Tag Archives: Who is God

Discovering God in the Psalms: Desperately Seeking God

 

0 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.  Psalm 63:1 (KJV)

Recent news featured several individuals who were lost in the wilderness.

One story told of a young boy who became separated from his family when he left them in search of mushrooms. In another story, a hiker who left her team experienced a dangerous fall. With a badly broken leg she crawled miles through the woods until she was discovered. In both stories, their separation from others resulted in fear and despair until they were rescued from their dire situation.

In Psalm 63, its author, David, conveys his feelings of despair as he finds himself separated from the presence of Almighty God. It is in this Psalm that we find David desperately seeking God.

The historical context for this psalm can be found in 2 Samuel 15. David’s despair is the result of his son Absalom’s conspiracy to steal the kingdom from his father. Fearful of the potential shift in power, David vacates his throne in Jerusalem and heads to the wilderness of Judah:

And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness. (2 Sam. 15:23).

While David was in fact, in a physical wilderness, the wilderness he speaks of in Psalm 63 describes metaphorically his desperate longing for God’s presence.  His need to spiritually reconnect with God took on the characteristics of a person physically suffering great thirst in a dry and parched wasteland.

David’s desire for God became the first thing he sought when he rose in the morning. His soul (his mind, will and emotions) thirsted for God. His flesh responded to this insatiable thirst in a strong longing to be with God.  “To long” in Hebrew (kamahn) means “to faint with longing.” David was faint from longing for his God.

David’s emotional response in the wilderness mirrored what he probably heard while worshiping in the sanctuary in Jerusalem:

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? (Ps. 42:1-2).

David now knew what it felt like to experience thirst for the Living God.

Though David had never seen God physically, he had personally experienced God’s power and glory through His nature and attributes. He knew God’s love and mercy as he tended to his father’s sheep as a young boy (Ps. 23).

David was witness to God’s protection as he faced the giant Goliath (1 Sam. 17:49-51). David knew the source of his success in battle against Israel’s enemies (1 Sam. 18:5, 7). David knew the power of God’s presence.

Remembrance of those times gave David confident assurance that God would graciously hear and answer His call (Isa. 30:19). It was in God’s presence only that David would find spiritual relief for his thirst.

In today’s society people are desperately seeking relief for their spiritual thirst. They are searching for life options they feel will satisfy their needs through hedonistic pursuits, spiritual experimentation, and material gain.

These efforts unfortunately never satisfy and often result in further despair and darkness. God our Father and Creator knows and possesses what is needed for spiritual dryness. Only He can truly satisfy man’s needs. Let us, like David, seek greater intimacy with God, driven by an unquenchable thirst for His presence. Let us desperately seek God!

The Lord Reigns

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” 1 Chronicles 16:31 (NKJ)

The Lord reigns?  To some this may be a question spoken in general disbelief.  As one looks around this world and our nation, there is question as to the reality of God and God’s involvement in the activities of mankind.  Does God really care about me? Does God see me in “my” situation—in my humanness?

  • We look around and see the effects of sin on our world. Even in the midst of “peril, sword, and nakedness”, God extends to mankind love, mercy, and grace.  In gratitude for God’s reign, David cried out:  “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”  (1 Chron. 1:34)
  • Outside God’s reign, man struggles with and against “life”; his intent is to control the challenges of 21st century living. Doing what feels “right in their own eyes” (Prov. 21:2), men often disregard the plans of God and God’s purpose for this world.
  • “God reigns” whether people choose to believe it or not. Their unbelief does not reduce or minimize the reality of God’s reign.  God is patient and long suffering not wishing that anyone would perish but that all will come to the knowledge and recognition of His lordship (1 Tim. 2:4).

The Lord reigns!  This is the reality and declaration of people of faith who anchor their lives to the “King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God” (1 Tim. 1:17).  God is the only One worthy of our loyalty and praise.

  • As we witness the impact of economic disparity, social injustice, and moral failure in the world, our expectation of fairness is founded in the fact that God reigns!
  • As the doctor renders a diagnosis that leads to extensive treatments yet no guarantee of success, our hope for healing lies in the belief that God reigns!
  • As we face our own mortality evidenced in the frailty of our bodies and failure of our souls, our eternal security is guaranteed in Christ, our inheritance because God reigns!

People of faith trust that even in the suffering and pain, God is working all things together for His glory and ultimately our good (Rom. 8:28).  We know that our God is eternal—reigning both in “human time” (chronos) and “His perfect time” (kiros).  We wait and watch for His hand at work around us and in our life (Psa. 123:1-2).

The Lord reigns.  To you I offer this as a statement of reality and personal identity.  The reality is that God alone is sovereign.  It is because of His goodness and greatness that He alone is worthy to rule over the hearts of men and nations.  Our personal identity in Christ guarantees our reign with Him in glory (Rom. 8:17).

  • God alone is motivated by love—in first loving us (1 John 4:9-10) God offers grace and mercy to all who humbly come to Him by faith with no fear of retribution or risk of punishment.
  • God’s perfection, purity and trustworthiness enable Him to rule impartially and fairly. God alone can be both “just” and the justifier” for sinful man (Rom. 3:24-26).
  • God is the only real answer for the “heart issues” we face in 21st century living. The Lord’s reign over heaven and earth gives us hope in the midst of a “fallen” (Gen. 3) and “falling” world (1 John 2:16-17).

The Lord’s reign is fully realized in the coming of Jesus the Christ.  In Jesus’ arrival the kingdom of God is ushered into this world we now live in.  It is here that those who are in Christ are to take authority and witness to this glorious fact—God reigns!