Paul, Jim: The Desire of the Heart ~ Psalm 73

I do want you to keep your Bibles open, uh, because we're going to read a number of scriptures as we go along. There are certain people that come into your life now and again and leave a deep impression, and one of these, one of these people that have made an impression upon myself is our dear brother, Dr. Arthur Gardens, and one thing that he, he loves is for us to open the Bible and go through the scriptures, just turning pages over pages, and he said it's just like the wind rustling through the trees. There's something good about that gentle breeze. So we're going to look at one or two scriptures together tonight, so follow with me. Psalm 73, verse 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory, whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. I really want to deal tonight with the, the desire of the heart of the Christian. What is our desire? The word desire really means what we would like. If I had to go around each one of you tonight and ask you personally, what would you really like? I wonder how you would answer that question, and I have to answer that question too. What is it that you would want? What would you like to, to happen, to, to have experience in? What would you like to happen to you? What is the real desire in the heart? And I want to deal with that tonight in terms of the believer in Christ. What is it that we desire? And here David gives us, first of all, this beautiful verse, whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. And so there ought to be in the heart of every believer a deep desire for God. As the heart pants after the water brooks, he says in another psalm, so my soul thirsteth after thee, O God. The yearning of the soul, the inner desire of the being to come into fellowship and intimate relationship with God. It's interesting that David brings this out at the end of the Psalm, where in the earlier verses, his feet was almost slipping out of the way. He's looking around him. He sees the prosperity of the wicked. He looks at those outside of a relationship with God, and life seems to sail along for them. They seem to be prospering, and in his heart there was momentary an envy of them. Until he went into the sanctuary of God. There he saw their end. And he looked at the end now instead of what was happening to them in their experience, he looked at the end in view. And he realized that they would perish. Maybe some of you have had that experience. You wonder why the wicked seems to get away with it. How are the, how are those that are perishing prospering? We're living in days when evil is regarded as good, and good is regarded as evil, and it doesn't matter anymore how we live or how we attain things. Our standards are totally set aside, and and they seem to be getting through life, sailing through, until we come into the sanctuary of God and we see the rest. That brings us into a different situation, doesn't it? And David weighs all these things up in his mind and in his heart, and he says, whom have I in heaven but thee? Now, I've often thought, and my mind often works this way. I, uh, I contemplate a lot, and I'm sure you do too. I often wonder what heaven really is like. To be amidst these wonderful beings of angels and archangels and seraphims and cherubims and all that there is in the heavenly scene, and David goes beyond them all. He says, whom have I in heaven, but the, the desire and the yearning of the soul for fellowship with God. Can I just stop there for a moment? I want to be very practical tonight, right down to, to earth, as we say, and touch, I hope, all our hearts. These verses certainly have touched mine. Do you really desire a relationship with God? I'm not speaking, there may be someone in here you don't know the Savior, and the only way that you can ever know God is through him. But I'm speaking to those that know him. You know, Paul says that I may know him. Now, he did know him. He had met him on the Damascus road. He's writing these words after long years of Christian experience, but there's still the deep inner yearning to know him in a more intimate and more personal way. David, as his desire is of God, for there was none in heaven but him, and there are is none on the earth as he looks around the earth with sin. There's none that he desires beside him. And he brings it to a conclusion, and he says, it is good for me to draw near to God. What a conclusion. What do you really think is good to happen in life? What would be good for you as a believer tonight? I want to bring to you tonight, it would be good for you to draw near to God, to know him, to live beside him, to let him walk with you and talk with you along the way. Not someone who's at a distance, but someone who's near, someone that we can draw near to and enter into fellowship with and walk with. It says about Enoch that he walked with God, and look at the many years that he walked with God. Nothing miraculous is recorded about what he did. A day by day experience of walking with God, and I believe that should be one of the great desires of all our hearts, to draw near to God because there is none beside him. There's none can be equal to him. There's none that can captivate the soul like him, and it's good for us to draw near to God. Let's turn over to Psalm twenty seven. Move very quickly. David says in verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble he, for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me, he shall set me up upon a rock. One thing have I desired, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Now we know from the New Testament, particularly First Timothy chapter 3, that the house of God of the Old Testament, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth, so what the house of God was to the, to, to God's earthly people, the church of God ought to be to the heavenly people today. And when we bring that into practical terms, it means that there should be the desire in the heart of the believer, not only for a fellowship and a relationship with God, but a fellowship with the house of God, the things associated with the church of God. And that's what he's seeking after. God did not save us to be spiritual hermits. He saved us that he might bring us together into a fellowship, and being a fellowship that we might enjoy fellowship with one another and desire that fellowship. That's why it's important for the gatherings of the Lord's people that we have a desire for them. Do you? Is there through the day that longing desire to be with the people of God? It's a great feeling, you know. It's something that's real and true. For there's no greater place to be than to be in fellowship with the Lord's people. When you go into the Acts of the Apostles, it's definitely certain that they fellowship day after day. David says, one thing have I desired, that will I seek after. That word seek is the same word for follow, it's the same word for pursue, to go in for, to go in for, to go in for. I'm glad in my early Christian life of the men that taught the word of God and imprinted within our minds and indelibly marked within our hearts the desire and the love for God and the love for the people of God and things of the assembly of the Lord's people. Maybe we're losing sight of it. David's desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord, not just when he felt like it, not just when it was convenient for him, but all the days of his life. That's continuity, isn't it, at its best? We're exhorted from the Epistle to the Hebrews to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, as we see the day approaching. We've just been hearing from our brother of the Lord's coming, and he's coming soon, and because he's coming soon, it should bring us closer together and desire in the hearts to be constantly in fellowship with the Lord's people, the Lord's things. And that's what hell he says, I will seek after, I will pursue after it. I often use an illustration that back home in England, I don't know if you have them here, but they have these dog races, greyhound dogs. What really happens is that they put a little mechanical rabbit in circuit, and that little mechanical rabbit goes faster than the dogs could ever go, of course, and these dogs, once they're loose, off they go with tremendous fury to catch it. They never can. They never learn, but they never can catch. But it's the thought of pursuing, pursuing with all the fury within them that they have to go after it. My, that's challenging, isn't it? That means that when we just don't feel like it, we're there. It means when something comes in the way, we do our best to get it out of the way that will be there. Or do we just come when we feel like it? Convenience rather than conviction. Or do we treasure in our hearts the house of the Lord with all that it entails because we have a desire to be associated with it all the days of our life. Let's come over now to Isaiah for a minute, chapter twenty six. Beautiful verse in here that I've been enjoying. Verse seven, Isaiah chapter twenty six and verse seven says, the way of the just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have walked, we have waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee. A desire for God, a desire for the house of God, a desire for his name and the remembrance of him. I love some of the teachings of the New Testament associated with his name. We, we sing it often, don't we? How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fears. And we sing that, and we enjoy singing it. But what does his name really mean? Peter says, neither is there salvation in any other. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's salvation in a name, and only one name. But there's also a gathering to that name. First, uh, uh, First Corinthians chapter one, They gather to that name. The name that saves is the name that gathers, brings us together. He is the center of the gathering of his people. Central not only to our personal lives, but center, but central to our church life, to our assembly life. We do not gather to a religion. We gather to a person who has saved us and whom we desire to meet with, and we come to him, and it's because he's there that we come. I enjoyed the lovely meeting this morning. One of the reasons why I enjoy it and always enjoy it is because he's the one that invited us to come. It wasn't the disciples that thought up some idea in order that they might remember him by. He was the one that instituted the feast of remembrance whereby we might not forget him. And we know that the practice of the early disciples in Acts chapter twenty, the, the, the practice was upon the first day of the week, the resurrection morning, the eighth day. The Passover lamb was kept once every year in remembrance of the, of the redemption out of Egypt, out of their bondage, but on the eighth day, this wonderful remembrance feast was instituted for the, uh, f- f- for the disciples. It came into practice on the eighth day, should I say. It was instituted before the Lord went to the cross. And the disciples broke bread on the first day of the week to remember him. Day and and the writer here, coining it from Isaiah, says, the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee. Do we desire to remember him? I believe that one of, and as I look back for myself, one of the great salvations of our lives, not our souls, but our lives as a Christian. It was the week by week remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are precious, precious times indeed. I'll never forget the first time that I broke bread. I'll never forget this morning either. Each time we come in accordance with his word and keeping with his own desire, you know that the Lord only really left one request for us to do. To remember him. Why do we treat it lightly, dear saint of God? Why do we fit it in just when we feel like it? Is there a real desire when we get up on our first day of the week? Is there a desire for the remembrance of the Lord in our soul, to come together, to re- review afresh his work on Calvary? It brings us again into that wonderful aspect of worshiping our God because of his son and what he accomplished for us at the place called Calvary. Do we desire to remember him? Or we just do it when we feel like it? I just want to leave these things as a challenge to you tonight, because I tell you, they've been challenging me as I've been going over them in my own soul. Oh, what a thrill to come together this morning to remember the Lord Jesus Christ in the way that he himself requested. First Peter chapter one. Let's go over the New Testament for a minute or two. First Peter chapter one— chapter two, rather. Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy, and envies and ev- all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. A deep desire in the heart for God, a desire for the house of God, a desire for his name and his remembrance, a desire for his word. He uses a beautiful illustration here as a little newborn babe desires the milk. I'm sure every mother and every parent in this building, and everyone here particularly, probably realizes that when there's a newborn babe in the home, its presence becomes very much, everybody becomes much aware of its presence. One of the reasons that we become aware of its presence is because it lets us know that it's there. And when it starts to cry, as often it does, it's crying for one thing. It's crying for milk. There's a, there's a, an insatiable desire within its little being for food, for milk. And one of the first evidences, or real evidences of a born again believer, is a thirst for the word of God. There should be a deep desire for God's word. Now here it's the milk of the word, because it's newborn babes that desire it. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, you remember in First Corinthians chapter three, he's really rebuking the Corinthians because they've never left the milk, and he has to bring milk to them when he should be bringing strong meat. Their growth has been stunted by their carnality. And carnality really means to live the old ways instead of letting it go. Involved with the earthly things instead of being occupied with the heavenly. And so he says those that are unskillful in the word are just giving them milk. Now, little babes need milk. But there's something wrong if you take a little, a bottle of milk to a twelve-year-old boy or a girl and hand it to them for sustenance, they've long left that behind. And as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, there ought to be a continual, steady growth of development in spiritual character that comes because of a daily appetite for the Word of God. And that means to read it. That means to study it. That means to meditate upon it. That means that it becomes the, it becomes our food on a daily basis. And as we, and as we grow and develop, then we'd be able to handle the word of God, and that's what Paul deals with again with Timothy, remember? That we might be workmen that's not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and we need to study it to rightly divide it. Get into a good study of God's word. Much of the error that's abounding today comes because of a lack of deep study of the word of God. It's all surface, it's milk to them, when there should be strong meat in getting into it, dividing it out, looking at text and context, and looking at what it's really teaching. So the desire, like the newborn babe in the, in, in its being for the milk, ought to be the same real desire in the part of a newborn Christian, and those of us who are older and maturing in divine things, to keep a steady diet of the word of God, daily applying it and, and daily reading it and daily studying it and daily making it the man of our council. Now you say, well, that's very easy to say that, and it is. Not so easy to put it into practice, isn't it? Time is one of the most, is one of these things we've been hearing about time, but I tell you, we could do with more days in the week and more hours in the day, and even if we got it all, we still wouldn't have enough time. We have to make the time. Young Christian, can I get this over to you this morning, this evening? You have to make the time. Set it aside a little bit each day for the word of God, and through the day, ponder its context, let it mull over in your mind, meditate upon it. Meditation is good, you know. The world is getting a hold of it, but oh, what they're doing with it. But meditation is good for the believer, to meditate upon the word of God. Think upon it. Get a verse in your mind and let it s- let it go over in your mind. Think upon its content, enjoy it fresh in the heart. You have to gather the manna, you remember, every morning. There was a sufficient supply for every single one of them. And there's a sufficiency in the Word of God for every believer, no matter what your need is, no matter what stage of spiritual growth you're at. There's sufficiency in this Word of God to meet your need and to help you to grow and develop and become much stronger in yourself. Let's go over to Colossians chapter one, my pen's moving on. Colossians chapter one. Paul's prayer here in verse nine of chapter one. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord and to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. A desire for the word of God, a desire for an understanding of the knowledge of his will. Now, I believe that the will of God and the will of the Lord are two different things. The will of God is the same for every believer. First Thessalonians chapter four, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. It is the will of God that every believer lives a sanctified life, set apart and clean in a world that's unclean. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you. It's God's will, these things for every believer. But the will of the Lord for you and the will of the Lord for me might be totally different. And he desires that we might be filled with the knowledge of his will. How can we know his will? We can know his will through his word. We can know his will as we have fellowship with him, as we draw near to him, as he opens up his mind to us. And Paul longs that these believers at Colossae might have an understanding of that will, a knowledge of that will, and that will and understanding being brought to them would enable them to walk worthy unto the Lord and to all pleasing and be fruitful in every good work. It affects our walk. The understanding of the Lord's will in our lives affects our walk, affects the way that we do things. And not only that, but brings pleasure and delight to him who has saved us. And so that's the prayer and the desire of the apostle here, that he might be filled with the knowledge of his will. Do you really desire to know God in a real personal and intimate way? Do you really desire his house, the things of God? Do you really desire to, to, to remember him? Do you desire his word? Have you a thirst in your soul for his word? Do you desire to know his will day by day in your experience through life? Look at one in Romans chapter ten. I'm just selecting a few, but there are m- there are many more, I'm sure, if you take your Bibles and, and work through them. Verse one, Romans ten and one, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. What an, what a desire of the heart. What an exercise of the soul, that his fellow countrymen might be saved. He's not praying for their advancement. He's not praying that they'll get on in life. He's not praying that they'll have good health, while I'm sure he desired that they did. He's praying for their soul. He's praying for their salvation. He's praying that they might be saved. There should be a desire in every believer to pray for our fellow men and women that they might be saved. This was his own people he's talking about. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he never lost the desire a- and the longing that his own nation would be saved. That's searching, because I find it searching to me and challenging to my own soul that... When was the last time that you really got down on your knees and prayed for some of your own, maybe family members, people you work beside, your own countrymen and women, with a deep, deep longing for their salvation. Oh, that we might pray for the loss. But time's running out. They've not got too much opportunity left. And they need to get back again to real prayer for the loss. I'm always interested in reading some of the great revivals that ever took place, took place to the start of people that got down on their knees to pray. I sort of came in at the end of an era, but I remember on an odd occasion, the all-night prayer meetings was something that I'll never forget. I wish we could see them back again for the loss that need to be saved. It wasn't just the prayer that counted, and I believe it did. It was the desire to pray that mattered. It was the searching of the heart before God, those that were lost might be saved. One more, and then we'll close. Beautiful verse, Philippians chapter one. Verse twenty one, he says, for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain. If I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not, for I'm in a strait betwixt two. Having a desire to depart, to be with Christ, is far better, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more evil for you. A desire to depart, to be with Christ. You know, I don't believe that Paul had this desire because he wanted to get out of the world. He has come a long way in his service for Christ. He's weathered many a storm, he's endured many an affliction. He's been beaten many times, he's been taken up for dead. He's come a long way, and it's not the experiences of life that want, that makes the desire for him to depart. The longing to depart was to be with Christ, because it was far better. And that longing, I believe, started on the Damascus road and never left him all the way through, because it was one of the greatest motivations of his service that he would be with the one that he met on that road. He just got a momentary glimpse of that glory. There was a longing in his heart to be there, and that longing and desire motivated him in every aspect of his service for Christ. I don't know anything, and I say this kindly, maybe you can tell me otherwise. I don't know anything that will ever motivate us more in serving Christ than the thought of being with him. You see, he's occupied with heaven on the way there. He's weighing earthly things up in the light of a heavenly scene. He says that later on in Ephesians, doesn't he? Those things which were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ, and there is a cost. And the motivation of making that cost was that Christ was far supreme in his heart than anything else this world could ever give. Which world are we living for? Can I just stop there? Which world are we living for? World that we burned up, or a world that's far better? Well, deep down, I think in every Christian heart, there has to be, time and time again, tremendous longing and desire to be with Christ. Paul says, absent from the body is present with the Lord. I would rather have that, he says. But of course, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. There has to be work to be done. There has to be service to be rendered. He's not like the Thessalonians say, well, the Lord is coming, so down the tools and we'll just wait. No, no, no. The captivation of the soul and the desire to be with Christ put it into, put more energy into his service, and he served him with all his heart and all his mind and all his soul. May the Lord help us. We do the same. Young people, I hope you'll go from this meeting tonight questioning the desires of your heart and where they lie, put some of these desires into effect, and desire the things that really matter in the end and in eternity. Our Father, once again, we humbly bow in thy presence, and we acknowledge before thee often our inadequacy when we come to to spiritual matters, to realize that many of these things are even too wonderful for us. We thank thee for the words of David and his desire for thee that was far beyond anything else. There was none as he searched heaven out like thee. There was none as he looked across the face of the earth like thee. We thank thee for that wonderful desire in his heart to draw near to God. May we do that too. May as we live in close proximity to the God of heaven and in wondrous contemplation of the Savior who's coming, one day we're going to be with him and like him forever. Help us day by day to live our lives in a way that will be honoring to his name, glorifying to him, pleasing to his heart, so he takes us into his presence. We ask thy parting blessing, the Savior of glory, precious name. Amen.