O God, You are my God; early I will seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.
--Psalm 63:1-2 (NKJV)
From the daily Bible reading on March 26, 2013 of Psalm 63; Acts 26:12-32; Numbers 32-33:13.
David wrote this psalm while fleeing from King Saul and his men. He had taken his family to Moab for safekeeping when Gad the prophet spoke to him, telling David not to stay there in Moab but to go into the wilderness of Judah. David heeded this advise and went into the forest of Hereth, near the western shore of the Dead Sea, a little below the mid-point and far south of his birth city of Bethlehem. (See 1 Samuel 22:3-5 for a little of this history.) On the run for his life, and probably more than a little worried about his folks back in Moab, David cries out to the Lord and declares Him as God. Early in the morning, the first thing upon rising, he seeks out the Lord. And he doesn't do this casually or out of some sense of duty. It isn't a chore or some task he takes lightly. No, it is as if he has no choice but to be with God. His body longs for the Lord, his soul thirsts for Him. Like a man dying of thirst in the parched desert would long for and search for water, this is how David wants and needs God. Nothing is more important than to have Him near. So David looked for God in His sanctuary, in the temporary place where the Ark of the Covenant was housed, and there found God's power and glory.
We should feel like David did there in the wilderness. Even though we may not find ourselves being chased by any individual or army intent on doing us harm, we are indeed being relentlessly pursued by Satan and his evil forces with the sole intent of drawing us away from God. Jesus Christ died for us so that we might have everlasting life with Him, but Satan would like nothing more than to negate and nullify Christ's efforts by taking our souls for himself. So we should cry out to God, early in the morning and all throughout the day. We should search out Jesus with the same sense of urgency as the person dying of thirst hunts for water or the one starving looks for food. Only through Jesus can we be saved, so we need to be sure of where to find Him when our need comes. We find Him where David did, in His sanctuary. But this is not really a church or a house for religious artifacts or even a building at all. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He moves right in and dwells within us. Seek the indwelling Lord Jesus Christ to find and see His power and His glory. Amen.
Christ Jesus, when we accept You into our heart and into our life, acknowledging You as our personal Lord and our only Salvation, You choose to dwell within us so that we might never again be alone. When we need You, we need only close our eyes and pray, for You are always there, always with us. Thank You, dear Lord, for giving us such a wonderful gift! In Your name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
We should feel like David did there in the wilderness. Even though we may not find ourselves being chased by any individual or army intent on doing us harm, we are indeed being relentlessly pursued by Satan and his evil forces with the sole intent of drawing us away from God. Jesus Christ died for us so that we might have everlasting life with Him, but Satan would like nothing more than to negate and nullify Christ's efforts by taking our souls for himself. So we should cry out to God, early in the morning and all throughout the day. We should search out Jesus with the same sense of urgency as the person dying of thirst hunts for water or the one starving looks for food. Only through Jesus can we be saved, so we need to be sure of where to find Him when our need comes. We find Him where David did, in His sanctuary. But this is not really a church or a house for religious artifacts or even a building at all. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He moves right in and dwells within us. Seek the indwelling Lord Jesus Christ to find and see His power and His glory. Amen.
Christ Jesus, when we accept You into our heart and into our life, acknowledging You as our personal Lord and our only Salvation, You choose to dwell within us so that we might never again be alone. When we need You, we need only close our eyes and pray, for You are always there, always with us. Thank You, dear Lord, for giving us such a wonderful gift! In Your name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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