Verse of the Day 5/9

 

Psalm 63:1  O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.   English Standard Version (ESV)

 

In yesterday's verse we considered how God looked at the heart, not on the externals, He is not impressed by a "show'.  David was known to be a man "after God's own heart" and it showed in the way he lived his life.  He "followed hard" after God.  Today's verse is a reminder of that.  How many of us could say before God that we earnestly seek Him, follow hard after Him, and literally "thirst for Him"?

 

The setting for this psalm is when David was in the desert.  He is praising God, "drinking in His glory and strength" while he himself was in a dry and dreary land, yet he realized that as long as He was close to God, he was really living.

In today's society the Christian may feel  at times that he is in a spiritual desert that surrounds him.  A. W. Tozer speaks to what our approach should be in seeking God, "If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.  Now, as always, God reveals Himself to "babes" and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent.  We must simplify our approach to Him.  We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to  be blessedly few).  We must put away all effort to impress, and come with guileless candor of childhood.  If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond."  (The Pursuit of God)

 

The way we seek Him earnestly in simplicity is in His Word, prayerfully reading and considering it.  That's not to say that we don't listen to sermons, participate in Bible studies and listen to Christian music.  But these cannot replace that personal time spent alone with God.

 

May it be said by us today, "earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you"

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Psalm 63:1-4

The Message (MSG)

A David Psalm, When He Was out in the Judean Wilderness

God—you're my God!
    I can't get enough of you!
I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
    traveling across dry and weary deserts.

^2-4 So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,
    drinking in your strength and glory.
In your generous love I am really living at last!
    My lips brim praises like fountains.
I bless you every time I take a breath;
    My arms wave like banners of praise to you.