You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
[vs 1]
i guess you can read this two ways. the first time i read it i found it highly encouraging – this hunger and thirst for God… but now that i see it again it does look like it could be a cry of desperation – i really need you right now God, because life is not looking so good at the moment…
but it is still a statement of knowing – ‘You, God, are my God’ and that really feels hopeful again. so no matter how life or circumstances appear right now, i know that God is my strength and refuge and the One i am needing to rely on and call out to.
And then this next section really expands on David’s understanding of who God is and you start to sense the depth of relationship that exists and can learn a lot from how he is able to express that so poetically:
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
[vs 2-5]
This psalm smacked me a little [okay a LOT] in the face this morning. It is easy [when employed or engaged in ‘ministry’ type work] to fall into the trap of everything being about God and not enough just being God. So do I earnestly seek God? Not enough right now if i am brutally honest [although i have been trying to eat lunches outside as a continuation of the non-rush experiment – just stopping and being and trying in that time to ‘be still and know that He is God’ so that helps].
When last did i ‘earnestly seek God’?
When last have i ‘beheld His power and His glory’?
Are my lips glorifying Him? How about my keyboard and fingers?
And is my relationship with You, God, something that satisfies me as with the richest of foods?[which in my case would be double chocolate frosting in a can or some form of ribs with mashed potato on the side]
i guess i really could go through the whole thing, but let me leave some for you. but this next piece is a great way to end and an encouragement to finish your days like this:
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
[vs. 6-8]
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