Praise in the Desert | October 15, 2025

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The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

At this time, if you're in Psalm chapter 63, I want to preach a

Psalms 63 · chapter mention

message the Lord's given and the message Lord has for us out of

Psalm chapter 63 just from verses 1 and 2.

Psalms 63 · chapter mention

This is a passage I asked the Lord to give me as a theme verse

to a theme passage just to pray over and and and claim vision

for the deputation season that my wife and I are in.

And as I was thinking about the Navajo Reservation and it being

desert and not just physically but spiritually a desert, I just

started searching through the different passages that talk

about that. And it came to this passage in

Psalms where David writes this song in a really interesting

time in his life. And if you look in verse one

there, he says in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

But verse 2, he wants to see God's power and his glory, to

see thy power and thy glory. He says So I'm so thankful that

the Lord is powerful and that He knows what's in store on the

reservation in this place that desperately needs him, and that

He's allowed me to go. We'll go ahead and read and then

pray. Psalm chapter 63, verses one and

Psalms 63 · chapter mention

two. 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 thee in the

sanctuary, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for

this day, Lord, for the opportunity to meet together

and, and sing praises to you, Lord in worship and pray and,

and Lord that I get to open up your word.

I pray, Lord, that our hearts would be willing, Lord, our ears

would be listening and that Lord, you would speak to us.

And I'm so thankful that we can come together and I can present

this ministry that you've given and ask these things in Jesus

name, Amen. I'm curious if you look back to

the top of the chapter there and my Bible has a little quote at

the top or a description and just raise your hand if you have

it as well. I believe it's in most it just

says this describing note. It says a Psalm of David when he

was in the wilderness of Judah. I'm curious if you have that as

well. I recently was hearing my pastor

preach out of Psalm, I think 112 but he was preaching in Psalms

and talking about how the Lord's preserved his word for us and,

and we have the word of God. And and then he started talking

about how a unique aspect where in in the Psalms, there's

sometimes instructions about the music and, and David would have

written the Psalm or ASAP or another person and would say

something like to the chief musician to Jettathan a Psalm of

David. And we believe those things are,

are accurate. They may not be specifically the

what David wrote, but it's an interesting aspect.

Of course, there's other parts in the Bible sometimes where

they have a description like when David kills Goliath or the

defeating of the 5000. That's just a comment and it's

not part of the text that the Lord's given us.

But this section here is an interesting just description

that gives us a clue about what's going on in in this

chapter. And if we look at verse one,

David writing this song, he says.

He's thirsting for God in a dry and thirsty land where no water

is. Then if you look down at verse

9, he says, But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall.

Go into the lower parts of the earth.

It sounds like he's in danger. Someone's out to kill him.

And then verse 11, we see he says, but the king shall rejoice

in God. Everyone that swearth by him

shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be

stopped. And I believe David is writing

this and you can tell he's the king at this point speaking

about himself. But the king shall rejoice in

God. And we started to paint this

picture, see this picture painted that he's probably in a

literal dry land, a thirsty land, a physical location.

He's not just singing about something in his in poetry to

the Lord, and people are seeking to destroy him.

And he's king at this time. And of the two time periods in

David's life when we know he was on the run, one being when he

was serving under Saul and, and Saul had thrown javelins at him.

And and he he at one point in time he was hiding in a Bush.

And he said to Jonathan, we agree on this sign.

If you shoot the arrows beyond then I know, I know I have to

get out of here because it's not safe.

And he had been in hiding. And so it during that time

period before he was king, King Saul was out to get him.

He knew that David was anointed. He knew that the people's hearts

were after him. They said Saul has slain his

thousands, but David has 10 thousands.

And Saul had had tried to kill him and chase him through

caverns. And there are many psalms that

we have written during that time period of David's life where he,

he's on the run and he's in, in caves and caverns and the Lord

preserves him and protects him and he praises God in the midst

of those, which is pretty amazing to see David just

encouraging himself in the Lord and praising God during that

time period. The other time is when his own

son, Absalom has turned the hearts of the people against him

and, and Absalom is willing to kill him and, and they're,

they're at war and Absalom even sneaks, he gets into the palace

and he and he defiles David's name.

And so during that time period, I believe is the time period

that he's writing this. Song and what's amazing to see

then. Is that if you just put yourself

in his shoes for a second and imagine somebody that close to

you, like your own son or daughter, a family member is out

to willing to kill you and take everything you have and is run

you out of the place that you call home for David, in this

case the palace, and he's on the run.

And just imagine how much of a trial and challenge that is.

I believe this is what the Lord wants us to see and, and, and to

learn from David's reaction in the song that he writes.

The amazing thing is that the Psalm David writes is more about

his desire for God and his praise to God at all than it is

about his problem. So I'm, that's amazing because

how many of you say, yeah, if that was happening, I think I'd

write a song of praise to God that way like David.

I that's not my reaction, not normally.

So if we just look at this for a second and see as he's, this is

what's happening, we believe, but he's praising the Lord.

He says he's desiring God. God, thou art my God.

Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth, my flesh

longeth. He says to see thy power and thy

glory in verse two. Look at verse 3 and 4.

Because a loving kindness is better than life.

My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless Thee.

While I live, I will lift up my hands in Thy name.

My soul shall be. Satisfied when verse 6, when I

remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night

watches, because thou has been my help.

Therefore, in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

He keeps just going on and on. My soul falleth hard after thee

might thy right hand upholdeth me.

He's seeking after God, he's praising God, he's desiring God.

And then we get to verse 9 and that's when he finally says

something about his situation with people trying to, to seek

after him, right and destroy him.

So I, this is amazing to see that in the midst of this time

where he's on the run for his life.

And no doubt it's a very challenging and and sad time for

him. Even it's part of his

consequences from killing Uriah the Hittite and and taking his

wife, committing adultery with Bathsheba.

And he knows that he, he writes this song of praise and worship

and seeking after God. So this is a challenge for us

because this is this is only a reaction you can have as a as a

Christian, as a believer in God, as a someone being spirit LED.

I just want to indicate from that a challenge that, for lack

of a better phrase, he had his priorities straight.

James says to the believers that we're going through trial in

their lives to count it all joy. He says brethren that are

scattered abroad greeting. He says, My brethren, count it

all joy when you fall into divers temptations when testing

comes. Count it all joy, he goes on to

say, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh

patience, that endurance, right? That we can be patient through

something, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be

perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

So he's the Lord's using me to teach us this idea that when

we're going through these times of testing in life that the Lord

allows, we ought to count it all joy.

And David said, rejoice, and he bless God's name and lift up his

hands, right? We'd ought to count it all joy

because we know these testings actually help us become a

perfect or a mature Christian more of who God wants us to be.

Peter says about these things wherein ye greatly rejoice,

though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through

manifold temptations. He says that the trial of your

faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,

though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and

honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

It'll be worth it all in the end in heaven.

God hasn't missed what you're going through.

He sees these things, he says. Whom having not seen Jesus.

You love, and whom, though now you see Him not yet believing,

you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the

end of your faith, even the salvation of your.

Souls David says he's rejoicing and lifting his hands.

James, he says to count it all. Joy, Peter says about these

trials. Joy unspeakable and full of

glory. The people James was talking to

and Peter, I think they were actually in a time of

persecution. And this is what the Lord tells

us it presents to us as the way to respond is to rejoice and to

to count it all joy and, and to lift our hands in God's name.

I don't know about you, but that's pretty amazing.

I mean, I, I don't, I can't do that without God's help.

But what the Lord wants us to see, I believe in the first part

of this here from David's example in Psalms chapter 63, is

Psalms 63 · chapter mention

simply that he had a desire for God.

David had a desire for God. He says, O God and verse one

that were my God early will I seek thee.

I mean that's a really great sentence right there, right or

compound sentence. I'm so glad tonight that I know

who God is right and I can talk to him like David.

I think about the the religions around the world, Buddhism.

And thinks that they're God is just part of the universe or or

Islam that there's a God called Allah that you have to appease

him with these brutal acts and maybe you'll get to heaven.

The God of Catholicism, the false gods really, and, and the,

the ways you have to do your own works to, to hope and pay for

them in purgatory. All these world systems, the

Navajo, they teach that the main deity of their religion, the

traditionalism is the one who pulls the sun across the sky on

his back. But no, no, no, we know that the

Lord said in the beginning, let there be light.

He said, let there be a greater light to rule the day, a lesser

light to rule the night. And, and he said he made the

stars also, right. We can't forget that part.

But people around the world think these different things.

The Navajo thinking this man pulls the sun across the sky,

that these animals are good omens, bad omens, that there's

certain taboos and ways you can't walk around their circular

Hut, octagonal Hut, the Hogan. They don't live in a teepee.

They live in a, a Hut called the Hogan, the traditional home.

Many of you would live in a mobile home as well.

Now, they might have more than one even they use them

differently than us, but traditional home, a center point

of their traditionalism. It's called the Hogan.

It's made out of Thatcher mud or timber, but it's circular to

represent the sun. It always face E as a man that

enters it or as a woman that enters it, especially depending

upon whose hogon it is, whether that's a man's hogon or a

woman's hogon, say, if they're married, they have to enter it

certain ways and, and do these things.

And, and it's all about living this walk of life called the

beauty way or, or keeping a balance with the good and evil

that exists in earth. And they're really walking in

darkness, trying to find answers for their, their needs in life.

And and meanwhile, David here, who knows the true God knows

exactly in this great hard time of his life.

He can go directly to him and say, Oh God, thou art my God as

a Christian here tonight. You might be going through a

challenging time. I I don't know and probably your

church members would know your brothers and sisters in Christ

might have a better idea than I do in your pastor and maybe just

only you and the Lord know. But he's given us places like

this in Scripture to show us how we can respond in situations of

life that come. So we see number one that David

had a desire for God, and he says early, will I seek thee?

He. Goes on to say my soul thirsteth

for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land

where no water is. When he says my soul thirsteth,

my flesh longeth. Another thing I heard my pastors

say is he was preaching about Psalms.

Is the difference in their songs a Hebrew poetry from Mars?

We sang hymns and they had rhythm and rhyme at the end of

phrases. Many times with Hebrew poetry,

they're not concerned about rhythm like that, or rhyme.

But they'll use restatement, they'll use repetition, they'll

use contrast. And what David is just saying

here very clearly, and I'd probably been passionate.

He's saying, Lord, my soul of thirsteth my flesh longethly, my

whole person is seeking after you.

I'm not seeking after you partway.

I'm fully seeking after you. I find it funny as a young man,

I would read parts of the Psalms and and think, you know, I still

think girls have cooties and all these things.

I'd be like, I don't know if I talk to God like that, that that

sounds weird to me or that kind of makes me uncomfortable.

I've never said it that way before.

But of course we know David was not a non masculine man.

He was quite manly, a man of war and and living in the caves with

his band of mighty men as a as a young man, he he slew Goliath

and and he smote him and he slew him by stealing his sword and

cutting off his own head or Goliath's head.

So he's obviously quite, quite a manly there.

But he's willing to say this to God.

And if we're uncomfortable by these things, sometimes we think

maybe, oh, this belongs in a story book or a Princess story,

maybe in a Hallmark movie, right?

Who doesn't live a no, I don't like the Hallmark movie either.

But we we liked it. We're used to seeing these types

of language and those types of places.

But what we see from David is that he says, God, I love you,

Lord, you're my God. I'm seeking with my whole

person. I am thirsting after you.

He has a desire, it's pretty clear, just a simple idea.

David had a desire for God, and we ought to have that at all

times. Of course, in times of the

trials, for many of us, I think it, it can make it easier

because we know we need Him sometimes.

Of course, we can have a reaction of bitterness or

confusion and doubt, and instead that can cause a relationship

with the Lord to hurt instead. But of course, what God can do

is use those things if we allow Him to.

To draw us closer to him. And so he had this desire for

God and he says early, will I seek thee?

I'm standing in a room of mixed ages.

And no doubt some are morning people, some are night owls.

Personally, I'm more of a morning person.

And so some of you say, son, I've been up.

I'm up every morning at this time or I have my prayer time at

night. And at whatever time it is,

David is saying, and this is a challenge for us, Lord, I'm

going to seek you early first thing.

It doesn't just have to be first thing in the morning.

He also says when I remember thee on my bed and meditate on

the in the night watches he's he's showing how he has this

desire for God and I don't know if he's talking about his bed at

home or his bed out in the desert.

Maybe one of his mighty men took a bed out there for him, some

kind of bedding. I don't know where he just slept

on the rocks. He probably been decently

comfortable as the man that he was, but he says, Lord, I have

the desire for you, that it doesn't matter if it's morning

or evening time. And we get this testimony first

thing when we wake up or first thing at the time signs of

trouble. First thing at the good times,

first thing that the victory say, Lord, I'm going to seek you

and I know I need you and to rely upon him.

We ought to do that just as David did.

And notice that he says in a dry and thirsty land.

And I believe he's referring to his literal physical situation.

No doubt he could use something as just a picture of his thirst.

But at this time period, having run away from Absalom, I believe

he was running east and the wilderness of Judah.

There's the welder, I believe it's called Elim.

It would be divided. This area would be divided from

where the palace was in Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.

And it's, I mean, the Dead Sea is a Dead Sea for a reason.

It's so dry out there. It's just dry earth and, and

sand and minerals. And so he's out there in this

place, high country. I think there's valleys, there's

places where the dry land would be washed into rivets or ravines

from the, the rainy season. And these, these they're not

creeks, but they're called washes or wadis.

And, and he's just out in this place where there's no water,

where no water is thirsting for the Lord, and he just sinks with

the Lord. I need you and I have that

thirst for you. And also, physically speaking,

he was away from the palace. He was away from the Tabernacle.

And we'll skip ahead just a little bit.

In verse 2, he says he's wanting to see God's power and his glory

like he had seen it in the sanctuary.

He's referring to the Tabernacle there, the place where the Ark

of the Covenant would be probably at this time in his

life as king after Solomon. This time with Solomon, he would

have already brought the Ark of the Covenant.

And, and this is really significant event in Israel's

history because it had been stolen by the Egyptian, I mean,

the Philistines, excuse me, the Philistines defeated them in

battle and stole it. And eventually the ark stayed in

the House of Obed Edom. So David himself eventually was

able to successfully bring the ark to Shiloh in Israel.

And he was able to have the ark of the covenant there that that

physical ark of the testimony that signified God's presence

where God would meet with Israel.

And you and I, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

And that's a really significant thing that sometimes we might

not realize we the promises were we get better promises Hebrews

talks about than the prophets and the things that we get to

see the prophets and the kings desire to look into that we

could experience now. But as David, most people would

not get to have the Holy Spirit ever in their life in a special

way. David had times where the spear

of the Lord came upon him and of course he wrote these psalms.

But he's saying as I have seen you in the sanctuary.

And if we think about the times where he had been in the

Tabernacle, no doubt it would have been amazing.

Of course he had seen the Lord have him kill the lion and the

bear. And he said, the Lord will

deliver this Philistine into my hand.

No doubt he could, we could claim those times at times Lord

preserved him, probably times where he got to feel just an

amazing closeness to the Lord in the Tabernacle and know the ark

of the covenant is there and the 10 commandment, the tablets and

and errands rod and all these amazing things.

And so he says about that. I'm in a dry and thirsty land.

At that time, he felt like he was separate from from a

significant place. He was separate from a special

place where he could meet with the Lord as a, as a, an Old

Testament man. He knew, though, that he

couldn't get away from the Lord. He said at some point in the

Psalm, he said, I, to paraphrase, if I'm at the top of

the mountain, I can't get away from you.

You're there. And if I'm at the bottom of the

sea, you're there as well. And he knew that.

But what's amazing is that David had this trust and faith in the

Lord without having some of the promises you and I have.

And we'll pause here for a second and just consider where

we are at as Christians and living in this interest world.

We do have challenges and trials.

We do have enemies, maybe not like David, but people at work

that don't like the way you live and it's just so different or,

or it just like Daniel, an excellent spirit was in him and

people just had to get after him because Daniel keeps getting

promoted. And and maybe you have a

situation where just like, I just can't understand that guy

and it makes it, it's a hard time or the boss gives you a

hard time or you have health issues.

Maybe there's a lost loved one that you've told shared the

gospel to and they just, they won't, they won't hear it.

And you could. That's a discouraging situation.

I think of my uncle right now and, and Lord, they just, they

just will never hear it. And it could be discouraging or

a prodigal son or daughter or or brother or sister that you just

wish would, would come to the Lord and feel that his yoke is

easy. And instead they're, they're

struggling in life. We have these things that come

and it's important to remember and take some heart because

David had faith and trust in the Lord without some of the

promises that we have. But we have some pretty amazing

promises. See the The Lord said, I will

never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Talking about sharing the gospel, he said, Lo, I am with

you always, even until the end of the world, he says.

To those that are lost. But I think.

You could even apply it to us as well as his children.

He says come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest as a safe person.

This is true for us that he's taking our burdens, He's taking

our sins. He says take my yoke upon you

and learn of me. And I'm sorry to not quote it

perfectly, but he's meek and he's meek and lowly, right?

He says, take my yoke upon you and Lord of me and and the idea

that the God of the universe, the Bible says that the word

right. He without him was not anything

made that was made and that God of his own will begat he us with

the word of truth. Jesus, the God of the universe,

who spoke the earth into existence right and the son of

the stars, that amazing creator God, he humbled himself and took

upon flesh and and the likeness of a man and and took upon him

the form of a servant. And he says take my yoke upon

you and learn to be the fact that he a God that meek and

humble. I don't know if I can, even I

can't. Describe it the way I should

but. Take my yoke upon you and and

I'll walk alongside you in life and help you.

That's the Holy Spirit. He's given us the comforter.

The word there means the one who walks alongside.

And he would, He said he would send us another comforter.

He said that to his disciple. So I'm so thankful that for

whatever situation of life we're in, whether it's good or bad,

the Lord's given us help that we have.

And he's given us examples like the one David gives us that in

the midst of this time in his life, he writes a song of praise

and and that he is seeking after God.

So we do experience trials and we have consequences for the

things we do in life. And what these things should do

is drive us to God and that we would see like, like David, I

ought to have a desire for God. So we see David had a desire for

God and we should too. Another thing is it could drive

us to the Lord because we've seen him do great things.

And we see that David had a desire for God also.

He had a desire for God because he had seen him do great things.

He says in verse 2 to see thy. Power and thy glory.

So as I have seen the end of sanctuary, David had seen the

Lord do great things. I'm thankful as well because the

Lord has done great things in my life and I think about the

churches I've been able to be a part of and the seasons that

I've got to be there and be a member there for and see.

What the Lord has done My ascending church actually grew a

great amount during coronavirus and they regarding the laws and

following them and I'll stay out of politics too much, but

there's a balance of submitting to what's over you and obeying

God rather than men and the Lord blessed them because they they

stayed open as much as possible. They social distancing clean,

but they kept the church open. They had.

Services outside. They had services inside and by

the end of that season the church had grown by a huge

amount. Now we meet in the the gymnasium

because we don't fit in the old auditorium.

Matter of fact, the old auditorium is not there anymore.

It's it was renovated. I came right when they were

renovating it and I got to help and it's this multi purpose

room. But the Lord.

Did an amazing thing in that time of a challenging time.

I think of what the Lord did in my home churches.

I grew up I I don't remember how long Pastor Rivera, it's been

that you've been here. Was it 12 years?

I don't know. Was this building building here

when y'all came? Or did you have to build it?

Did you buy it? Amen.

Well, you know what, no doubt many of y'all, maybe some of

y'all need to learn the stories from him.

But many of y'all know much better than I what the Lord's

done here. But of those things, you can say

the Lord's done great things where?

Wherever we are glad, and I'm so thankful he does.

Of all the great things the Lord does in our lives, I think

probably the greatest is the work of the gospel, at least

from my standpoint. God changing my life and my

family's life. And of course he he.

Though Jesus was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the

world on the cross is when he said it is finished right?

And he gave up the ghost. Father, into thy hands I commit

my spirit. And he started.

He finished right in that sense. And then three days later he

rose again, rose out of the grave according to the

scriptures, and he gave us victory over death.

And and, and, and No Fear of death.

It's it's amazing. That's the greatest work I

believe that's ever, ever occurred.

And so I'm so thankful that as I get to preach or witness to

people, I get to share what the Lord did in my life because

without him I'd be so lost. And I'm confident I wouldn't

have my dad today. But the story goes, I'll do it

short and sweet. But the story goes, pastor say

that short and sweet. Maybe it won't be short and

sweet but I grew up in Washington state.

I was born in 1998 to my 19 year old mother, my early 20s father.

They weren't married, I was born out of wedlock and they had my

sister about 2 1/2 years later, myself and my sister Isabel and

my father was alcoholic, Mexican migrant.

Just interesting way how my family and my parents got

together. But they didn't have the Lord.

They had a Catholic background and just were, you know, trying

to find life out. And he was drinking.

They had the bar lifestyle. They worked at restaurants.

And about the time I was four years old, my mom decided that

she was going to separate from him.

She thought that was the best thing to do.

The home was in a peaceful place.

I'm thankful my dad never physically harmed my mom.

But constantly they were fighting, arguing.

I remember when I was young, my sister could could walk at that

time, she was probably 2 that my mom told me to take her in the

room, go to the room and we just we went and hid because they

were screaming and yelling. Eventually after my mom got

saved, my dad threw her Bible in the fire.

I think it burned. I don't know what happened.

I just know that that happened. So with without Jesus in our

home know Jesus, there was no peace.

But once we got to know him well, we did end up knowing

peace. And I was so thankful because

after she separated, we were searching for something and it

was that hard time that the Lord used to bring our attention to

our need. And so we were looking for my

mom was looking. I was only for just for answers.

She tried to go to a Buddhist temple.

She did undergo this cleansing ritual to find Zen to find

peace. And she didn't find peace from

that. There were issues that came from

that. She didn't go to Mass because

she never found peace in the Catholic religion.

But one day, Wooden Valley Baptist Church, the van

ministry, drove through the back drive of our apartment complex.

And I was there playing outside on the grass.

My sister was there and my mom was watching us.

And so she saw the lettering on the van and she just remembered.

And she had been there twice as this little girl.

So she just said that's what we need.

And she flagged them down, said, can my kids come, too?

I was old enough to go at four years old.

I was potty trained so I was allowed to go.

And he said sure, he gave me a sucker.

He asked if we could have a sucker.

I still remember. It's amazing the things you

remember vividly as a child. This was a big event in my life.

So he said, can they have a sucker gave me?

I think they gave me two suckers, but also a coloring

sheet. My sister got one and we went

inside. They said tomorrow we'll take

you to church on Sunday. It was Saturday, they're

visiting the visitors and then they come back tomorrow.

So they came, they picked me up, took me to the four and five

year olds class. And I learned, I learned songs

like Jesus loves me. They showed me the love of

Christ. I also learned God's love is

like a circle. I'm curious if anybody knows

that song in here? You guys know this song.

This is only the third church I've been to out of like 55 to

60, but it goes. God's love is like a circle, a

circle big and round. And a four year old and a five

year old, you can do this, right?

And I was just learning. It says just like the circle

never ends, God's love never ends.

I came back and my mom said I sang this song to her.

I remembered it and I knew that the Lord loved me.

So she she decided, OK, yes, you can, you can go back to church.

She drove myself and my sister. The next Sunday we we drove down

the hill to where the church used to be.

The church had grown and it was in a new location.

So we actually came in late. Eventually we we found the way.

She asked directions. We got there, I went to my

class. She sat in the back row and she

heard the pastor preaching and. About the gospel and she

realized this is what I need. So she came forward at the time

of the invitation, prayed, and she got saved.

And the Lord at that point had a foothold in my family's life.

About six months later, I was 4 1/2.

It was October 24th, 2002, and I had been reading a chick track

or looking through the pages of a chick track.

I had to trace it back later when I could actually, like,

read the words because I just was looking at the pictures as a

4 1/2 year old. And it was the devil's birthday,

so I was afraid. I knew I knew God loved me as it

shared the songs that that was taught, but I knew I was a

Sinner as well. The night before was Wednesday.

My pastor was preaching on hell and I knew I had not cleaned my

room. I've been mad at my mom and I

was going to go to hell. I was a Sinner.

And so I ran to my mom. I was in the hallway.

I ran to her and said mom, I need to get saved and and she

took my hand and we knelt there. I remember staring my face right

into the the light brown apartment floor and just saying

Jesus, I'm sorry for my sins. I know I'm a Sinner and will you

please forgive me? And I want to go to heaven when

I die. And I remember thanking him for

Brother Jeff and Miss Cindy Pennington because they were the

ones who came by on the bus route and brought me to the

church the first time. I would go on, well, I stood up

and say 4 1/2 year old boy, but I would go on to keep riding the

bus because I loved riding the bus.

And I go, I go help bring other kids to church and, and it's

amazing what happened because. To be honest, many times a bus

kid doesn't end up sticking it through.

Many times if they even do, their family doesn't get saved.

But the fact that the Lord saved me, the Lord saved my mom and my

sister would go on to get saved when she was 7 and eventually my

father would get saved. I'm just so thankful for God's

grace because my life should have been so much different and

I never expected to be on a in a place like Massachusetts on the

East Coast. But the Lord brought me here and

I get to share what He can do anywhere and with anybody.

So I'm so thankful because if it were not for God and if we're

not for the fact that we repented and turned to him, our

life would have been so much different.

But at this time in my life, my father's been saved for a good

amount of years. He he finally trusted the Lord.

I believe the Lord, I'm well, he would not be allowed today.

I'm just confident to say based on the the stories we've talked

about and and the decisions he made, but the Lord saved him.

He trusted the Lord. He is no longer an alcoholic.

He realized he should obey the Bible and get married.

And you know, they can't live together without being married.

And they got they got married. The Lord gave them three more

kids. They're all faithful in church,

the same church singing in the choir, just trained up in the

nurture and the admonition of the Lord.

And I'm so thankful because we had been in darkness.

We had been in the miry clay, but the Lord.

Took us up and he took us out of the miry clay and he set our

feet upon a rock and he established all our goings.

So I'm so thankful because the Lord really has done great

things and He's done great things in my family's life.

And what I want to see is the Lord do that on the reservation.

And I have a desire to see Him do things above and beyond what

I can imagine He's able to do. Exceeding abundantly above all

that we ask or think. And so how does this relate to

us tonight? How does it relate to us as

missions and with the idea that we're y'all are going into the

missions conference or the missions conference is coming.

How can our hearts be ready? Well, like David, we as

Christians can go through challenging times and and

regardless, we ought to have this desire for God.

But also we see from David, he said to see thy power and thy

glory just like he had seen it already.

Lord, I want to see you do something great, just like I

have seen you. And we can say David had a

desire for God and because he had seen him do great things.

And you can say too, Lord, will you do something great for me?

Will will you? Will you help me in my health

situation? Will you help me heal?

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

The Bible says the Lord is the great healer.

Is it Jehovah Rapha? He's the Lord, our healer.

Lord will you will you break the heart of stone of my loved one

that won't hear my my son or my coworker that.

That I don't. Feel like is going to listen to

the gospel. We can ask him to do these

things or you name it. You know where where you are and

the Holy Spirit knows what we need and we can say like that as

David as a child of God with the heavenly Father ABBA father and

ask him. We know if if our earthly father

wouldn't give us a stone or wouldn't give us a snake when we

ask for bread, when we ask for a fish, right when we ask for

things of our father right. What about the heavenly Father?

How much more heavenly Father and we can seek after him.

Say, Lord, would you do something great?

But the last thing to consider as it relates to missions is

that just like. Your Father God loves you and he

saved you if you if you know him as your as your Savior here

tonight and you've repented of your sins and understand that

Jesus paid that price for you. He loves you and he wants to

bless you and he does well just the same.

He loves those ones who do not know him just as much, and he

died for those ones that are without, and he says whosoever.

Will may come, and Jesus said. And I, if I be lifted up, will

draw all meant to myself or himself, myself.

This signifying what death He would die saying on the cross.

When he he died on the cross and was hung there for our sins.

He was proclaiming a message to the world, I will draw you to

myself. I paid for your sins.

It is finished. I paid for them on the cross,

something that we could never do, pay for our sins.

He already did. And it's the finished work.

He said it is finished and he rose from the grave three days

later accounted by by many people historians seen by more

than 500 people by the power of God.

Why so that he would give us victory over death.

This is the message of the gospel.

This is what God wants to do in the lives of all of those around

us. And we like David, can seek

after God and say, Lord, I need your help because of the

situation I'm in. And Lord, will you please do

something great because I know you can also like Job, we can

trust him say though he slay me if it doesn't turn out the way,

expect if it's not what I want, he says, though he slay me, yet

will I trust him? Job said, isn't that amazing?

And we can see acknowledge the reality that the Lord wants to

do great things in the lives of all of those around us.

The, the, the hospital, you know, Co worker, the bank

teller, the bank clerk, somebody you meet at the gas station, the

list goes on. I, I don't know where it is that

you, where you cross paths with people, but the Lord has a heart

to see those people, your community, the greater area of

Massachusetts, the Boston area, the states, the Navajo Indians.

He has a heart to bring them to him.

He is not willing that any should perish, but that all

should come to repentance. And it's his desire to do that.

Matter of fact, I believe it's always been his desire.

We see in the Old Testament, he he uses people like Rahab the

harlot, like Ruth, the Moabitest woman, and those people were not

Jews. But we see during the lineage of

Jesus and how the Messiah would be brought to us that God even

allows people like that to be part of that lineage of Jesus

and be great, great grandparents to Jesus.

And God uses people like that. And then in the New Testament,

we see him bring Peter, bring the gospel to the Roman century

and Cornelius and, and they believe and, and what we see

clearly through Scripture, sometimes people get this idea

that the Old Testament is laws and judgment, right?

And that the New Testament is, is only love and, and peace and

blessings. But the truth is God has always

been just and he's always loved and his desire has been that

when he said to Abraham and thee shall all nations of the earth

be blessed desire was that he bring all men to himself and

from the beginning. And it it just happens that in

this time of the world and as part of Liberty Baptist Church

as saved Christians. He wants to use us to do that

and, and as and as a church family to do that to be to be

the ones that see the people in our lives receive the gospel and

hear the gospel and, and help send people out to, to share the

gospel. He may even want you to be one

of those people, not only to he's done a great work in your

life, but he may want you to be one that decides to go or, or

maybe to, to serve in a way that's greater than you expect.

No doubt David in this time of his life didn't know what would

happen, but he chose to trust God and and the Lord brought him

through it. And we think about what the Lord

has you to do or maybe what the Lord knows you will go through.

If you're not going through something hard now that's over

your head, you need to trust him and say, Lord, I'm seeking after

you in the midst of this and I know you can do something great.

And if you want to do that in my life, if you want me, if you

want to use me to do it, I'll do it.

David had a desire for God and so should we, and he had a

desire for God to see him do great things and so can we too.

We can say, Lord, will you please do something great?

And, and, and also the Lord wants us to have a desire to see

the lost souls. Around us saved and and and

desire to be part of that. And this evening, I just want to

encourage you, whether you're going through a great time or

you're going through a situation that's challenging, the Lord

knows where we're at. And he and he, he has a, he has

a plan for it and he's given us an example that we can rejoice

in these things and say. Like David, Lord, I'm seeking

after you just the same and will you do something great again?

As we close, I want to encourage you to think about this way,

that we seek the Lord early and desire a deeper relationship.

And as we do these things, we pray, pray for our God to work

in the trial that we have for our loss coworker.

Whatever it is, we pray, and what will happen is we'll begin

to view our God with a biblical mindset.

Our hardship with the heavenly mindset and the lost world with

the eyes that God has for them too.

And then we're ready to wait and see.

What God will do. What an amazing thing that David

had a desire for God and he had seen to do great things.

God has the desire to do great things in our lives too, and the

lives of those around us. Thank you for listening to this

sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.

If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we

can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at

[email protected]. Or you can visit us this Sunday

at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.

May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.