psalm 63

I lost the notebook that had some things that I wanted to talk about this morning. I was going to go over some points of being an obsessed Christian, as described in "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. But I guess we will have to do that another time. Today I think I will just do what I do and try to encourage you as readers. I normally am just talking for myself, but maybe it will be better if I talk for you.

Psalm 63

"¹ 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.

² I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶ On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

⁹ Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced."

I am so in awe of God. I think about how easy it is for us to get caught up asking God to come and be with us, when we aren't really doing any seeking. How do we get to a place where we are really longing for God like we would be longing for water in a dessert? The thing about water is that without it, we cannot live too long. And I think we can start viewing God that way when we begin to depend on him. We are so independent. We make sure we have all of our lives in order and we have plans B, C, D, and E if God doesn't pull through for us. Why would God want to do something spectacular in your life if you have back ups if he doesn't work out? He will get so much more glory if you are constantly depending on him and he pulls through every time.

When we start depending on him like that, he becomes like water. And those times when we are feeling distant from God, seeking after him becomes so much more earnest. And it is not making God into your source of life, it is more so realizing that he is your source of life. The reason why I think so many people are not joyful is because they are not letting Christ give them life. And in John 10:10 he promises to give life and give it to the FULL!

Moving on to verse 2, "I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory". Now there were several biblical men in the Bible who had literally seen God and been engulfed in his Glory, but I don't believe David was one of them. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't have the time to look back at that right now. But, when I read this verse, I just imagine David's awe of God. He may not have seen God literally, but he had seen the power of the Lord and he recognized that it belonged to the Lord.

The next verse is one of my favorites "Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you" (verse 3). Do we tell that to God every time we pray and worship? No, because that is dangerous. If we say that, then we have to live it and it is hard to live with the mentality that his love is better than my life. Our lives are so important to us in our culture specifically. If I am sick, I spend as much money as it takes to find the treatment. We don't put ourselves in situations unless we know it is safe and we have a high chance of getting out alive.

I am so sick of playing it safe, especially as a Christian. If God's love is better than life, doesn't that make it natural to go to the most dangerous parts of the world to share his love? Isn't it natural to share him with friends even though they may leave you for it? I know I have become quite attached to this world, and it is so short. I should be living in God's love and that should be my focus and life should flow naturally from that.

The next few verses go on some more about praising the Lord and being satisfied in him. I wish my satisfaction was in him. I always want to know where I am going next and what road to follow, and I don't have satisfaction until I have a plan. But satisfaction should lie in the Lord and I should just let him lead me.

I have such a problem with how far I am supposed to go and where God will take over. I have attempted creating a whole plan and trusting God would join me in my plan, but it doesn't quite work like that (unless of course your plans are the same as God's). God wants us to join him on his plans, the only problem is that we don't always see his plan. But when our satisfaction lies in the Lord we will tend to follow him more easily.

In verse 6 it talks about thinking about God all through the night. I know, at least fro myself, when I am falling asleep at night, I begin to think about important decisions, people I love, exciting events that are coming up, and things like that. And then in my sleep, my subconscious dreams things that are in the back of my mind. Now when Christ is on your mind all through the night, he is taking up every corner of the mind. He is the thing you can't help but think about when you are drifting to sleep, and your subconscious is full of him in your dreams.

"Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings" (verse 7) You are my help. This is not like santa's little helpers, it isn't a helper with chores, he is not your hired help, God's help is a little different. God's help is a little more like when you are screaming the word help from a pit, hoping that someone can rescue you before you die. He is the ultimate help, delivering us from all sorts of deadly situations. And David had definitely been in many situations of those kind.

Then he puts himself singing in the shadow of God's wings. When you are under someone's wing, they are taking care of you or your protector. And being in the shadow of God's wing is a pretty sturdy place to be standing. And who could keep from singing if you standing in Christ's protection and care? In verse 8 it begins by clinging to the Lord. I imagine small children that when they are scared of something jump into their daddy's arms and do a death grip with their arms and legs. That is the kind of clinging that I imagine David is talking about. And then he says your right hand upholds me, so you are not trying to pull me off and set me back on the ground. You're strength covers me and makes me feel safe.

Verses 9 and 10 are some of my favorites. Those who want to kill me will be destroyed. When I am under the protection of God, anyone who opposes me does not have a chance. God will strike down my enemies and let the jackals eat their flesh. When we are confident that we have this kind of God fighting for us, it becomes so much easier to fight for him, and so much more worth it.

And in verse 11 the glory of the Lord always wins. Everyone who is in the Lord will have a victory while those opposing them will be silenced. And in the end that is exactly what is going to happen. God is going to win, so we need to get as many people as we can fighting on our side so that they may claim victory and not stagger in defeat.