December 7

The Quest For The Eternal

O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. — Ps 63:1 BSB

This psalm holds special meaning for those who are no longer able to gather with the assemblies of God’s people. David was fleeing from Absalom, wandering in the wilderness. The land around him was dry and weary, and his enemies were in pursuit. Yet, all of this seemed secondary to his longing for God. Even though he was physically exhausted and thirsty, his deepest desire was for God, the living God, as he had seen and known Him in the tent of worship he had set up on Mount Zion. The desolate wilderness mirrored the craving of his soul for God.

Many hearts today reflect this same longing. Our souls thirst for the vision of God’s power and glory, for the fellowship of the saints. David may have placed more emphasis on the Sanctuary than we do on our places of worship today, but we must remember that the Glory of the Shekinah—the visible manifestation of God’s presence—shone between the Cherubim in that holy place.

In Psalm 63:5-7, the longing soul finds satisfaction. As we yearn for God, we find Him. As we seek, we are filled (Isaiah 41:17-18). As we remember Him, we burst into song. Our yearnings for God are a response to His own heart’s beating for us, to the knocking of His hand on our lives. Prayer is our soul’s response to the circulation of His divine life within us. When we seek His face, it is because He first called us to do so. “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’” As one has said, “Our desires and aspirations are responses to the outpourings of the Holy Spirit in silent or expressed communion.”

The climax of the psalm is reached in Psalm 63:8, with three stages: my soul thirsts; my soul is satisfied; my soul follows hard after You. Remember Him on your bed! Meditate on Him in the watches of the night! Hide yourself under the shadow of His wings! Keep pace with His purposes! Stay close to Him! Whoever follows hard after God, trusting in Him, rejoicing in His company, reaching out for Him, will feel their outstretched hand enclosed in a strong and tender grasp, steadying them through weariness and failure, and making His footsteps a path for our feet.

Prayer

Bestow upon me, O Lord my God, understanding to know You, diligence to seek You, wisdom to find You, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace You. Amen.