“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”
Psalms 63:1 NKJV
An old Hymn that has always been special to me is “Near to the Heart of God.” Here are the lyrics (Cleland B. McAfee, 1903):
1 There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God,
a place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.
Refrain:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God.
2 There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God, a place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God.
3 There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God, a place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God.
Now, my dear friend, there is a sermon in that song!
As we have spent the last 100 days with David, we came to understand that the main feature concerning him, making all the difference in who he was, was the fact that he sought after God‘s heart above all else. Additionally, we learned on our last day that when we seek the heart of God, we will always find Jesus. Indeed, it is through Jesus’ work that we are able to know the Father, to know His heart.
““My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:27-29 NLT
Imagine it, our Lord invited us to allow Him to reveal the Father to us. And, through Him we receive the Promise, the Holy Spirit of God, Who is the yoke of Jesus Christ.
Jesus assured us that if our desire is to know the things of God, we will certainly receive the fulfillment of that desire.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:6 NKJV
The Lord Himself illustrated a life dedicated to the heart of God, dedicated to doing the will of the Father.
“In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
John 4:31-34 NKJV
A few weeks ago during our time at the altar, I saw in my spirit, Jesus, from about the neck to about the hips. With His hands, He was holding open His chest as if holding open double doors so that I could see His beating heart. The Lord spoke to me and said, “I offer My heart to those who truly seek after Me.” Now, who would possibly turn down the Lord’s willingness to share His heart with us? And yet, so many do just that.
In our portion from Psalms today we are reminded of the heart of David for the heart of God. This, my dear friend, is what God seeks: those who truly want to know Him. Consider, He has made Himself known through Jesus Christ and has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. There is nothing more we need to be able to know Him; and, oh, what a privilege, to be near to the heart of God!
“Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.””
Psalms 40:7-8 NKJV
“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
Psalms 2:6-8, 11-12 NKJV
On our first day in our journey of “100 Days with David” we talked about the fact that David was “a man after God’s own heart.”
“But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’”
Acts 13:22 NLT
David sought after the heart of God so intently—desiring to know Him intimately—that at times we see him prophetically speaking as in the place of Christ. This is beautifully illustrated in Psalms 22.
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”
Psalms 22:1, 7-8, 14, 16, 18 NKJV
Additionally, David prophetically declared concerning the rule of Christ, speaking in the Person of God:
“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””
Psalms 110:1-2, 4 NKJV
In our portion from Psalms today we return to where we started: Psalms 2. Here we see David prophetically speaking of the eternal reign of the Messiah (as also seen above in psalms 110).
On our first day in this journey we talked about the fact that resistance against God’s rule is foolish and ultimately futile. For our last day in this journey the Lord brought me back to where we began to show me that it was because David sought after God’s heart that he saw the Messiah. It is impossible to successfully seek after God without recognizing Who Jesus Christ is. Jesus spoke of this fact very clearly as seen here:
“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 5:20-23 NKJV
So, with all the wonderful things we have discovered over these 100 days, the Lord invariably brings me back to something He illustrated to me many years ago.
I was sitting in my kitchen and focused in on a drop of water on one of the windows. Amazingly, I saw that it was magnifying something all the way in the back of my yard, bringing it close. As I was wondering at this phenomenon the Lord clearly spoke to me saying “Everything you need to know about Me is seen through Jesus Christ.” You see, I had been asking the Lord how I could come to know Him more, how I could know His heart. Now—just as then—the Lord continues to bring me back to the truth that David knew:
Those who seek the heart of God will always find our Lord.
“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
Psalms 138:8 NKJV
There’s a funny thing about compliments. Let me first say, we all love compliments, don’t we? But here’s the odd thing about compliments: someone can compliment you on something that is just a natural part of who you are—whether it be a talent like singing or dancing, whatever the attribute—and though you appreciate the compliment, you now feel “pressure” to continue to be seen the way they have seen you. (Am I only talking about myself here?)
Now think about it: they have complimented you on something that is just a normal part of your being, a gift from God. Now you are going to try to keep up with that perception by working at what came naturally.
Let me break it down. Let’s say you go somewhere and someone compliments your hair. Well, you don’t know what you did differently about your hair; but now you’re looking at it, trying to figure out what you did. You don’t know how it got that way, so you don’t know how to keep it that way.
Here’s the point:
Who we become in God through Jesus Christ is a gift from God. Now of course we treasure what God has given us and we follow the leading of His Spirit. But, if the Lord has done this new work in us, how can we expect to make sure we don’t miss the mark? God started it; and God will finish it.
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6 NLT
A few years ago I was being dramatic before the Lord about not wanting to miss His will. He spoke very clearly to me and said, “Janet, I will not let you miss it.” Now, who does this promise apply to? It applies to anyone who has a heart toward God, and having been made a new creation through Jesus Christ, are looking to Him to finish the work He began.
Paul addressed the problem of trying to earn the gift of God to the church at Galatia. They had received the joy of salvation, but, in listening to all the opinions of some of the Jews, were going to try to keep the Law, trying to earn what had been given to them freely!
“How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?”
Galatians 3:3-4 NLT
In our portion from Psalms today we see that David is conscious of the fact that God will not let him miss it; He won’t abandon him in the process.
As we have discussed many times, David knew that the Lord was his Good Shepherd and would lead him where he needed to be:
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
Psalms 23:3 NKJV
David trusted the Lord to complete what he had started. After all, it was through no effort or work on David‘s part that he came on the scene as a giant slayer. The Lord had used his experience with the sheep to train him; and was able to teach him because his heart was always seeking after the heart of God. But God put him in that position and enabled him to be the hero that day.
If you have made Jesus Savior and Lord of your life and are seeking after His heart, wanting His purpose fulfilled in you, then He will not let you miss it. So relax. Let your Creator and Shepherd—your Author and Finisher—complete you!
On this next to the last day on our “100 Days with David” let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord completes His work.