WILDERNESS PRAISE

Howdy do...hungry and thirsty Kingdom Seekers....have ya been in the wilderness? Have ya been hiding out in the wilderness from your own personal Absalom's....(see II Samuel 15 and Psalm 3 and Psalm 63 for insights into David's wilderness experience). The question is...what do you do in a dry and thirsty land where no water is?

The first collage represents my connection to PSALM 63. I read the book SCOTT FREE...by Scott Ross (you can go to the CBN website and read the chapters on line). It was the Scott Ross connection where I first heard about a guitar player named PHIL KEAGGY. Phil was in a group called GLASS HARP... and had left that group after a commitment to Jesus and ended up in Freeville New York at a Christian community called LOVE INN. Scott Ross was a New York disk jockey who ran in the circle with recording stars of the 60's (he married Nedra Talley one of the Ronnettes). Scott became a Christian and worked with Pat Robertson to spread the Word of God to the youth via radio and Jesus music interspersed with music of the times on THE SCOTT ROSS SHOW. In this community...Phil was discipled by a man named TED SANDQUIST...and also played in THE PHIL KEAGGY BAND (aka PKB). Scott and Ted did a teaching called A NEW SONG FOR A NEW AGE (also another life changing teaching for me was MAKING MEN OF GOD). Ted and Scott were teaching and during the teaching they would take time to teach the students songs that were being created at LOVE INN...that were more than just 3 chords and a rhyme. They were songs that were thought out...intricate at time...and were vertical more than horizontal (this was before the worship genre of today). The album featured the musicians, singers, worshippers at LOVE INN...including Phil, Nedra, Ted, etc. The teaching series also had the words and chords to the music. At that time I was a "song leader" (this was before the term worship leader, creative arts, etc was utilized)...at a church called NEW LIFE CHAPEL. I introduced songs like LION OF JUDAH...YOUR STEADFAST LOVE...HE IS MY LIGHT (Psalm 27)... ALL THAT I CAN DO...SELAH (an instrumental by Phil that I could not play)....COURTS OF THE KING...and the song that this Rambling is about...PSALM 63.

This was a Psalm that David wrote when he was in the wilderness of Judah... hiding out from his rebellious son Absalom. (Read II Samuel 15 and Psalm 3 for more details). This place called the wilderness always has a special place for God's people...it was a route to the promised land...it was a place of rebellion and 40 years of circles...it was a place where the Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by the devil...and come out the other side full of the Spirit to begin his ministry... and for David it was a refuge from his enemies. Whatever it is...in it's loneliness it can be a place of divine intervention and supply...IF...I said IF...you choose to make it that place.

WILDERNESS: (1) eremos=lonesome, waste, desert, desolate, solitary
(2) midbar=the sense of driving...a pasture that is an open field where cattle are driven...a desert.

NOTE: An interesting meaning for me as a Speech Pathologist is...speech including it's organ. It is this part of the wilderness definition that David will utilize as he was in this lonely place.


This next collection of pictures are from my first trip to Kenya Africa. The first two pictures are cisterns for fresh water in the midst of a dry place...and the next one is me refreshed in the Lord with Lake Victoria. Water was everywhere but you still had to make sure it was drinkable. When I was flying over Kenya in a propeller plane...we were low enough to see the land...the animals...the people... and the Lord spoke to me that the brown, dry land...interspersed with lush, green, foliage...was the condition of Africa...the people of Africa...the people of the world...and last by not least...MY CONDITION. He spoke that PEOPLE NEED THE LORD...to be refreshed in the dry land. The last picture in this collage is a storefront church that I saw. It was in a city...that had sorrow surrounding it...and was like an oasis...a place where people could be refreshed.

David's Psalm 63 has a subtitle of Joy In The Fellowship of God (A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah).

David first states his problem/condition and then continues on with the solutions by making declarations of faith...and utilizes his body parts...to make these PRAISES (shabach/shah=vahch)= To commend, praise, to adore; to glory in something; to be still or quiet, or pacify someone. Shaback goes in two directions (1) praising (2) calming. The other 3 references speak either about calming the tumultuous sea (Psalm 65:7; Psalm 89:9) or about hushing up things within one's heart (Proverbs 29:11) There appears to be a connection between praising with words and soothing with words). [The Spirit-Filled Bible notes)

Note...this principle is very pivotal about how...your internal...influences your external. That is why David would tell his internal (his soul) to bless the Lord (Psalm 103:1-5). There is and can be a dynamic shift in the atmosphere/environment around you by what is going on within your heart. If you are not at peace...then you will stir things up around you...but that's for another Rambling at another time.

David begins Psalm 63 with a declaration of who God is to him...O GOD YOU ARE MY GOD. Not a god...but my God. David makes the choice of not dragging himself out of bed at 10 or 11 o'clock...or if he does get up earlier...does not turn on the T.V. to check the latest bad news about the world...EARLY WILL I SEEK YOUR FACE. David choose to SEEK God...in the middle of a dry place...when he did not see...or have things revealed to his senses (Hebrews 11:1 The Amplified Bible).

David's internal and external...his soul and his flesh...desired God. MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR YOU AND MY FLESH LONGS FOR YOU. I think that sometimes...I don't drink water...and don't realize that I am getting dehydrated. Sometimes...I may go for days with out realizing that I have not been drinking from the living waters...but from the soda pop of the world...and I am not getting quenched. Oh that I would hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

David speaks of the condition of the land he is in...where is thirsty and longing...IN A DRY AND THIRSTY LAND...WHERE THERE IS NO WATER. We know that even in our wilderness...where there is no water...there is a rock...and that rock is called the ANOINTING.
(I Corinthians 10:1-4). You can either dry up in the wilderness...or stay hydrated by the anointed rock.

SO....David looks for provision in the proper place...SO I HAVE LOOKED FOR YOU IN THE SANCTUARY...TO SEE YOUR POWER AND YOUR GLORY. What will get you through your WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE is...(1) His Power (2) His Glory.

Now...we have shifted from the PROBLEM and begin to press into the SOLUTION. David now is taking his faith...his desires...his needs and using his body as an instrument of righteousness (Romans 6:13; Romans 12:1,2)

David declares...the reason why he looks for Him in the sanctuary...for the purpose of seeing His power and glory...BECAUSE YOUR LOVINGKINDNESS IS BETTER THAN LIFE. The cause and effect of this is by faith utilizing his BODY to change his external. Remember...everything of the kingdom on our part starts within. With the Holy Spirit inside of us...we begin to worship. If you try to change situations and circumstances FIRST from the outside...in hopes that your inward condition will change...you are in the realm of works and not grace (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5) The definition of grace is (1) free gift (2) unmerited favor (3) the divine influence in the heart...manifested in the life.

BODY WORSHIP

1. LIPS: My LIPS shall PRAISE you. By doing this...David acknowledges the cause and effect of this act of faith...thus I will bless you WHILE I LIVE

2. HANDS: I will LIFT UP MY HANDS in Your name. "They won't break..." (Wayne Berry). The lifting of hands is liberating from cold religion. It is a sign of surrender...a sign of reaching up to our solutions...signs of wanting to climb into the lap of Daddy (Abba Father) and a sign of receiving from the Father.

3. SOUL: The seat of our emotions...the totality of who we are...our minds (what we think and reason with), our will/volition/free choice (what we choose based on what we think), and our emotions (the barometer of our internal...but that's for another Rambling). My SOUL SHALL BE SATISFIED WITH MARROW (fat) and FATNESS (abundance). David speaks of provision where there is no physical visible provision.

4. MOUTH: The place of articulation, release of thoughts, verbal expression of inward thoughts. NOTE: Remember the definition of wilderness at the beginning of this Rambling. The last one was ...SPEECH...including it's organs. This is where David is at now with his declarations of faith. AND MY MOUTH SHALL PRAISE YOU...

5. LIPS: Connected to the mouth...the launching pad of praise...and my MOUTH shall PRAISE you WITH JOYFUL LIPS. Not pity party lips...not lips based on the condition of the situation...but JOYFUL LIPS.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Well there is more to the Psalm...but that's enough for now. Just know that the enemies will be dealt with and the wilderness experience will come to an end. The desired results will be manifested...but before the manifestation there has to be a shift and change in the external manifested with your spirit (little s), soul, and your body.

Love and WET Kisses
Rodney "Delivered From My Enemies" Boyd