The Enemies of Early-Seekers! Psalm 63:9-11

Text: “But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.  They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.”

Psalm 63:9-10.

Good morning, successfully seeking Christian!   You have sought to be obedient to the Word of the Lord that you have read; you have indeed, ‘…studied to show yourself approved unto God, a workman/woman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth…’  And, as a direct, and never failing consequences, you have accrued much vital Spiritual knowledge from God  - but you have also multiplied malicious enemies who would, if they possible could, try to destroy your very soul, never mind merely help to detract from or mar your Christian witness for Christ.  Fact. 

It has been a recurring theme throughout our Searching In Psalms series of Bible studies that, when our souls are saved from our sin; and when we are wonderfully redeemed from our sin by the sinless and precious Blood Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ – we almost immediately receive grave oppositions, hindrances, and persecutions from those with whom we come into contact day and daily. 

Has this been your experience, dear Reader?  It certainly has been mine.  When we get the blessing of true Salvation in Christ, we are assured of the Devil’s own blastings, at the hands of ‘his children’ as well as his own vile hand.

The Lord Jesus teaches us: “Behold (listen, and fully understand!), I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.”  (Matthew 10:16-18)

And again: “And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”  (Matthew 10:22)

When you and I – by the gracious leading of God the Holy Spirit – seek to draw close to Christ early; to follow hard and earnestly after Truth; to embrace our Abba Father in Heaven, via the Atonement Sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus – we WILL endure much opposition, hindrance; and be hated by those all around us.  This is merely a fact of our faith.

The apostle Paul, following hard after Jesus, experienced all such hatred of men for Christ’s dear sake:

“But thou hast fully known my doctrine (seemingly a dirty word to some church leaders today!), manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.” (2 Timothy 3:10-11)

“The cleaving of David’s spirit was a gluing of the Lord’s Spirit; a marriage of the Lord’s making is altogether incapable of the Devil’s breaking.”  (Alexander Pringle 1657 “…a worthless servant to Christ in the work of His Gospel…”, in, ‘A Stay in Trouble; or, The Saint’s Rest in the Evil Day’.

Such persecutors and tormenters of genuine Christ-serving Christians, are not completely aware, or are often completely unaware, that they are being used of Satan to treat believers in this diabolical fashion.  Their father, the Devil, merely inspires them to do so, and off they go to fulfil his vile will and purpose.  Those that are not redeemed by Christ, He defines as ‘the Devil’s children’.

“Why do ye not understand My speech?   Even because ye cannot hear My Word.  Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts (whims, will) of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:43-44)

Yet, all such unsaved, reprobate (rejected by God) persons, have their own personal responsibility for this sin perpetrated, and sad to say, must reap the severe punishments reserved by God for their actions against ‘His people’ in Christ.  They are doubly guilty, and declared to be so by the Lord.

Verse 9.  “But they that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.  Every blow aimed against the godly  will recoil on the persecutor; he who smites a believer drives a nail in his own coffin.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 276)

Bible Expositor, Matthew Henry comments:  “Those that follow hard after God, would soon fail, if God's right hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us and comforts us. The psalmist doubts not but that though now sowing in tears, he should reap in joy. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God; he is already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will be completed at his second coming. Blessed Lord, let our desire towards Thee increase every hour; let our love be always upon Thee; let all our enjoyment be in Thee, and all our satisfaction from Thee. Be Thou all in all to us while we remain in the present wilderness state, and bring us home to the everlasting enjoyment of Thee forever.”  (Matthew Henry's 1662-1714, Concise Commentary on the Bible, Psalms 63)

Online commentary, Enduring Word commenting on Psalm 63, says:

Verse 9. “But those who seek my life, to destroy it: David’s deep communion with God did not take away his problems. There were still those who wanted to kill him. According to its title, Psalm 63 was written from the Wilderness of Judah and David was in the wilderness hiding from a conspiracy to kill him.”  (Enduring Word online)

Verse 10. “They shall fall by the sword: David trusted God to deal with his enemies, especially with King Saul. In God’s time and in God’s way, David’s enemies did fall by the sword, which has the sense of being killed in battle.” 

(Enduring Word online: Enduring Word exists to promote the work of Christian discipleship and evangelism worldwide, mainly through the publication and dissemination of the Bible teaching work of David Guzik and likeminded people.)

Thought: When we seek the Lord early, and serve the risen Christ faithfully and earnestly – we shall have deadly enemies – but the Lord God deals with all our enemies without fail.  Standing fast in faith, the believer is assured of Divine protection, help, and full assurance of Salvation in Christ Jesus.  Glory to His Name!

Deeper Spiritual Intimacy for Early Seekers! Psalm 63:8

Text: “My soul followeth (follows, and continues to follow) hard after Thee: Thy right hand upholdeth (upholds, and continues to uphold) me" 

Psalm 63:8.

Good morning, Christian seeking Christ’s intimacy!  The Spirit of God has quickened you, made you alive to the love and truth of Christ Jesus, and He has become both your Saviour and your Lord.  You are born again, Spiritually regenerated by God’s free grace to sinners; and now you are seeking a more mature intimacy and knowledge of the One Who has redeemed your never-dying soul.  Praise God, you do well to seek that intimacy early in your Christian life! 

Too many today, in this increasingly Laodicean church-age of the 21^st Century, get saved, then they get stuck in the class of ‘babes in Christ’ and fail to experience the wonder of early intimacy with that blessed Lamb of God.  Too often such believers go through life as ‘half-baked Christians’, always having to be spoon fed by a Pastor; never reaching a maturity of Bible-believing faith; faith that is most necessary if the saved soul is to serve the Master, Jesus, and further His Kingdom.

There is what Paul describes as ‘the milk’ of God’s Word; and there is what he has called ‘the meat’ of God’s Word – and, to the shame of many church groups today, we find full congregations of those who have been gloriously saved by the ministry of God the Holy Spirit’s grace, yet remain in a ‘saved and stuck’ position of being ‘babes in Christ’! 

This should not be, beloved Christian.  We are saved by childlike faith and trust in Christ; but not one of us are encouraged to remain in that novice position, we are commanded to “…Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever.  Amen (So be it!).”  (2 Peter 3:18)

The apostle Paul is seen to admonishing the Corinthian church on this same matter.  God the Spirit teaches us through this inspiration today: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto Spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk (light, easy lessons from God’s Word), and not with meat (more mature doctrinal lessons contained in God’s Word): for (the reason why) hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.  For ye are yet carnal.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

God’s Word commands us to grow in maturity of faith, to follow hard after Christ Jesus; to study earnestly, in private Bible studies alone with the Lord God; and to seek hard after a truer Spiritual intimacy with the Almighty Lord God of wrath against all sin.

Heed the alarm!  We are to be ‘workmen/workwomen’, not work-babes in Christ!

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman (workwoman) that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.”  (2 Timothy 2:15-16)

Check out the Spiritual intimacy followed hard after by Christian believers just a couple of hundred years ago.  Let’s you and I ask ourselves: Am I, personally, following hard after this intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus?  Have I been earnestly seeking early after God?

Check out also the sound instruction featured in hymns/songs of an earlier church age below:  Praise and worship in that time was never ‘just another gig!’.  Take heed!

“Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me, Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee. Refrain: Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!”  (Hymn written by Sarah Flower Adams 1841)

“Sarah Flower Adams was a British actress who received praise for her performance in an 1837 production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. After health problems disrupted her plans to continue with theatre, she found comfort in writing poems and hymns.

“Her most notable hymn, “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” came about in 1841 when Adam’s pastor was looking for a hymn for the following week’s sermon on Genesis 28:11-19, which is referred to by many as “Jacob’s ladder,” or “Jacob’s dream.” Adams offered to write the hymn and completed it within a week to go along with the pastor’s sermon. The hymn was originally set to music written by her sister, Eliza Flower, but another hymn-tune called “BETHANY,” written by Lowell Mason in 1856, has become most widely recognized and is most familiar to listeners today.”  (The Tabernacle Choir Blog, online)

The great hymn-writer, Frances J. Crosby caught the urgency of Spiritual intimacy with Christ, and an early drawing close to the Lord God, and she penned these words below:

1.    I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

o   Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

2.    Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

3.    Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

4.    There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Frances J. Crosby, published 1875.

Thought: Those that desire God’s intimate Presence are guided and upheld by His hand – “…Thy right hand upholdeth me.”  Come, let’s get serious about our faith!

The Early-Seekers Deep Desire! Psalm 63:8

Text:  “My soul followeth (follows, and continues to follow) hard after Thee: Thy right hand upholdeth (upholds, and continues to uphold) me.”

Psalm 63:8.

          “Follow peace with all men, and Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”

Hebrews 12:14-15.

Good morning, early-pursuing Christian!  Maturity of faith has taught you and me that the Lord’s Presence is a vital, totally essential, necessity, if you are to claim to be a true and genuine follower of the risen Christ Jesus – with all such attendant hindrances and oppositions encountered daily, as you seek to earnestly and effectively serve the Lord. 

Seeing and having experienced many of the dangers salt-bearing Christians face continually – you have learned, as I have, the necessity of seeking God’s face early, and pursuing hard after His Presence in a pro-active manner.

God’s Holy Presence in close fellowship, is the deepest desire of the genuine Spirit-born Christian believer.  Oh the wondrous love of Almighty Lord God!

“As a bird sheltered in the rich foliage from the heat of the sun sings its merry notes; so he celebrates his songs of praise from the shadow of the wings of God.”  (Augustus F. Tholuck1799-1877)

Human relationships give us Christians something of an instructive insight into our Spiritual relationship with Almighty Lord God Jehovah.  In Christ Jesus, and through Christ Jesus, and in the mysterious power of God the Holy Ghost, we experience the Divine Presence as a Spiritual intermingling of what is merely human and what is wondrously Divine and Holy; it is an experience that mere words could never come near expressing in full; a Divine gift of sheer bliss, that only the born again soul can experience in Christ Jesus.  Thinking more profoundly of such an intimate experience with the Creator Lord God of Heaven and earth – would melt the mind with soul-gratitude and worshipful love for the Lord.

God’s Presence in Heaven will be an experience that is in every way ‘out of this world’!

“…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9)

“Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy Presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”  (Psalm 16:11)

Verse 8. “My soul followeth hard after Thee.  This is the language of a good man in his worst frames; for when he has lost his nearness to God, he will be uneasy till he has again obtained it and will follow after it with all his might.  It is also his language in his best frames; for when he knows and enjoys most of God he wants to know and enjoy more.  Not earth nor Heaven merely is the object of pursuit, but God Himself.  (Condensed from Benjamin Beddome’s Sermon, ‘The Christian’s Pursuit’ in ‘Short Discourses' 1717-1795)

The human experience we have of the rules of intimacy with one’s spouse holds many lesser, yet most relevant, hints for a close, or closer, relationship with our Holy Lord God.

1. Human intimacy requires a profound and sincere two-way relationship.

“And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet (fit) for him…And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”  (Genesis 2:18; 22-24)

“Marvel not that I say unto thee, Ye MUST be born again.”  (John 3:3-8)

2. Both humans interacting must be in good speaking terms (fellowship) with each other.

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

3.  Intimacy is more probable when relations are close and mutually pleasing.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he/she that cometh to God must believe that He is (exists), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

4.  Wronged spouses cannot react with right intimacy – sin separates us from God.

“Take heed to yourselves: if they brother (or spouse) trespass against thee, rebuke him/her; and if he/she repent, forgive him/her.  And if he/she trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him/her.” (Luke 17:3-4)

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)

“If we confess our sins, He (the Lord) is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (1 John 1:9) 

Intimate fellowship with God can be promptly resumed, when we seek His forgiveness early!

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Make me to hear joy and gladness (intimacy with God); that the bones which Thou has broken may rejoice.  Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right (constant) spirit within me.  Cast me not away from Thy Presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy (intimacy) of Thy Salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.”  (Psalm 51:7012)

“The primary sense is agglutinavit, to glue together; from thence it signifies figuratively to associate, to adhere to, to be united with; and particularly to be firmly united with strong affection.  ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife’; properly, be closely united and compacted with his wife with the most permanent affection.” (Samuel Chandler 1693-1766)

Early pursuing the love of Christ brings with it a deep desire to know the Lord in a most intimately Spiritual manner.  My next lesson will deal further with this wonderful desire.

Thought: We fellowship with God in prayer – the Lord fellowships with us in His Word.  This is the new nature of a true and genuine soul converted to Christ Jesus.