Knowing God’s Will: His Word and His People - Keith Roberson

Well, I want to talk about delight, mostly. I'm talking about delight.

I like that word. I'm thankful for it. We actually get to see it a lot in the Bible.

So I want to just lean in to this idea of delight.

And I'm just going to be honest with you. I don't know about you,

but when you typically think about God.

Or when you think about church, or you think about Bible, or you think about

religion or any of those things, my guess is that the first word or thought

that comes to your mind is not the word delight.

And yet I think it is meant to be one that comes to the forefront.

It's what I want to explore with us this morning.

If I'm gut level honest, I remember being a young man and I think there were

some things that were ingrained in me early on,

that walking with God, that part of doing that, there was a large list of prohibitions,

and things that you could or should do and things that you should and could not do.

And a lot of that, my life with God early on was based on what's right and what's wrong to do.

How many of you guys grew up like in a youth group, had a youth group,

right? Any youth group people, people, right?

I love my youth group. It was so, my life was shaped, changed so good.

But we were like trying to go hard after the Lord and like want to follow Him with our whole lives.

And so, but there were some things that we had to do in order to do that.

Like number one, you don't listen to secular music.

Y'all get that? Anybody else burn a CD and you had to burn your CD collection?

Anyone? There's just a couple. You got to pray for us because this is some trauma.

I just had to say no to the Guns N' Roses, Light It On Fire.

Did y'all ever have that?

It's like, all right, man. I mean, it's like, you do not go to rated R movies.

You do not. Even though there are some PG-13 movies out there that are worse.

You don't go to rated R ones for sure.

Y'all get that? And young men, you side hug only. You know what I'm saying?

Don't stay sideways. On the side, you see a young lady, side hug.

Y'all get that remember that from youth group and hey listen i'll be honest with you like there's,

there's some rated r movies that are horrible i don't think we should go see

i think that's true and there is some music that i think would eat your brain

it's awful it's not good not good for i think that's the answer and i think

side hugs are probably wise from time to time i think it's probably a good idea

all right so i'm not out but the problem is this is what we have often done

is we'll try to find out what the rules are,

and then we'll just try to fix our lives and line them up by finding out what

are the do's and what are the don'ts.

And so when we say the word delight, it feels really different to often how

we experience God or experience church or experience even what you and I might call religion.

There's a problem with that because there are places, if you will,

of delight that feel like off limits, like delight is maybe a bad thing.

And I just want to say this, nothing could be further from the truth.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God is a God of delight.

He is the God of delight. He's actually inviting us into something richer and something deeper.

And what I think is tragic is that I think the script gets turned upside down

when God is actually aiming for our fullest delight, our fullest pleasure, our fullest joy.

He's actually aiming for that. In fact, he's wired us to keep searching for it.

And all of the decisions we make are often oriented towards what do I like?

And we choose the kind of ice cream we like and the friends that we hang out

with. And we do these things because it pleases us.

We are creatures who are made to pursue delight.

And I think that's because God's hardwired that into our human DNA as those

made in his image because God delights in himself.

So when we talk about what it means to be with God, I actually think it begins

and ends with this issue of delight.

That's where I wanna start this morning because we would start asking the question

about what does it mean to follow God's will?

We gotta begin with asking the question, well, what does it mean to be with him? Psalm chapter one.

I don't think it's, by the way, an accident that from the very get-go,

we've got this amazing collection of songs and poems.

And stories that are unpacked in this, what is called the Psalms at the very

first, the very first Psalm and the very first scripture.

And it's going to talk about the issue of delight.

Psalm chapter one, blessed, meaning happy, full, joy, alive.

Why is the Bible talking about blessed? Because we're meant to hunger for it.

Want to have it. We want to experience it.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And on his law, he meditates day and night.

Now, church, this is a different experience experience of the God of the universe.

What is opened up to us from this richest book,

dealing with the deepest emotions we'll read all throughout the Bible and the

broadest and biggest feelings that will happen in the human experience is the

beginning of the question,

where is it that you get delight?

And God's inviting us to have something richer and better with him in his word.

In fact, not only just his word, but his people. In fact, the richest delights

that we're going to to have access to in this life and are actually going to

be received through his word and with his people.

These are the two things that are in fact from the very get-go in Psalm chapter one.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of brokenness,

but his delight, joy, treasure is in the word.

When it says his law, what's it saying? The law was the unveiling.

It It was the understanding, the revelation of the majesty and the beauty and the holiness of God.

And the only problem with the law, there's no problem with the law except for

we couldn't do it because it showed the massive chasm that existed between us

who were broken and this beautiful, amazing,

rich, powerful, life-giving, unbelievable God of the universe, creator. creator.

The law was the unfolding, the unveiling of it.

And this God isn't saying you need to forsake delight to follow God.

What he's saying is forsake lesser, broken, inferior delights to have the one

that will actually touch the deepest place in you.

What you really want is delight in in God. And it always has been.

Don't trust that there will be found in this life riches in other places.

The allure will be there.

We all feel it. We've all experienced it and seen it. The allure is there,

that there's other places to find rich delight.

And God is saying, trust me, me, the richest place, the thing that moves you

the most is actually in my word.

Psalm 19 is in one of these other great unfoldings where we get a picture of this.

In our lives, he says, the law of the Lord is perfect.

Reviving the soul. I want you to, if you read these words, rich,

reviving the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing, rejoicing, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, pure, You're enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired

are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned in keeping them, there is great reward. reward.

If you were to take a list of all the hopes of people's experiences in this

life, you were to say, what would you like to have in this life?

What would you like to experience? What would your hope be?

I don't think there's a better, you can find a more succinct list of what the

human heart hungers for than right here.

What stirs you the most? power to revive you,

to bring joy to you, to clean you or to open your eyes so that you can see and

understand or to be able to clean your conscience what's sweeter than honey and richer than gold.

And the deepest places of reward can actually be found.

And God just wants to say, It's right here.

My word's over you is where it's found.

My word over you. Come and delight.

Come taste. Come see. That's the invitation.

Psalm 40, I delight to do your will.

I delight to do your will.

Oh my God, your law is within my heart.

Your word is inside of me and I treasure, love, enjoy.

When we say delight means I enjoy, I like your way.

It's where fullness actually is experienced. so that, hear this,

we're not talking about do's and don'ts anymore.

We're not just talking about do this and don't do this so that you can be on the good side.

God is inviting you to delight, enjoy, imbibe, drink, get saturated, get covered.

Warmth, invited in. And from that place, flows, doing the will,

walking with God, receiving the fullness that he has.

Now, I'll be the first to be able to confess.

I have my heart all the time. I hear the whispers of all the different places

my heart could find delight.

There's tons, come on, hundreds, even within this room. if we were able to just

be gut level honest with each other about the places in which we felt like our

heart actually does find a light.

Even if I use that word, what delights you?

There are all kinds of open doors, places I'm tempted to believe that I can find more full delight.

Happens all the time.

Comfort, food, Texas Tech basketball, and all those things.

They're good right now, really, and they weren't supposed to be good,

and they are, and it's rich.

I'm going to be honest with you, that is a fleeting pleasure. That's how I know.

There are all kinds of places, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh,

hungering, where creatures made for delight.

The whisper is to tell you and I that the the pathway to delight are on all

the ways that everyone else is running after it.

And the Lord is saying, if you'll come to my word for delight,

it will stir you and enlighten you and change you and move you.

It's rich. It's full.

It has everything you've ever wanted.

And everything you've ever hungered for. You may have to say no to some other

things in order to receive and to get.

You may have to trust when it calls you.

In fact, we'll talk about it in a moment when it calls you just to say no to

the inferior pleasures, but there's

something here that give you more than anything you've ever had before.

So if you want to know my will. You want to understand where I'm leading. Come drink.

Come receive from the word. Let's let it be on your lips and wash over you, train you, move you.

That's different than do's and don'ts, church. Hear this.

That's different than do's and don'ts. That's being changed.

You want to know what God's will is? Here's his will.

Delight yourself in the word.

Treasure, like let it come over you, be near to you, change you.

It has this ability to pull us up. And when you and I say, okay,

I want to trust you in the word, the Lord's actually inviting us to a higher

place, actually saying, you're going to have to come up here with me.

I'm asking you to let go of what you think you know, and to come up here in

my word, because I'm operating on a different plane.

Yeah, I don't know if you've ever been around people that operate on a different

plane. I was in high school and my best friend tricked me into taking calculus my senior year.

And he was like, oh no, it'll be so awesome. It'll be so fun. Senior year calculus.

So I was like, yeah, man, that'll be awesome. And we ended up being the only

two people in that class.

I was at a small private school. and the teacher was an ex-marine who was,

I think, learning calculus as we went, just candidly.

But by the grace of God, my best friend was the valedictorian of our class.

And so he effectively taught the class.

He taught calculus and he would say things and I would be like.

I don't, what you're, you just use the words, but they don't mean anything.

They're up here. You're in a whole different place, bro.

I had a best friend who functioned in a completely and utterly different place.

And Jonathan Holland, I love you, brother out there. All right.

Thank you for getting me through calculus.

I don't know if you've ever been around someone who's operating on a different plane.

God said, Hey, I'm operating on a different plane.

If you'll come up here with me, I actually have something richer for you.

Anything you could build for yourself. self.

And here's where we come get it. It says it in Isaiah 55.

He goes, hey, my thoughts, they're not your thoughts.

And your ways, how you might do things, they're not my ways.

Declares the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your Your ways are my thoughts than your thoughts.

Now, why is he saying that? Is he saying that because he's going like.

I'm better than you are. Why is he saying this? He's inviting.

The God of the universe is inviting us to know higher, richer,

better, greater, fuller.

It's the invitation of the god of the universe to operate on a different plane

i have thoughts that will shape you ways that you cannot imagine ways that you

couldn't even construct for yourself,

that's what i want to do you come up here to my word the beginning place of

new delight and something shifts in us, something changes.

And so we get to rise above what is inferior here, if you will,

the invitation for giving our hearts and our hopes and our hungers to other.

Things that won't satisfy.

And I thank God for food and rest and comfort. And I thank God for basketball

teams and all those things are great.

They're just never enough. There's not one thing out there that's gonna actually

answer the hope and the cry of your heart. or it just won't happen, doesn't exist.

No person can do it. No politician. There's no one else that's functioning on

a higher plane. Just God.

Come. We get to come to the word and get its richness. And we get to come and

delight and rest and get help and receive peace.

And this is where it happens. This is where it comes from.

We actually have a safe place to go when we need to make decisions,

when we're not sure where to go next.

The word of the Lord is a beginning place. How many of you ever wanted someone

to be able to to talk to, get some counsel or wisdom and hoping that they aren't

angling for their own thing.

You ever asked that question before? You don't have to raise your hand.

You ever been in that place before where you want some insight and wisdom,

but you're hoping that they're not bringing their bias into it,

that they could just love you and help you make the right decision?

So how meaningful that is.

God has highest and best for you right here. Highest and best.

Completely completely unbiased and able to bring you fullness. And it's in him.

And so we come up and we come up, we make our decisions based on the truths

and the principles and the heart and the riches of God's word,

because God's word informs our directions. It reveals our motives.

It supersedes human wisdom and leads towards fullness.

That's what it does. Words, a lamp. lamp.

It's a lamp to my feet. It's a light into my path.

It's not a list of do's and don'ts. And we're going to talk about the precepts

and principles of the Lord here in a moment where the Lord is going to say,

trust me in this. Don't go down this road.

Do trust me in this. Walk in this way. He is going to call us to that.

They're going to say, first, treasure, delight, find find riches.

Hebrews 4, the word's living. It's active.

It's sharper than a two-edged sword. It's piercing to the division of soul and

of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Now that's an intense scripture. It feels intense.

Awesome. Stealing this from Darren Jones.

He was getting ready to share on this even topic and just said,

the word of God is actually able to do real-time surgery.

That's what this scripture is actually describing, isn't it?

Being able to go down to the deep place to shape you, to heal you.

What do we do? Surgery, to heal, to remove something that's bad or broken, to fix, to mend, to heal.

This is what the word of God does. And so within the word, we'll find all of these truths,

all of these principles leading us towards life that we come to it for its richness

to trust so that we can step in and say, yes, the principles and God's word

are these unchangeable truths.

It's the way that God has like wired the universe.

Here's how I've made things. When we We follow those principles through God's word, we grow.

We get to experience the fullness that we're all hungering for.

And some of the principles come to us actually as commands.

So there are some ways in which God's gonna say, hey, trust me in this and go down this road.

Hey, trust me in this, don't go down this road.

So that it's not actually a list of do's and don'ts, but it is a way or a means

by experiencing the riches God has for us. Does that make sense?

When you see a principle that God gives us through a command,

it's the invitation to trust him that there's richer life to be had.

So don't go down a broken road. 1 Thessalonians 3, 4, and 5.

This is the will of God. So here's my will. Here's my plan.

Your sanctification. I want to grow you. I want to lead you.

I want you to be shaped and transformed. form.

So this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you'd abstain from sexual immorality,

that each one of you know how to control his own body and holiness and honor,

not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.

So you go, well, pastor, that feels like a do and a don't.

And what God is saying is, I actually have a design.

I have a way that I've sculpted, made, created humanity.

And for you to experience fullness, trust me in this, don't go down this road

like the rest of the world.

When he says Gentiles, the rest of the world seems to be going down this road.

Seems kind of prohibitive. If everyone else is going this way and that way and

doing it their own way, it seems a little bit restrictive and prohibitive.

And God's saying, well, maybe it is, but I'm leading you towards richer and better. Trust me.

Meaning we all know what it means to prohibit because you love someone greatly.

And we all experienced it for those of you, at least that have had children,

because the first time they got a wise idea, an itch in the craw,

and they decided to dart for the street,

would you say no to the glory of God?

Absolutely not.

It seems like that might be fun, child, but it will lead to death.

You and I see a prohibition or an ask or a do not or a walk here or a follow me or trust me here.

What we get from this is a promise to lead us to fullness of life. That's the promise.

Anytime he's leading us away from something, he's leading us towards something

richer. Let me say it again.

Anytime you find the Lord leading you away from something in the word?

It's because he's leading you towards something better and richer.

So sometimes the principles, what God's will is, are very clear in commandments,

but sometimes they're just stated realities, but just truths of way God has

wired things. He said, these are truths.

If you'll operate this way, you're going to find life. Matthew 7, verse 12.

Matthew 7:12

So whatever you wish that that others would do to you, do also to them.

For this is the law and the prophets.

I'm a basketball coach. Because of my amazing basketball acumen, I was a phenom in my day.

Played for a 1A private high school.

Graduated with 20 people. But in that school, it was amazing.

Anyway, I coached and my daughter gets to, she'd get to coach my daughter's

team or be one of the coaches of my daughter's team. and she plays on the varsity team at her school.

And I'm so proud of her, super proud. Sorry, I'm just gonna totally embarrass her.

But because she's only in ninth grade, she also gets a chance,

we bring her to the JV team to play a leadership role for that team as well.

And so we get to have these discussions, like, okay, what's my job?

What's my role here? And I say, hey, your job, we're asking you to play a leadership role here.

And so we get to ask this, what does it look like for you to step into this

role? So she asked the question, What am I supposed to do? What do I do?

And I say, hey, when you look at the upperclassmen.

Your varsity team, what do you love? What do you want from them,

the leaders of your team?

Let's just say, I love when they're like encouraging and they're like calling

you up and they're like saying, hey, when you mess up, hey, no big deal. Keep going.

I love that. I said, do that.

Whatever someone you want doing to you, you do that with this team and lead

them. God's built this principle.

Does you want to operate? Whatever it is that you want, do. do.

God gives us this stuff all the time. You want to go like, what is God's will?

How am I supposed to operate?

It's all saying there's so much riches right here for us just to go like,

how am I meant to operate? How do I do relationship?

How do I do leadership in my business? How do I lead and do well with my spouse

or my children or my friendships or my roommates or wherever I'm going?

How do we do this well? And the Lord's just saying, trust me, come here. fear.

My ways are higher. Come up with me. Let me lead you towards life.

If I ask you to say no to something, trust me.

If I ask you to step out and take a risk by faith, trust me.

I have better for you. You'll know my will is right here.

It's rich. It's not do's and don'ts. It's richest of fair. prayer,

delight in my word and live. And that's the invitation.

So I just want to ask this question. In fact, I'm just going to even like do a one minute pause.

Luke, you can go ahead and come up. We're almost, we got about seven or eight

minutes, but my preaching sounds so much better when you're playing.

So if you close your eyes for a minute, just do this. If you take notes,

hold them there with you.

Would you just ask a very simple question of the Lord right now?

Now, what is the rhythm you want to invite me into to drink from your word?

You ask him that question. What are you inviting me to?

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That you would solidify in our hearts how you want us to walk with you and know

you, to know your heart and know your word and know your wisdom,

your will. That's what we want.

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So help us, teach us, train us, lead us, we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen. There's a second piece that I want to just hit. We have five minutes left,

but I just want, I want to hit this.

If you look there in your Bibles again in Psalm 1,

it says, you delight, you delight in the law,

delight in my word, but at first is blessed is the man who walks not in the

counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

When it comes to knowing God's design, his heart and his will for you,

the relationships that you have matter. matter.

When it comes to doing God's will, the relationships that you have matter.

Who is walking with you to shape you,

to help encourage you and lift you up on the hard days and to give you actually

an outlet to be able to share and speak life and words over when they're having hard days.

Someone needs your encouragement.

God's going to use the counsel of other believers.

We'll use his will, his word, and his people to help us know and understand his will.

Proverbs 1, let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning

get guidance. guidance.

In other words, God has designed it for you to actually be encouraged and refreshed by each other.

Meaning we weren't ever, ever meant to live this life alone. Never. You can't do it.

But quite literally, we're shaped to be with each other.

We talk about groups all the time, but the truth is, is all this is,

is an opportunity to actually be in real relationship with people who can speak

into you and you have a chance to encourage.

And is it awkward? Well, yeah, sometimes it is.

When you're trying to get to know someone for the first time or trying to step

out in some new relationships, you're going like, I don't know anybody or I

really want some godly influence in my life. I don't know how to get.

Listen, take a step, find someone. We get to ask those questions.

Who do I choose? Who do I wanna choose?

Find, who's gone before me, people where they've been. I like,

I want to go there. I want to grow.

We find people, right? Or where

you want to be, where you want to walk after in life. So we say, okay.

And we get to ask questions. All right. Do they love Jesus? They love Jesus.

Not just can say some, a couple of Bible verses from my grade school,

but who's loving Jesus and walking with Jesus and who's running after him?

They love and pursue. Are they showing fruit? Help me find people that make wise decisions.

Great prayer. God, help me find people who bear fruit in making wise decisions.

God, who's got experience?

Who's got life experience that I can walk with, especially in arenas where I'm

wanting to grow with you or walk with you?

We have to ask these questions and say, Say, God, would you bring people into my life?

God, help me be to someone with my own unique journey.

So like a hundred unique journeys in here right now, where your journey helps shape me.

Your experiences up and down, backwards and forwards, great seasons,

hard seasons. They shape me.

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Father, we just finished by asking you, Lord, we've already asked you,

what rhythms are you inviting us into to just get and be with your word?

Not out of shame. I just want to say this. If you feel shamed into.

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Embarrassed into reading the

Bible, you can lay that down. If you feel invited by God, come and drink.

But also, God, would you just ask, pray, Pray, Lord, would you bring people

around me that can help shape me, can encourage me, bring life over me? I need it.

Would you just ask him, God, help me have friends, leaders, people who will be around me.

Help me use the gifts that you've given me to influence and encourage others.

Lord, I'm asking for godly relationships. I'm asking for godly friendships.

Blessed is the man and woman who walk not in the counsel of the wicked,

but listen and walk with people who treasure your word.

I ask God that you would release that in our church.

We'll have some prayer partners that are gonna be available just to pray with you.

Maybe you're needing steps in the right direction. Whatever it is,

just whatever's going on, we wanna pray with you.

Our prayer benediction are closing as we go.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Lord, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance.

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