The Hunger
Psalms 84:1-84:3
6, November 2005
Dakota Community Church
The Hunger
When do we first recognize it? Is it in our early twenties, late teens, earlier perhaps?
That sense that something is missing, that there must be more to life than what we are experiencing.
Quote:
"All men seek happiness. This is without exception.
Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.
The will never takes the least step but to this object.
This is the motive of every action of every man, even those who hang themselves."
Blaise Pascal
C. S. Lewis said it this way:
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
King David knew the longing.
Psalm 84:1-3
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
The hunger is the central driving force in our lives.
When we don’t realize that it is a desire for eternity that God has put in our hearts, we can really mess things up trying to deal with it.
Here are four of the ways:
1. The escape artists.
Some of us deal with the hunger by trying to escape from it.
- We try to drown it in drink.
- We try to sedate it with drugs.
- We suffocate it with sugar and salt.
- We try to indulge it with pornography or gambling.
All of these provide momentary escapes; short bursts of pleasure that carry long range pain, these temporary fixes only serve to fuel the fire of what our hearts are really longing for.
If you have been using one of these or some other distraction to escape from your longing, to fill the space then please stop!
Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life
2. The sleepwalkers.
Some of us deal with the hunger by trying to ignore it.
Is there really a special purpose for my life?. Does God really care what happens to me?
After a while event after event that we do not like or understand begins to eat away our belief that we are special, that we are a part of some great and grand design of God.
If we were really special wouldn’t God have - fill in the blank.
We convince ourselves to settle.
We begin to believe that this is all there is to life.
Quote:
"The glory of God is man fully alive."
Saint Irenaeus
God has staked His reputation on us coming fully alive! - John 10:10
Have you made the mistake of confusing a water hole for the ocean?
Ephesians 5:13-14
But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light.
Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you and give you light.
3. The runners.
Some of us deal with the hunger by getting full bore into the rat race.
One thing after another we try to satisfy the hunger with things.
- A partner
- A family
- More money
- A new car
- Bigger house
Runners are on the move to the thing that will satisfy the hunger and from the last thing after it didn’t.
Luke 12: 22-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus says "relax, rest, come to the Father, My yoke is easy!
Life is not easy for the runners.
There is one last group we need to consider, we need to be a part of this last group.
4. The few at rest.
Those who take there hunger to Him, and find peace.
Psalm 16:11
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Hebrews 4: 1-3
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest.
Conclusion:
Exodus 33:12-23
Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, ’Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ’I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
God reveals Himself first as "I Am".
He shows Moses, "Where I just was." or "My back".
God is not conformed to our rules. The minute you have it all figured out, you are no longer dealing with a God.
The surrounding nations had gods of fire, water, harvest, fertility, things that you could get your head around.
God says I am not that kind of God. Come pursue Me, and I will show Myself to You.
Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Where are you taking your hunger?
Bring it to God, and find rest.
PowerPoint available on request - dcormie@mts.net
