Because He Has Captivated My Soul

Eastford Baptist Church
January 4, 2007

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will never be shaken.”

(Psalm 63:1-2)

Have you ever been captivated? Truly captivated? OK, I confess, I had to look up the word to see what it actually means. This is what I found:

cap ∙ ti ∙ vate (kap tuh veyt)
–verb (used with object),
-vat·ed, -vat·ing.
To attract and hold by
charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm.
Archaic - To capture.

OK, back to my question. Have you ever been captivated? Perhaps I need to refine my question a bit; Have you ever been captivated by God? Have you ever been so taken by His charm, beauty, and excellence to the point where he has literally taken your heart and mind captive? Now I guess I have to admit that being captivated by anything is a bit of a challenge for me. My short attention span and wondering mind will often get in the way. Often as I sit down to spend time alone with God my mind starts to drift to other things: “What was it Missy said I was supposed to pick up at the store? Is there an appointment that I am forgetting? What exactly is the correct pronunciation of “data?” (I’m sure you never have this problem, do you?) But if I can push through, if I can decide that my time alone with God is far more important that any of those distractions, something marvelous happens. My heart overflows again with amazement and gratitude because of what God has done for me.
Now before I lose 80% of the men out there – let me say this – no one understood this better than King David, a man after God’s own heart. There was no man more valiant and fierce in battle, yet he also understood what it was to be captivated by God and express his emotions in worship. You have to imagine that David was a man that real men wanted to follow. His men would face terrible odds in battle for him. His all out style of leadership was joined with an open and unashamed passion for God. If he made a mistake he quickly confessed it. If he won in battle, he gave all the glory to God. But no matter what circumstances he faced in life, his heart was always drawn back when God had captivated his heart.
In Psalm 63, David had been driven from the throne by his son Absalom. So, here he is on the run. He’s lost his throne. His son has rebelled against him - turned against him. Absalom had also managed to turn the hearts of the people of the nation against him. David is headed out across the northern edge of the wilderness of Judea on the run for his life. Here he is far from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, far from what was the center of his life. And we find David longing for a sense of the presence of God. No matter where he was or what he was facing – he couldn’t escape the longing God had placed in heart.
David’s heart longed for rest. And he knows that what he longs for can only be found as he surrenders himself completely to God alone. In his longing he expresses his love for His Creator. David loved God. Now catch this: He loved God Himself. He’s not, in this psalm, expressing, “O God, I love your works; I love creation,” even though I’m sure he did. “I love your gifts, Lord, the blessings that you pour out on my life.” He’s not saying, “Lord, I love a particular doctrinal system that’s just grabbed my heart. I love some theological system, Lord, which you’ve unveiled to me, that I’m loyal to. I love being reformed, I love being dispensational, I love being pre-millennial, I love being conservative, Lord. That’s what I love.” You can be all those things and yet, somebody still may need to ask you, “Do you love Christ? Has he captivated your heart?” It wasn’t religious activity that he’s expressing love for here. It’s very easy to substitute religious activity and busyness for a genuine love for the Lord. It definitely was not love of self that he’s expressing here. No, the object of David’s desires was God. He was captivated by God Himself.
So I will ask my question again. Have you have been captivated? Or is there an issue in your life preventing Christ captivating your heart? Besides our short attention spans, what keeps us from being captivated by Jesus? Areas in our life where we are still held captive such as pride, fear, sin and doubt. What’s the cure? Concentrated focus. Worship Jesus and truly focus on His beauty and majesty and the unconditional love he has for us. I promise as you focus on his charm, beauty and excellence - as you turn your eyes upon Jesus, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” And you will once again be Captivated.

Because He has captivated my soul,
PT