Welcome to CROWD Church! In this weeks episode - the first of our non-live livestreams - Dan Orange talks all about Psalm 63, diving deep into its biblical power and exploring the idea of Gods faithfulness through our trials. Dan gives fascinating insights, contextualising the Psalm through King David’s experiences and exemplifying it meaning in a modern context through Corrie Ten Boom.

Key Takeaways:

1. Seek God Earnestly in All Circumstances: Psalm 63 emphasizes the importance of seeking God with all our hearts, especially during difficult times. Dan Orange illustrates this through David’s experiences and personal reflections, encouraging us to find our satisfaction and sustenance in God's love, even when we face challenges and uncertainties.
2. Historical and Personal Connections Enhance Understanding:Dan connects the historical context of David's life to contemporary experiences, showing how the psalm remains relevant today. He shares how music and personal stories, such as those of Tree 63 and Corrie Ten Boom, can deepen our understanding and connection to the scriptures, providing comfort and inspiration.
3. Faith Sustains Us Through Trials:The stories of David and Corrie Ten Boom highlight that faith in God provides strength and resilience in the face of adversity. Dan underscores the necessity of remembering God's past faithfulness, relying on His unchanging nature, and trusting in His protection and provision during our own wilderness experiences.

If this weeks talk resonates with you make sure to check out everything we do here at CROWD church, from our weekly Sunday Livestreams to our Podcast show Whats the Story.

Psalm 63

Dan's going to explore the transcript. Transformative power and what it means to earnestly seek God, even in our darkest moments. So get ready, get ready to be challenged and uplifted as Dan shares the incredible true story of Corrie Tambu, a woman who found unshakable joy in the midst of a concentration camp, as odd as that sounds.

So stay tuned for insights that will deepen your faith in God and His protection, no matter what challenges you face. But before we begin Dan gets into that. If you're a regular to Crowd Church, then you will notice that this live stream works a little bit different, isn't it? Our live streams are usually buzzing with energy, with real time engagement and responses from the hosts in what we call Conversation Street.

We believe in the importance of Sabbath and in terms of, uh, and, and taking rest and a time off to renew. Our spirits and regain our strength so pray for us during this time you're going to see a scheduled video going out each week as usual but we call it the non live live stream because although it goes out as a live stream it's not technically live because our regular real time responses Just aren't going to be there.

We're going to be stepping back a little bit from the live stream. We play the talk, but there's no real conversation street. But that said, uh, even though we're not going to be hosting the streams, many of us will still be in the comments, engaging with you, whether that's on YouTube Facebook or wherever.

Now, if this is your first time with us, a very, very huge welcome to you. You can find out more information about Crowd Church on our website, which is www. crowd. church. And so yeah, go over there, find out more information. So that's it from me. We look forward to This time of renewal, we hope that the powerful words of this psalm will bring peace, comfort, and inspiration to your life.

Thanks for sticking with us throughout August. We can't wait to reconnect with you in September, live, refreshed, and ready to continue our journey together. Now remember, at Crowd, you're always welcome here. So we'll see you in the comments. That's enough from me. Here's Dan.

Dan Orange: Psalm 63. You, God, are my God.

Because you're my help. I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you. Your right hand upholds me. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed. They will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the King will rejoice in God. All who swear by God will glory in Him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

I quite enjoy them and they're quite, um, like I said before, quite honest. They're quite, um, open with God and also chose this psalm because it's quite a complete psalm. It's got a good beginning, a middle, and an end. Shouts of our need for God is love for us. How he supplies our need, our sustenance, and is the ultimate judge.

I believe it's good to be honest with God. He can take it. He knows what's going on already, so I'd say let's not hide anything from him, but be open with him. Reading the Psalms, this is a big theme of David's songs. He shouts at God, he cries out to Him, praises Him, honours Him, and he writes about the good times as well as the bad times.

He was in a pretty dire situation. He was hiding and on watch for the enemy, and he was held up in the wilderness in a dry and weary land. And at that time also, he'd gone up to the Mount of Olives which is the same place Jesus went on his last night before being crucified. It's interesting, isn't it, how God links places and messages through the Bible.

Um, and he wrote this psalm, but those in this situation, it's a joyful song. It doesn't reflect his outward situation. Verse three says, because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. He glorifies in, glories in God when his outward situation doesn't seem to glorify God. He's a king in hiding, but God's love to him is worth more than his own life.

I love it. The message is a paraphrased version of the whole Bible. It's brilliant for understanding God's heart and his storytelling, his greatness in a more um, modern language. I'll often read a passage in a standard version and a message, a standard version and then in the message, so as to understand it a bit more, um, where the author's coming from.

So we've got David talking about God's, God satisfies him, um, with just more than, I mean, he was a king as well. He was, he knew what great food was, but God satisfies him more than food, more than. Everything that, you know, a man could want. Um, but these things are often easy to talk about in the good times, aren't they?

There are the times when it can be hard to look to God to open his word, to pray to him. But David wrote them when he was in the midst of troubles and he was able to remember the good times when God has helped him and worshipped him, even when it was tough. What if the tough times we're in are long?

Um, if I, if I live by my feelings, I'll be all over the place. Feelings change, but God remains the same. I also love to read about others that have been in trouble and God has helped comforted me and learned from their situation. And, and with that in mind, I would like to introduce you to a lady called Corrie Ten Boom.

There's a famous, well, pretty famous book called The Hiding Place, which is a wonderful and extremely challenging book. I've just read it again and listening to it and driving down the motorway and not, trying not to cry too much so I don't, so I don't crash. It just, it challenges you that, um, blood can do so much in a horrific situation.

So her father and sister lived in a small house. They loved God. were well known in the neighbourhood for their peaceful and helping nature. They ran a watchmaker shop and were known by the community. But as the treatment of the Jews in Holland started to mirror that of what was happening in Nazi Germany, more and more of their neighbours and colleagues who were Jews started to be persecuted, started being mistreated, or just disappeared.

So they started doing all they could to hide and protect Jews. They built a false wall and a secret room in their own house to keep them safe. Because of this, many were saved. They ran a whole network to safely smuggle the Jews out of Holland and to safer places. However, she and her family were eventually caught and put in a concentration camp.

Learning to thank God, even, even for lice. You need to read that. You need to read this story, how in the camp, she and her sister worshipped God and prayed for those around her, even the guards. Many became Christians because of her and her sister, and many, many more since her release through her books and her public speaking.

And those wilderness places in our life, they could be like that, could be very physical or spiritual hard places, but they're often the place we need to be at, at that time. And Corrie Book Ten Boom said this, you can never learn that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have. I'll read that again.

You can never learn that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have. So when we're at the deepest places or what we think are the hardest places in our lives, we have to rely on him. And that's when we can find out who God is, more of him. Matt, in one of his talks on identity, just a few weeks ago, asked the question, are we prepared to ask for trials, knowing that trials inspire us and bring us closer to him.

So going back to the psalm, David was in the wilderness. He was earnestly seeking for God, says his whole being longed for him. We need to thirst for God, we need, the world offers many water alternatives, but they can't quench us, they can't satisfy. But David had known God, he'd recovered the Ark of the Covenant, he'd sat down before the Lord and prayed, he'd known his God, he was all powerful.

God did indeed deliver Goliath into his hand through David's skill of using his sling that he'd picked up over the long and hard days and nights of guarding his flock. So David had been through the training and long days just on his own looking after the flock for that, perhaps just that one point in his life.

I might not have slain a giant, but he's provided jobs for me, he's healed my neck after I slipped a disc, I've seen people run down the road after they went into a meeting with crutches and they came out just not needing them. He's changed my heart to love others. And that, that in itself is amazing, that he's given me compassion for people.

Then he comes to a point in the psalm where he's in the battle, has to get up in the watch of the night to keep watch because people are around him. This is real. There's danger around. When there's danger, we might not even be able to trust our past or our own stories, but we can trust in the nature of God.

The right hand is often, often used in the Bible to show strength and protection. I'm no theologian, but from many verses that mention his right hand or sitting at the right hand of the Father, this is a place of strength. It's a place of honour and a place where that person is one with God. Jesus at the right hand of the Father, Psalm says, his right hand uphold me.

He God's protections over me. The Tree 63 song I mentioned at the start, um, the song finishes with the lion. My soul clings to you and I just pray that my soul and and your soul, our souls would clinging to God. God I know is always with us, and I'm amazed at times that he stays with us Perhaps. There should be more clinging to him, more closeness.

But the king will rejoice in God. All who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced. It's not talked about, not talked about much, is it, this, this judgment, but there is a judgment, and it's, it's final, it's ultimate, and those who sin will be find out, will be found out. But, there's an answer, but those who turn to God will rejoice, those who come and know God's forgiveness.

You wake and sing, but I, old fool, know less than you and worry over everything instead of simply trusting in the heavenly Father's care. Let's rejoice and trust in our Father's care.

Matt Edmundson: So we hope you found today's exploration of the Psalms insightful and inspiring. Every psalm has a unique message, a distinct voice that speaks out to our hearts and our souls.

And we would love to hear your thoughts. What did you think about today's psalm? Trom? Today's psalm. Feel free to share your reflections and experiences in the comments section below. We truly value your comments, your thoughts, your perspective. As we all learn from each other on our journey of faith. If you do wish to reach out to us, you can find more information on our website at www.

We're going to take a little break in September from our normal series. I'm going to be looking at something a bit different actually, hopefully. We're still figuring it out. Just some stuff that we're working through, which is going to be great. Some big changes coming to Crowd, which I'm going to, I'm super excited to tell you about.

All of that's coming up. So make sure you connect with us, stay connected, like, subscribe and all that sort of stuff. Now remember at Crowd Church, everyone is welcome here. Everyone is valued. No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, I think there's a place for you. So thank you for joining us today.