We read sacred scripture this morning, first of all, from the book of 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, chapter 15, reading from verse 13 through 23. 2 Samuel 15. verses 13 through 23, and here we have the very beginnings of David as king fleeing from his son Absalom, which is the backdrop for our text found in Psalm 63. Second Samuel 15, verse 13, and there came a messenger to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee, for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left 10 women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in the place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him, and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, 600 men which came after him from Gath passed on before the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and also an exile. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? Seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren. Mercy and truth be with thee. And Ittai answered the king and said, As the lord liver, and as my lord the king liver, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Ittai, go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him, and all the country wept with a loud voice. And all the people passed over, the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. I'd like to call your attention also to the first part of verse 32 in this chapter. There we read there, and it came to pass that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God. So that we know also in this context of being in the wilderness, fleeing from his son Absalom, David stayed close to God and worshipped and praised Him. Now we turn to Psalm 63. To Psalm 63, where our text is found. And we read the 11 verses of that psalm. O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me. 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. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that sweareth by him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. The text is verse three, but before I read that verse once again, I also call your attention to the header of the psalm, which reads a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Verse three, that's the text for the sermon this morning, because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus far we read in God's holy inspired word. May he bless the reading of his word. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, true thankfulness always results in praise for God. And that thankful praise ever and always abides with that child of God who is walking in Jehovah's ways, regardless of what his external outward circumstances Maybe he may be living in circumstances of great earthly prosperity, when he has much, when all things are going well for him. Or he may be living in circumstances of great adversity, with little earthly wealth, poor health. Or, even as David finds himself here, in the context of our text, in the terrible circumstances of being in the wilderness, fleeing from his own flesh and blood, his son, Absalom. Even in those circumstances, David had thankful praise for God. And still more, true thankfulness isn't general and vague, but is specific. And especially in times of great adversity, is specifically confessed after having meditated upon life. having thought upon life in the mirror of God's Word. It zeroes in on a particular truth in the Word of God. As here, it zeroes in on a particular virtue of God which is precious, which truth holds us up in the midst of trial. This Sunday morning, we are led by God's Word to that specific, particular, precious virtue of the loving kindness of our God, which not only held up David in the time of adversity, but also led him unto joyful and thankful praise for his God. Consider then with me this morning that precious virtue of God and the thankful praise of David in our text under the theme, Thankful Praise for God's Loving Kindness. Notice with me in the first place, the spiritual evaluation. In the second place, the only explanation. And in the third and final place, the thankful praise. The evaluation that David the psalmist gives in our text, that God's loving kindness is better than life, is a right, is a true, is a spiritual evaluation. Now, leading to this spiritual evaluation are the two objects that are being considered by David. Jehovah God's loving kindness on the one hand, and life on the other hand. We begin first this morning with life. What is life? Well, that word there speaks of earthly life. Life on this earth. Life for all who live on this earth with all its stages, the entire spectrum and range of life, all its relationships, all its experiences. Just a look at you, beloved congregation, before me this morning reminds me that this is what the text speaks of by that word Life. Life refers to going through its stages of life, from infancy and childhood, to the teenage years, the years of youth, to being young single adults, now being able to vote, to young married couples. couples yet without children, and then to couples with child and children, and then to couples as empty nesters with grandchildren, even great-grandchildren, all the way to a ripe old age. And life covers the whole spectrum of experiences in life, from the viewpoint of work, with its many different jobs. The first job starting out as a part-time worker, as a golf caddy, as a fast-food restaurant worker, helping out dad or an uncle in a small business, and then starting out with the first full-time job as a teacher, as a driver, as an accountant, a mechanic, a nurse, a salesman, an engineer, working your way up to the managerial, even executive, positions, but also from the viewpoint of recreation, from plastic toys, to building blocks, to Legos, to board games, to electronic games, to real sporting activities, cycling, hunting, and more. And even this, life from the viewpoint of having lived in different parts of this country, maybe even different lands, eating different foods, getting used to a different style of life. Maybe it's more fast-paced now in this area for you. experiencing different cultures, meeting different people, making friends with brothers and sisters who come from different lands, who share the same hearty conviction of faith as you do, but who may be so different in so many other ways. And life captures Also, the growing pains of the teen years, where increasing strength needs to be harnessed by the spirit of self-control, where there is increasing understanding, but still a lack thereof. And then from the teen years to the experiences of increasing adult stability, and maturity with all its experiences of the highs and the lows, having had perhaps a great job, and then being laid off, losing it, its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, its abundance or lack thereof, its health and sickness, And then also, yes, aging and death. In considering these varied experiences of life, we must not overlook the fact that there is in all of us an inclination to cleave to this earthly life, both for the unbeliever as well as for the believer. Now, for the unbeliever, this cleaving to earthly life is absolute, even desperate. It is a fearful holding on to, a grasping and a clasping to life, especially at the time of death, where at the deathbed there is abject sorrow, nothing but abject sorrow and despair of this clasping and cleaving to life. You will hear the world often speak in this manner. He fought a brave fight. What a struggle that was to cleave on to earthly life. This urgent, even desperate, cleaving to and clasping of life by the unbeliever is understandable. Understandable when you consider the fact that at the very bottom of their hearts, they know. They know their end. They know what awaits them at death. the meeting of a just judge who will pronounce a terrifying sentence upon them. Terrifying, but just and righteous. For the unbeliever then, this holding on to life is absolute, even desperate. At the time of death, But even for the believer, for you and I, because we are made by God to live here on this earth, and also by the fact that we do derive value to all our earthly relationships in Jesus Christ, there is a sadness, a certain sadness also with us at death. A sadness that is not fearful, desperate, devastating, cleaving on to this life, but nonetheless, a sadness that is still most certainly present. And that is because at death, the earthly house of this tabernacle dissolves And along with the dissolution of the earthly body, all earthly relationships, all earthly experiences, which we certainly hold dear, comes to an abrupt end. For the believer, death breaks with all precious earthly relationships we have in Christ. So that there is, in all who die in Christ, a desire, though not an absolute one, to still hold on to this earthly life. And also a sadness, not a despair, of loved ones who depart in Jesus Christ. I think we understand this. For those of us who are older and who have been at the deathbed of loved ones who have departed in Jesus Christ, you have seen what I have just described. You know this. But I believe what I described about our emotional attachment to earthly life is also something which our youth and children can relate to. And that is because you children value, don't you, the earthly relationships you have in Jesus Christ? With your parents in Christ. With your grandparents in Christ. With your sibling. with brothers and sisters in the same church family, with friends whom you hold dear in your hearts. All of that is captured by that one word, life, in our text. Many, many aspects Of life is the idea here, and that is because the original Hebrew has this word not in the singular form, but in the plural form. Lives. Lives. So that the thought here is life in all its many aspects, in all its various aspects. That's what the Holy Spirit means. through this word, inspired through and written through David. Now, this needs to be said. This needs to be said, lest we think that David here was only thinking of narrowly one particular aspect and time in his life here, which is, in the context of our text, really quite, from an outward point of view, miserable. That's the context of 2 Samuel chapter 15, where David is fleeing from Absalom. This we know because of verse 11. Here he was already king and fleeing, so that he couldn't be fleeing from Saul. He wasn't king then, but rather he was fleeing from his son, Absalom. While he was king, and in the wilderness. The header of the psalm gives us the context for that. For David, life was from the viewpoint also of a young shepherd boy. Life was also being visited by Samuel. Life also included that time when he was fleeing from Saul before he was king, when he was friends with Jonathan. And oh yes, life included all those military victories, and the joys of those victories, and ruling faithfully, for he was one described by God's word to be after his own heart. Yes. Life included all those aspects for David. Earthly life in its every aspect, in its full consideration, was on one side of David's consideration, and on the other side, the loving kindness of God. What is meant by that? Now this word, loving kindness, has been variously translated in our King James Bible. It has been translated mercy in other places. But loving kindness is the better translation. And that is because included in this rich Hebrew word is not just the idea of mercy, It includes that, for sure. But also love. A covenant love. A faithful love. This is a steadfast covenant love. That's the idea of the loving kindness of God. So, for example, when we read in Psalm 119, verse 88, "'Quicken me,' says the psalmist, "'after thy loving kindness, For I have walked in thy truth." That verse captures the psalmist's enjoyment of God's loyal, faithful, steadfast covenant love in the way of heartfelt obedience. Not disobedience, but obedience. So that the psalmist now, standing on that ground of that steadfast covenant love of God experienced in him, Now ask Jehovah God for the renewing, the strengthening of his inner man. Quicken me, quicken me after thy loving kindness. O God, quicken me that I may continue in thy way of obedience for me. so that we may properly give this definition of the loving kindness of God, not in the abstract, but from the viewpoint of experience. God's loving kindness is his love and mercy, as experienced by the elect believer as a part of God's covenant friendship. God's covenant friendship with the believer as covenant friend, walking. hand in hand with his God, life in thankful love and joyful obedience. The viewpoint of the ungodly and the unbelieving person who experiences none of Jehovah's loving kindness is such that the whole idea of the loving kindness of God is not only alien and foreign, it is regarded by him as crap. This idea is to be rubbished. This idea is to be thrashed and junked. because even though from all creation they know Him, they know that He exists by His power and by His Godhead. In a word, they know this one true God exists. They will not acknowledge Him. They will not worship Him. Romans 1 tells us, they suppress Him and His truth. in unrighteousness. They hold the knowledge of God down. Now, they know that He is perfectly righteous and just. They know that they don't stand a chance of being cleared by His justice in and of themselves. But they will not have Him. They deny Him. They'd much rather replace him with an idol than to consider and believe in him the way that he provides for elect sinners to have their justice, his justice satisfied, which is the way of Jesus. That's why the idea of the loving kindness of God to them is crap. A junk of an idea. But on the other hand, what a stark contrast to the confession of the believer who is living in and walking by faith with his God, trusting in Him and obeying Him. Now, to be sure, that is not the thought and confession of the believer and child of God when he is walking in sin and disobedience. He can't truly enjoy God's loving kindness. How can he when he walks in sin? In that state, he is only like the unbeliever. For he has only a guilty conscience that will not acknowledge God nor confess his sin. The experience of such a one is only misery. Misery. We read of something of this experience in Psalm 32, verses 3 and 5, where the psalmist writes, when I kept silence, that is, when I didn't confess my sins to God, when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." Then verse 5, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Those verses tell us that as long as there is silence in our soul towards our God, as long as there is no confession of sin, no sincerity of heart, in our walk before our God, there's only misery. But that healthy believer that one who knows his sin and misery, but is walking in faith and obedience, treasures and cherishes the loving kindness of his God, shed abroad and directed toward him Hear his confession concerning his experience of Jehovah's lovingkindness in the way of walking in holy obedience to God in the Psalms. Psalm 40, verses 10 and 11. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth. from the great congregation. The psalmist there confesses and counts it a privilege to confess the joy of the loving kindness of his God. Verse 11, withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me, that is, always keep me In other words, God's loving kindness meant everything to him. Do we share in that same confession of the Psalmist's loving kindness of God? If we do, then we will also share in the same spiritual evaluation he gives in this psalm. Thy lovingkindness is better than life. Now let's be clear what this evaluation means. To be sure, it doesn't just mean that God's loving kindness is better than the life of David, only at this time in his life. Which was a time of great adversity, as we saw when he was God's king over Israel, but found himself not in his palace, but running away. and in the wilderness, where he found himself not in the comfy protection of his soldiers and his army, but running away from fleeing an army chasing after him, led by his son, going after his life. Just think of that. your own son coming after you to kill you. This was, from an outward point of view, a circumstance and situation that did not feel at all something to be thankful for. Doesn't just mean that Now, compared to life in that kind of adversity, the psalmist wasn't just saying that God's loving kindness was just slightly better, you see, than life under those circumstances. Even though he maintains truly a thankful spirit and attitude toward God in his heart, but what it means is that God's loving kindness, as I have come to experience it, is better than life. Life in all its aspects and always so. Not only when life was at its, from its outward point of view, rock bottom, but when you consider life in all aspects, in every respect, in all spheres and every department of life, life in its sum total, including when we are at the very mountain peak of our earthly life, when there is the mountain peak of happiness and joy, when we are exhilarated with life. Thy lovingkindness is better than life. That's what's meant by that evaluation. And the proof of that is found not only here in this psalm, but also in the psalmist's confession in various other psalms in God's holy inspired psalm book. God's loving kindness is judged by him, the psalmist, as excellent in Psalm 36. Notice with me verse 7 of Psalm 36. There he confesses, How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! He was excited about God's lovingkindness. Beyond all things, it's excellent. How excellent it is, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust, he says, under the shadow of thy wings. Still more, God's loving kindness is so precious to him, to the psalmist, that he assures himself of it in the midst of adversity. This he does in one particular place in Psalm 42, verse 8. That verse reads, Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness, that is, his loving kindness toward him. He looks forward to receiving the experience and enjoyment of God's loving kindness in his life. The loving kindness of God then was all and everything to him. That's how we end up with the spiritual evaluation here. Thy loving kindness is better than life. That is a spiritual evaluation. This evaluation is spiritual because it is only arrived at when we are spiritually close to God, near unto our God as is evident in the context of our psalm. Notice verses 1 and 2 where David tells us that he seeks God early. He's excited about his relationship with God. His soul thirsts after God, he says, to see His power, to see His glory, and to see it, those things, in His sanctuary. So, dear congregation, I ask you this morning, are you near unto God? Are you close to Him? Is communion with Him, and meeting Him, and seeing His power and glory in His sanctuary, precious? to you in your heart of hearts. Know that if you are not at all near unto Him, and on the other hand, so far from Him in your heart, your mind and soul, not at all with Him, if you are not at all near, to His Word and His ways, then whatever words may come forth from your lips are hollow words, are empty words, are vain. But if you like David, share something of that nearness toward God. Treasure communion with Him. Seek Him. Seek Him enthusiastically. Seek Him early. And seek also the communion of the godly and not the ungodly in your relationships and friendships and your praises. and imperfect as they are, are well-pleasing unto Him. And, having considered your earthly life this morning and His loving-kindness before Him in His sanctuary, you too will also share in the very same spiritual evaluation of the psalmist. Thy loving-kindness is better than life. And the explanation, the only one for that matter, for that evaluation, lies right in that evaluation and confession itself. The loving kindness of God His covenant love and mercy shown to us by showing to us the misery of our sins and saving us by His grace through Jesus. That's the only explanation. It's Jesus. Because Jesus is the very embodiment and display of God's covenant loving kindness. toward His people. Certainly, certainly, that was the only explanation for David. It was Jehovah's loving kindness, having its origin and source from before the foundation of the world, in His eternal decree of His good pleasure, grounded and founded on Jesus alone, His blood. shed on the cross for us. And His grace flowing forth from Him through the cross and experienced in the way of knowing what He deserved in and of Himself. And David knew what he deserved of himself. He deserved to be left in the wilderness for the rest of his life of himself. And at death, He deserved to be utterly consumed by the just wrath and punishment of God for his sins. The only explanation for David was Jesus. That explanation also holds true for us, for all who share in that spiritual evaluation of God's Word this morning. Dear congregation, you who share in this spiritual evaluation, you understand that Jesus' Jehovah's salvation is the only explanation for you to say, thy lovingkindness is better than life, don't you? In fact, it is life, for life apart from God is death. Jesus is the only explanation for you and I sharing in that confession and evaluation. And it is also the only explanation for one to come to the very conclusion that the psalmist arrives at in our text. For you see, he who tastes and enjoys the grace, the salvation, and the loving kindness of God in and through Jesus will not stop at just that spiritual evaluation and confession. Oh no. He will go on. We will go on. As the psalmist went on to conclude with thankful praise for the wonderful loving kindness of Jehovah God. Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lip shall praise thee. This is a praise that is not merely outward. This is not a praise that is merely external and formal, found only in the sanctuary. This is a praise that is not restricted and bound artificially to just one day of the week. But this is a praise that is truly, truly thankful from the heart, filling the mind and the soul, and then coming forth from our lips for that great covenant God and His loving kindness shown to us. A praise that exists and abides with us regardless of what kind of outward circumstances our life may be. This is a thankful praise expressed through the lips in song to Jehovah and by a witness and life of grateful heartfelt obedience unto our covenant God. Thy lovingkindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee. Amen. Heavenly Father, bless this word, the word which Thou has preserved in the sacred scriptures for us. even for the Church of Ages, through all ages. A word that was taken upon the lips of the psalmist without error, because it was worked by Thee, by Thy Spirit in him, and left for us for our profit and our benefit. Grant, O Lord, that indeed we join in more and more in our hearts, and our lives in hearty confession of that sour mist in our text. Bless us, Lord, and forgive us of our sins. Hear us for Jesus' sake. Amen. We close with thankful praise to Jehovah for his loving kindness by turning to