just leave. We’re just going to argue. So let me leave with this last note.” And I shared with him John 7:17. Now, that verse in the Bible, I’m going to paraphrase it. It says basically this: If you’re willing to do the truth, God will show you what the truth is. Now, the key is if you’re willing to do—if any man will do His will, is what it says. If you’re willing to do His will, then God will show you the truth.

And I showed them, I’m fine praying with that. I don’t have a problem. I’ll change everything if God will show me that I’m, you know, what I’m teaching and preaching is wrong, something else is right, Muslim’s right, whatnot, if you’ll do the same thing. By the way, I’m not afraid of that because the truth will stand the test. And I asked this group of men, I said, “Now, God says He’ll show you the truth. Will you honestly, sincerely, be willing to do the truth?” I mean, that means if Islam’s wrong and Muslims are wrong, whatever, you’ve got to be willing to do the truth. If you’re willing to do the truth and you go to God, God will show you the truth.

And that group of men, they said this: “Well, how was he going to show us?” I kind of got a smile when they said it. I said, “Friend, you’re talking about the Almighty God.” Our God’s… and I don’t know if I said this, but this is what I was thinking: I guarantee you, our God is not in Mecca in a casket, behind glass, and everybody can look in and see your dead body. Our God’s living, amen. And my God, my God has got like a thousand different ways He can show you. You can’t put my God in a box and say, “You show me this one way,” because God’s got a million ways to show you. But when He says something in His Word, He always fulfills it. And He says, if you’re willing to do the truth, He’ll show you what the truth is. Praise the Lord for our God, by the way. You serve the God of the Bible. He’s alive and real and capable and able today. And that’s somewhat of what David is saying when he says, “O God, thou art my God.”

It’s kind of like saying this: Well, the Satanists, they pray to Satan, their God, and Muslims pray to Mohammed, their God, and Catholics pray to Mary, you know, somewhat their God. And humanists, I guess, pray to themselves, I don’t know, you know. But hey, if they’re going to pray to their gods, “O God, thou art my God,” You’re going to hear from me, God. And I’m going to live my life believing and resting and relying on You. And that’s what David’s saying, “O God, thou art my God.” I don’t have all those false gods. I don’t want all those false gods. They’re just pieces of wood or stone or some guy that’s got a casket. By the way, there’s a whole lot of popes buried in Rome. Amen. That’s just honest truth. But you go to an empty tomb where our Savior lay. Amen. And friend, he says, “O God, thou art my God.”

I love it. Can I ask you just real quick into it: Is He your God? By that, I don’t mean just as you know, you kind of pull Him out of your pocket every once in a while. I say, “Yeah, I believe the Bible.” But is He really? Is He truly your God? Do you depend on Him? Do you pray like He hears you pray? Do you believe He answers prayers when you read a promise in the Bible and you say, “I need that promise right there, that promise of peace,” and you’ve ever cried out to the world, “I need peace right now, God”? Do you really memorize that and claim the promises of God? Is He truly really your God? David is saying, “O God, thou art my God.” And I’m asking you that “my” is a personal pronoun. Amen. Is it your God?

Maybe it is something like, “Well, I was raised in the church. I was raised around the Bible.” Yeah, I was raised in Sunday school. I was raised on drugs. Amen. I was dragged to church, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, you know? At a point in my life, I was raised on drugs for sure, and I’m glad for it. Telling someone before service, I’d still feel my dad’s hand on the back of my head during invitation time, pushing it down, you know, where it could not be Mom and Dad and everybody else’s God. It’s time where it became my God. And the way I was living and what I was doing, it wasn’t because I was raised that way. I thank God I was raised that way. I’m so blessed and I’m so privileged for that. I’m so thankful for that, and I’m appreciative of that. But it came to a point where it could not be, “I was raised that way.” It had to be where it was my God. I believe this is what God wants in my life. This is how He wants me to live. These are the convictions and standards I got from His Word. I pray to God that He hears me personally. It’s got to be my God. Is it your God?

Have you just maybe gotten into ritual, a system, a rut? It’s a good rut. I mean, if you’re stuck in the rut of going to church and reading your Bible and praying, that’s good bread. But is He really your God? “O God, thou art my God.”

Hey, when’s the last time you just—you’re going through a tough time—and you just unloaded on the Lord? Now, I don’t mean in a sinful, bad way. Look over there in that chapter. We’re looking in Psalm 62, verse 8. It’s one of my—I love that verse. We’re right there at it. Look in Psalm 62:8. It says, “Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” See, life… Hey, when’s the last time you just carried a load of burdens and you just kind of threw it all down at His feet? If He’s your God, you ought to do that and just give Him everything—good, bad, and ugly, whatever’s in your heart, you pour it all out to Him. That’s what David was saying, “O God, thou art my God.”

Is it your God? Hey, let me ask you this: If your neighbor—if someone went to your neighbor and said, “Hey, you’ve known Joe over there for 10 years. And you know his schedule, you know what he comes and goes. You know what he’s like. You talk to him all the time. You know his dog comes and uses the bathroom in your yard. You get on to him. You know all that stuff”—you know, that was supposed to be a joke. Come on, my friend. But they came and said, “Hey, your neighbor next door, do they really have a God in their life?” Have you ever seen anything different about them than the typical person because they have a God in their life? Is their scheduling different? Have you ever heard them talk about praying? Have you ever heard them say they had an answer to prayer? If someone would ask, “Do you really have my God in your life?”

For our church, God’s been so good to us all these years. He really has. And I guess a little bit of my heart, my mind is over on the new property a little bit because I think the Lord’s going to help us finish paying this thing off today. I’m excited about that. But the goodness of God—I don’t want our church to ever become just a church that’s kind of a man church, if you will, or you can explain where, you know, so-and-so does this and so-and-so does this and pastor does this and so-and-so. And that’s the reason why we have a lot of people. I don’t want to be… I want to be where only God did that. You cannot explain it any other way. By the way, men can do some things, but men can’t change lives. God changes lives. And I want to always be where God’s doing something in people’s lives and people are being saved and lives are being changed because God’s working there. It’s a difference. I want our church to always have, “O God, thou art my God.”

I want to just brag on the Lord for a minute. I’ve already mentioned it, but our new property over there—I want you to see it. We showed this years ago, but the first aerial views we got of that property over there, we hadn’t bought it yet. We were thinking maybe we could buy it. I don’t know if you can see it or not. But the first aerial views we got, I kind of noticed it, but didn’t think too much of it. To be honest, that’s shame on me. I think it was in Deacon’s meeting. One of our Deacons, Brother Chad, said, “Pastor, there’s a cross. Can you see that? Can you see that?” Is that yes or no? Yes. Yeah, okay, good, good, good. Friend, nobody can explain why the first aerial views we had of that new property, there was a cross on it. Besides God just putting His fingerprints on it. Friend, I want our ministry here, and your ministry—it’s yours, it’s all of ours, it’s the Lord—but I want a church to be a ministry where God’s working. “O God, thou art my God.”

I thought it would just do us good to see that picture again. That picture looks better than me, I understand. You’re going to look at it all day long, so we’ve got to get it off there, amen. But I thought about just some of the things that God did when we were trying to get the loan for that property. The banker that we’ve used for years, a banker that when we got the loan for the property here and all that… And somewhere on the line, we contacted him. We were thinking about getting that property. We contacted him. And he said, “Yeah, I’ve been listening to you online.” He said, “You preached my life the other day.” I thought, “Wow, who told him we were online?” I don’t know how in the world, but just about the time we were going for the loan, the banker had been listening to our YouTube channel. He said, “How did that happen?” God.

I thought about we were trying to get the loan. And for us, it was a stretch to get the loan. And about that time, our roof was leaking somewhat here on this building. And we had called insurance earlier and tried to get, you know, insurance to pay for it. Somebody say amen right there, you know. And the adjuster came out and just didn’t fly, you know. So we called again, maybe a year or two later. And it came out this time, and it was from Alabama. Amen. I have a son that was born in Alabama. Amen. I was youth back there in Alabama. I lived in L.A., lower Alabama, amen. And Lord, we just clicked right off the bat, and the Lord was in that. And, you know, those adjusters, they got a lot of power, and kind of like, “I’m going to take care of it,” type of thing, you know. And praise the Lord, He did. Insurance said, “We’ll pay for the roof.”

And so the insurance paid for the roof, and then Michael McNeil, good man in our church, he’s got… new shingles, new roof put on, new gutters put on here. Basically, it didn’t cost us anything. Well, at the end of the day, if you look just—you can’t really even tell it at all anymore—but from the very beginning, it’s very slight. If you look at this roof over here, like outside, just the right angle, you’ll tell that there’s just a slight shade color difference. Shingles. It was kind of like one lot, all the same color, but another lot, and just just a tiny little bit different. Well, for me, I’m a hillbilly. I’m like, “Hey, looks good. You can’t even tell it.” I mean, you know what? But Mike, I mean, it bugged him and drove him crazy, you know, “Man, that’s my church. We got everything just right now.” I was going to have it, man, you know, whatever. And finally, the insurance—not the insurance—the shingle company…

Now listen to this: We got a free roof insurance, and then the shingle company sent us a check for $20,000 right around when we were trying to get a loan to buy the property over there. And we were right on the edge whether we’d get that property loan or not. Friend, I’m telling you, how do you explain that? God! That’s the whole way you explain things. And that’s what we want. We want a ministry and lives and Christians who have, “Thou art my God.” That might not be something big like that, but just something—you ought to have God working in your life. You ought to be able to see the fingerprints of God working in your life. He can. He’s able, He’s capable, He’d like to. I don’t serve a little bitty statue somewhere that can’t do anything. I serve a mighty God. “O God, thou art my God.”

Oh, what a wonderful pastor. Let’s keep going here. What do you say right there? He said, “O God, thou art my God,” early. “Early, will I seek thee.” Now, let me just say a word about that. When it becomes your God, you’re the only God. I ain’t got no wooden statues anywhere. I don’t have a guy in some casket in that guy. I mean, You’re my only God. You start seeking Him. Now, what exactly does it mean when he says, “Early will I seek thee”? I think a lot of times, for a lot of lives, that means in the morning. You’re up early, you’re seeking the Lord. It can mean early in life. I look at our young people right here. Some of our young people right here. Praise the Lord. They’re in church. They’re young. They’re early in their life. And I praise God, you’re seeking Him early in your life. That’s wonderful. You’ve got such a head start on so many because you’re seeking Him early. That’s wonderful.

I think about Kinsley going to get baptized this morning, and she’s still young, and she’s seeking the Lord early in her life. Praise the Lord for that. I think it has to do with that. Could be early in the morning. It could be early in your life. It could be early in a situation. Man, “Lord, I see a problem coming. I’m not going to wait until I’ve spent $10,000 at the doctor’s office. I’m going to seek You early about this situation.” I’m not against doctors, not saying that. But the great Doctor is the Lord. Amen. But early in a situation. It can mean so many different things: “Early will I seek thee.” But here’s the big thing: Are you seeking Him? If the Lord is truly your God, my God, you’ll be seeking Him. You’ll be after Him.

Notice what he says: “My soul right there,” verse the moment, “my soul thirsteth for thee.” Hey, let me ask you, what are you thirsty for? This is what you’ll say: “Well, after this hot week, I’m thirsty for water,” amen, you know. Are you thirsty for the latest gadget? Are you thirsty for that house? Are you thirsty for that car? Are you thirsty for that purse? Are you thirsty for maybe, you know, popularity? Are you thirsty? What are you thirsty for? When God becomes your God, you’ll be thirsty for Him.

After a while, you say, “You know what? There’s nothing wrong with some of these things, but that doesn’t satisfy long term.” If we’re not careful, we’ll be thirsty for money. We’ll be thirsty for a life of ease. We’ll be thirsty for everybody to do what we want them to do. But no, no, no, no. Those things don’t satisfy. “I’m thirsty for Thee.” “O God, my God, early when I seek Thee, my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh”—it even gets your body involved—“my flesh longeth for Thee.” Can I say this? You know, it’s very rare that us Christians—I know this is a dirty word. I’ve been mentioning dirty words here lately. I mentioned this on Wednesday night. It’s called fasting. That’s a dirty word, I understand. But, you know, when you say, “My soul thirsteth for Thee, even my flesh longeth for Thee,” that’s to the point your body’s getting involved. Amen. I want to see You do something. You’re my God. I don’t know about anybody else, but You’re my God. And I thirst, I want to see You move and work so much so that my flesh is willing to get involved in this. That’s what I’m talking about you.

Notice it says, “My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.” I mentioned this week’s been hot. Anybody want to say amen right there? We had somewhat of a workday on Thursday. A couple of us men were out here on Building B and painting over there and all that for school. And my goodness, by the end of the day, we were thirsty. And we got these little ice cream things we’re giving out tonight. We went ahead and checked them out, made sure they were good for you. We had a pretty good amount of those things, you know. But honestly, after a while, you just want water. And Jesus is the one that brings the water of life. And after a while, you get enough drugs, you get enough alcohol, you get enough all this—after a while, you’re like that, “I need some real water of life.” He said, “I’m thirsty for water.” There’s no water down here. It doesn’t satisfy it.

Now, let’s keep going. Let’s keep going. Verse number two. Y’all with me this morning? We’re just going through this Psalm here. Look, verse number two. He says, “To see thy power and thy glory.” Oh, not man’s power. Phooey on that! Not man’s glory. No, no, no, no. Thy power and Thy glory, “so as I have seen in the sanctuary.”

David’s in the wilderness now. And he said, “I remember the days when I was worshiping God. And boy, God was so real to me then. And God was working in my heart. And I saw God’s power. I saw His glory. I saw His moving.” I think God—the college I went to, Bible college, went two years ago—God was moving there. And it was so good for me as a young man to see God just moving in a mighty way. And sometimes I think, “Boy, Lord, I’ve seen Your power and Your glory in the sanctuary, and I’d like to see that again.” Amen. We’ve seen it many times God moving here, and I’d like to see that again. He said, “Lord, I want to see that power and that glory, so as I have seen in the sanctuary.” I thought about our young people that went to camp. How many young people went to camp? Good, good, good. We’ve got some here. We’ve got some, Brother Joel, some different ones that went to camp. Emily, we’ve got a couple others went to camp. Good. And, boy, I loved it. They came back that Sunday night. They gave testimony. Brother Patrick preached, you know. And it just seemed like our young people said, they’re just kind of the atmosphere. “Boy, I’ve seen God work at camp.” And I’m looking forward to the services and God moving in the services. And I’m so thankful you have that now in your memory banks. And you have, hey, “To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen in the sanctuary.” And they know what it is for God to work in their hearts in worshiping God in worship. That’s what you’re talking about. David said, “I remember that.”

Now let’s keep going here. We’re in verse number three. Look what he says in verse number three. Just keep the finger—we’re going to keep going back. We’re going to go quick. You’re going to be shocked how quickly we go through these verses. Okay, maybe you won’t be shocked. We’ll go through them, go, amen. Look at verse number three: “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.” But if you serve—if you truly serve God long enough—your life is His lovingkindness. He’s kind to me because He loves me. He’s not kind to me because I’m all that. I fall flat on my face about a million times every day. But He’s kind because He loves me. His lovingkindness. And here’s one thing about it: when you see His lovingkindness, your lips begin to praise Him.

Hey, let me ask you, what have your lips been talking about? What have your lips been saying? People attribute it to different people, but some say Socrates said this, some other, Ellen Roosevelt and whatnot, but someone said this: “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.” I go a little farther than that: Great Christians discuss God and His Word. Hey, but what have your lips been talking about? He said, “Lord, Your lovingkindness, and it makes my lips praise You.” Have you been praising the Lord with your lips? Have you been using your words to say how good God is and God’s done this and God’s taken care of me here and God’s answering prayers here? Hey, what are your lips talking about? And here’s the problem with my lips: we’re talking about all the junk and the trash. The more I talk about it, the more I hear it, the more it’s in my heart, the more it’s in my heart, the more it’s in my heart, the more I talk about it. And it’s a downward spiral. And God’s not getting the praise. Oh, it’s a sad thing. But he said, “Look, O Lord, I’m longing after You, You’re my God. I want to see You because Your lovingkindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee.” Are you praising Him? I’m not talking about just Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. It’s good to put on a good praise in front of everybody. I’m talking about Monday morning at work, all the week long praising Him.

Let’s keep going. Look at the next verse, verse number four: “Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name.” I don’t think that you have to go in front of everybody lift your hands up. I don’t have a problem with that if it’s sincere. I don’t have a problem. We have people who do that around every time. And I hope nobody ever looks like, “What’s the wrong with you?” you know? Well, they’re just following the Bible. That’s what we’re on there. Nothing wrong with that, friend. But can I say this? It doesn’t matter if it’s in front of anybody, but somewhere on the line, usually, usually when you’re alone, maybe the prayer closet or in your truck or your car, every once in a while you ought to raise your hand to the Lord and say, “Man, God, You’ve been so good.” It might be you’re riding down the road and say, “Whoa, I better put my hands back on the steering wheel,” you know. But that’s what it’s talking about. I don’t care if it’s in front of anybody or not. Sometimes that’s just circus show. But your heart is somewhere on the line, lift your head and say, “Thank You, God.” That’s what it’s talking about.

I thought about Brother Glenn, and he shared this when Ms. Ritha went home. I had the privilege of sharing that at her funeral service. But Brother Glenn said he’d kind of wait a little bit to give her her time. And sometimes I’d come out a little bit early before she was done. And he said sometimes she’d be listening to a certain song—she just loved it, a Christian song. And he said, “I come out of the bedroom a couple times too early, and I come out there in the living room, and she’s still having her devotions, and she should have her hands raised to the Lord.” Nobody watching besides the Lord. You ought to have those moments. If He’s your God, you ought to have some times where you just say, “My God, I don’t deserve Your goodness to me. Thank You, Lord. You’re my God. You’re a wonderful God.” Have those moments. That’s what it’s talking about. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep going. Where are we at? Where are we at? We’re in verse number five. Verse number five. Thank you there. Verse number five: “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.”

See, here’s the thing. You start praising with your lips, and then it gets into your soul, and you’re not a grouch. You’re soul satisfied. Y’all with me out there? Did y’all like that description of a grouch? That doesn’t fit any of y’all in the morning time, does it? So, well, before we have our coffee, maybe, you know? But you’re satisfied. And your soul—that’s your personality, that’s your being, that’s your emotions, that’s your wills, your likes, all that—you’re just, you’re just satisfied. You’ve got marrow; you’re not hollow inside, easy to break. You’ve got marrow, you’ve got fatness about you, you’ve got strength, you’ve got a backbone about you. Why, you’re just satisfied. And then what does it finish that verse off with? What is it? What is it? You end up, verse number five there, you end up: “My mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.” No, now you’re joyful. Joyful. Joyful lips. “I got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Down in my heart.” You know the song. Children’s Church, amen? But you got joy. When you make Him… I know you got to say when you’re five years away back and praise the Lord for that. But is He your God? Is He your God today? You start seeking Him, and it becomes your God. And you start seeking Him; after all, you start praising Him.

I was talking to someone the other day, and they said, “I’ve just read another election coming, and I don’t know what I’m going to do about this thing.” You know, and I say, “Friend, elections come and go. God’s always on His throne. Don’t let that thing get you so defeated.” It’s over all. Yes, be involved. Yes, we’ll preach about the moral issues as we get closer, more and more, more. Yes, all that. But, friend, at the end of the day, hey, praise the Lord and Savior—He’s on the throne. He’s not up for election ever, amen. And you get joyful because you’re praising the Lord instead of talking about all the bad things of the world. You all this morning? Amen. “O God, my God.” Oh, I hope He’s your God. Oh, I hope He’s your God.

Let’s get to verse number six. Verse number six. I’ve got to confess a little bit on verse number six here just a bit. He says, verse number six, “When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” We used to have a man around here, he was one of our World War II vets. We still have one World War II vet. I thought I said, “Yeah, he’s here.” He’s here this morning. But, oh, World War II vet, Mr. Jackson used to come. He would say this: He said, “Man, I just wake up in the morning thinking about God. And I put my feet on the floor, and I’m thinking about God.” Can I confess? I’m not always like that. And just being honest with you, all right, I have to make myself remember Him sometimes. And he says, “When I remember thee upon my bed.” You ever wake up in the middle of the night, you know, or in the morning, wherever it be, and are going to sleep at nighttime, and sometimes I have to work at it. My mind’s going to all the problems, all the bad, you know, and I have to remember, “Remember Thee upon my bed.”

Now, once you start remembering Him upon your bed, then you start meditating on Him. By the way, if you can’t sleep at nighttime, here’s a good thing to start: quoting Bible verses. You start quoting Bible verses, the devil starts singing your lullaby. He’ll try to put you to sleep quick. It’s just amazing, isn’t it? You know. But I have to remember Him upon my bed. And then I meditate upon Him in the night. And I start thinking about what all God’s done in my life. It’s a good thing. Even young people start doing that on purpose and thinking about Him. I meditate on the Lord in the middle of the night. It’s a great thing to do. Now, here’s a wonderful thing about it. Once you do that, look at the next verse. Here’s what happens. Verse number seven: “Because thou hast been my help.”

You start thinking about what all God’s done, you realize it ain’t me. I ain’t a super Christian. I ain’t got it all together. It’s all the Lord. God’s been so good. “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” Boy, you start saying, “God, I owe everything to You.” Maybe I got saved out of a sinful life. I should have wrecked there. Should have OD’d there. Should have been addicted here. I was talking to someone here recently, and I was just talking about if it wasn’t for the Lord, I’d be so messed up. You start remembering it’s really the Lord that’s been my help. It’s after you remember Him on purpose and then you meditate on the night watches, then you say, “Boy, it’s the honest truth. It’s the Lord that’s helped me all the way through.” And that’s a wonderful thing. And once you remember, you realize He’s been my help, and once you realize He’s your help, then you start staying close to Him. Therefore, under the shadow of His wings—wings don’t go out real far—you stay close to Him. Why? He’s been my help. What in the world? Why am I so proud? I act like a peacock. Why am I doing this? It’s really been God that’s helped me. And that makes you just stay a little closer to Him. Therefore, under the shadow of His wings. And here’s the wonderful thing: “Will I rejoice?”

Here, read. You already had joy, joyful lips. Now you’ve got real joy. Because the Lord—He’s been so good. We’re going to finish it up with this verse right here, verse number eight. Verse number eight, Psalm 63:8. He says, “My soul followeth hard after thee.” I think about our young people who have been to camp. God did a work in your heart. That’s wonderful. And I hope, I hope Ethan, when he’s 30 years old, he’s still seeking out—his soul’s seeking after the Lord. “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” Some of you adults, in life, get burdens and problems, and every stage of life’s got different problems and trials. You’re trying to raise kids, trying to make your marriage work, trying to get your house paid off, trying to health issues, as you go, whatever the stage is. But you say, “I’m still trying to follow after Him.” My soul followeth hard after Thee. I hope that’s true. I hope that’s true. I hope you do it throughout your life: follow hard after Him.

Here’s the one other thing about it. Look at that verse. He said, “My soul followeth hard after Thee; Thy right hand holdeth me.” Here’s the thing about that: when you follow hard after Him, you know what’s going to happen? You’re going to fall. “Lord, I want You. You’re my God. I want to seek. I want to read my Bible and pray. I want to be a witness. I want to stand for You.” And you’re going to fail on all those things. But here’s the wonderful thing about it: He says, “My soul followeth hard after Thee; Thy right hand holdeth me.” I’m going to close with this story. It’s familiar to many of you. And I’ll be done for this morning. Well, we’ll preach for three hours next Sunday to make up for it before we get done early. What about that, you know?

Maybe you know the story. It’s the little boy that was in braces. And every way, when he was always in his braces, he couldn’t walk very fast, couldn’t run for sure. And just, he just—one day he’s walking with his mom. And his mom’s kind of got to hold his hand, you know, and he’s just a little frustrated with all that, just a boy. And he says, “Mom, I’m going to run.” “Braces are not…” “Mom, I’m going to run.” Mom said, “Okay.” And boy, he let go of Mom’s hand and began to run down that sidewalk. And the old braces were awkward. Sure enough, he fell real quick. He’s laying on the sidewalk, and he’s just down there, and he’s crying, and Mom runs up there to him. And he looks up at Mom. He says, “Mom, you’re disappointed at me, aren’t you? You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” Mom, like only a mother could do, just reached down. “No, I’m proud of you.” Amen. “I love you.” David said, “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” I was trying to run for the Lord, but I fell about a million times. But the good thing is, the Lord’s right hand holdeth me up.

Maybe you’re there this morning. You say, “I need to make You my God.” You’ve been my God, but I mean my God where You’re really working. It’s not just a ritual, day to day, moment by moment. I want You to be my God. Lord, I want You to be my God in a new, real way. I’m just kind of hitting the reset. I want You to be my God. God spoke to my heart about that. I want You to be my God.

Maybe older people, you’ve got the burdens and trials and doctor’s visits. I need to make You my God.

Maybe our young folk, our young people here: “I want God to be my God. I want to grow up living and believing and seeing God work in my life. I want Him to be my God.” Young people, if that’s you, raise your head up. I want God to be my God.

Maybe here this morning you say, “Preacher, I don’t know that I’m saved.” He’s not your God until you go to Him for salvation. You go to Him and say, “Lord, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I need to get saved. I need to come to You, Jesus. I need to put my faith in what You did on the cross to be my salvation.” Maybe here this morning, He’s not really your God. Oh, He’s God, and you say, “I believe it’s God,” but I never made Him my God where He’s my salvation, my Savior. I need to get saved this morning. Friend, it’s heaven or hell. God loves you. Jesus shed His blood on the cross at Calvary. He wants you to go to heaven. He’ll give it to you. It’s a free gift, the gift of God, it’s eternal life through Jesus Christ. The Bible said if you hear this morning, you don’t know for sure heaven’s your home, He’ll be your God. He’ll save you, deliver you, pay your sin debt. You hear this morning, preacher, “I need to get saved. I need to get saved. I need to make You my God.”

You need to make Him my God. Anybody else? Anybody else? I need to make Him my God.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - Eyes on Jesus - Sunday AM 07302023