Sermon #1152
Title: My Desire Is Before Thee
Text: Psalm 38:9
Scripture Reading: Psalm 38:1-22
Tape #Q-26
Date: Sunday Morning - July 17, 1994
Introduction:
A long, long time ago a young preacher in London,
England spent the afternoon with an older, veteran gospel preacher whom he
greatly admired and from whom he learned much.
The year was 1768. The young
preacher was Augustus Toplady who wrote many of our best hymns. Toplady wrote “Rock of Ages.” The older preacher was a Mr.
Brewer. I know absolutely nothing about
Mr. Brewer except what he told Toplady that hot July afternoon in London more
than 200 years ago. Toplady thought his
words were worth writing down; and I’m glad he did. This is what Mr. Brewer said to the 28 year
old preacher, Augustus Toplady:
“I cannot conclude without reminding you, my young
brother of some things that may be of use to you in the course of your
ministry:
1. Preach Christ crucified, and dwell cheifly on
the blessing resulting from his righteousness, atonement, and intercession.
2. Avoid all needless controversies in the
pulpit; except it be when your subject necessarily requires it; or when the
truths of God are likely to suffer by your silence.
3. When you ascend the pulpit, leave your
learning behind you. Endeavor to preach
more to the hearts of your people than to their heads.
4. Do not affect too much oratory. Seek rather to profit than to be admired.
I cannot imagine four more needful
admonitions. Every preacher needs to be
constantly reminding himself of these things.
I try to give heed to them every time I preach to you and I shall do so
today. I am going to talk to you today
about the desires of my heart. In doing
so, I want to speak to your heart for the glory of God. Let me tell you three things by way of
introduction. Then I will be very brief
in bringing my message.
1. I am a sinner. I mean by that that I am fully convinced that
I completely deserve the everlasting torments of God’s wrath in hell.
— I was born in sin
(Ps. 51:5)
— I chose to live in
sin (Ps. 58:3)
— I naturally love sin
and hate righteousness (Eph. 2:1-3)
— I despised God’s grace, blasphemed his son, and refused to seek his grace with the
pride and rebellion of hell itself.
— I have never done
and can never do a righteous thing!
2. But God has saved me by his free and
sovereign grace in Christ, his dear son. (I Cor. 6:9-11)
— God the father chose
me in eternal, free love (John 15:16)
— God the son redeemed
me with his own blood. (Gal 2:20)
— God the Holy Spirit
called me by his almighty grace (Eph 2:1-4)
— I was cast out as an
unwanted thing. But he came to me in the time of love (Eph 16:8)
— I was dead, beyond
the reach of any who might want to help, but he raised me up (Ezek 37)
— Like Mephibosheth, I
was in the place of misery and want, hiding from the Lord, but he fetched me to himself (II Sam 7)
— Like Gomer, I
brought myself to ruin, but he brought me to his house and his banner over me was love (Hosea 2)
— I am by nature a
worthless piece of sinful flesh, of use to no one and good for nothing; but God has saved me, forgiven all my
sins forever, and made me an heir of heaven. (Rom 8:17)
— On top of all that,
he has put me in the ministry and made me an instrument of good to some (I Cor. 1:26-31)
3. In the light of these things, it should be
obvious to all, but with me it is a matter of constantly increasing conviction that I
owe everything to my God and Savior, who has delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
(I Cor 6:19-20)
These are not matters of theory and doctrinal
othodoxy, but matters of experience and deep conviction. For more than 27 years now, I have been the
conscious and constant recipient of God’s infinite, amazing
grace. I have not yet gotten over the
wonder of this fact: The Lord God saved me.
I am truly amazed by that!
Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch
like me!
I once was lost, but
now am found,
‘Twas blind, but now I
see!
All that I have experienced of God’s grace has inspired and constantly presses upon me the pursuit of five
great desires. Turn with me to Psalm
38:9: “Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my
groaning is not hid from thee.”
Proposition:
The desires of a man’s heart are those
things for which he groans and labors, without which he cannot be content and
satisfied.
Let me talk to you for a few minutes about my
desires. Here are five things I wrote
down in the back of a book one day years ago when I was studying a prayer I
wrote out to God. I have never shared
them with anyone before. But I think the
Lord has directed me to share them with you today. I trust he will make them the desires of your
heart too. Note: I long ago gave up and
nailed to the cross of Christ all aspirations and ambitions for fame, power,
property, wealth, and even earthly tranquility and ease. Do not misunderstand me. My flesh craves all those things; but my
heart craves freedom from the bondage of those things.
Here are the desires of my heart, the things for
which my heart groans before the Lord:
I. First, being convinced of my sin and
condemnation before the holy Lord God, I desire the favor of God. Psalm 119:58. - “I entreated thy favor with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according
to thy word.”
A. I know that God’s favor is in Christ.
(Ps. 89:17)
B. I know that I have God’s favor. (Eph 1:6)
C. I know that God’s favor is my
strength. (Ps. 30:7)
So long as I am
conscious of God’s favor, I am strong. No one can terrify me. No trouble can destroy me. But there are times when the Lord God hides
his face from me and I am troubled. (Ps.
30:7)
1. We must never presume upon God’s favor, making it a matter of indifference.
2. We must never be content not to walk in the
consciousness of God’s favor.
3. When we have lost that sweet conscious
awareness of God’s favor, we must diligently seek it. (Heb 4:16, Song 5:2-16)
II. Secondly, with every fiber of my soul, I want
to be conformed to the image of God.
I want to be like my
God. The image of God is Jesus
Christ. I want to be like him. I know that one day soon I shall be like him
in glory, perfectly holy and without sin.
God predestinated it. (Rom. 8:29)
— Christ died to
secure it. (Eph. 5:25-27)
— The Holy Spirit
preserves me for it. (Eph. 1:13-14,
4:30)
But I want to live in
this world as Christ lived in this world.
A. I want to love you. (John 13:35)
B. I want to serve you. (John 13:15) “Not to be ministered unto.”
C. I want to forgive you. (John 8:21)
D. I want to teach you
E. I want to help you along the way to heaven.
(Phil 2:10)
Illustration: Bob Pomen and his brother - “He worries about me.”
— “Bear ye one another’s burdens.”
— “Rejoice with those that rejoice.”
— “Weep with those that weep.”
III Thirdly, knowing
something of the task that lies before me, I desire and my heart groans for the
presence of God. (Ex. 33:14-15)
Nothing can give us
rest in this world of trouble but the conscious awareness of God’s presence.
A. I cannot lead God’s people without his presence.
B. I cannot endure the trials and temptations of
life without God’s presence.
(Isa. 42:10, 43:1-7)
C. I cannot live peacefully in a world of
trouble without God’s presence.
(Phil 4:4-7)
D. I cannot worship without his presence (Mt.
18:20)
E. I cannot die with confidence without God’s presence.
IV. Fourthly, I have learned and am continually
reminded that it is never best for me to have my will. I don’t know what I need and what is best for me. So I crave in my very soul the will of
God. I have learned from my Savior to
pray, “Not my will, thy will be done.”
Now listen carefully
to what I am saying.
A. I want to be obedient to God’s revealed will. Whatever God
reveals in his word, I want the grace to obey. (Ps. 5:8, 86:11)
1. His doctrine must be my doctrine.
2. His ordinances are my duty.
3. His word must be the rule of my life.
B. I want to walk daily conforming to his will,
seeking to do what he directs me to do.
(Prov. 3:5-6)
C. I want God to bring to pass his providential will. (Rom. 8:28).
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt the truthfulness of Cowper’s hymn:
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
If I had my life to
live all over again and could choose whatever I wanted, I would walk the same
paths, endure the same heartaches, experience the same troubles, weep the same
tears, and visit the same graves as I have because all this has been done by
the good and wise will of my heavenly father!
He knows and does what is best. I
don’t and cant!
D. Moreover, I want God to perform all the good
pleasure of his eternal will. I want God
to do exactly what he has predestinated that he will do. (Eph 1:11) This is how
our Lord taught us to pray: “Thy will be done.” (Matt. 6:9-11)
V. Fifthly, unless I am deceived, this is what I
want above everything in this world - The Glory of God, “the Lord be magnified.” (Ps. 35:27, 40:16,
70:4)
A. Let my doctrine be the doctrine that
glorifies God.
— Divine Sovereignty
— Blood Atonement
— Salvation by Grace
B. Let everything in the house of God be done
for the glory of God. (I Cor. 10:31)
— Every Song
— Every Prayer
— Every Sermon
— Every Ordinance
— Every Activity
C. Let my home be a place where God is
glorified. (Eph. 5:18) - “As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord”
D. Let my life be lived and let it be ended for
the glory of my God.
E. Indeed I rejoice to know that all things
shall glorify the Lord my God. (Rom.
11:33-36)
— You will and I will. (His
justice or his grace) (Eph. 2:1, Rev. 19:1-6)
— All things will! (Rev 5:13-14)
Application: “Lord, all my desire
is before thee; and my groanings are not hid from thee.” This is what I desire. These are the things for which my very heart
groans....
1. The favor of God
2. The Image of God
3. The presence of God
4. The will of God
5. The glory of God.
These are the aspirations of my heart. Here’s a hymn I wrote
yesterday after preparing for this message.
We will sing it next Sunday, the Lord willing.
I would be weaned and
emptied too
Of earth and self,
and all but you
Surrendered to the
crucified,
Only in love with Christ,
who died.
Preserve me from the
noise and strife,
The best, the pomp,
the pride of life.
For heav’n alone my heart prepare,
Let all my affections
be there.
My savior’s steps force me to trace
Pursuing naught but
holiness
This path, with Jesus
Christ in view,
By grace to heaven I’ll pursue.
Nothing but Jesus
would I know,
Nothing but your will
would I do.
Lord, take my heart,
assert your right,
And put all rival
loves to flight.
My dearest idols,
Lord remove
By violent grace, and
make me love
Nothing but Christ,
who lived for me
And died from sin to
set me free!
The sins I hate, help
me to slay,
And consecrate myself
today
To live for Jesus
Christ alone,
Until my work on
earth is done.