Thirst for God-Psalm 63

            A friend told me the story of a hike she took to the upper falls of Graveyard fields on the Blue Ridge parkway.  She and her friend had already hiked to the lower falls and feeling good they decided to make the trek up to the upper falls.  They had not planned for this and did not carry water with them.  They made it to the top and it was a beautiful site but they needed water.  It was a strenuous hike though and they needed to have water.  She described being so dehydrated that she cupped her hands to drink from the river.   She understood that the water was dirty and not filtered but her body needed water desperately.  They made the trek back down to their car.  She describes her dehydrated body as being disoriented.  She described a state of confusion.  The world was spinning around her.  She had not given her body what it so desperately needed.  She wondered why she had been so senseless and not adhered to the one simple thing she knew she would need.  A substance of life-water. 

            The Psalmist of psalm 63 describes our need for God in such a way as this.  The opening line of the Psalm reads “O God, you are my God, 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.”  When we are in those desert moments of our life and we try to handle it on our own without God, the substance of life, we will find ourselves in a state of confusion with the world spinning around us.  We must do as the psalmist does.  We must “look upon God in the sanctuary, beholding his power and glory.  God’s steadfast love is better than life.”  We must “praise God.  We must bless God as long as we live, lifting up our hands and calling on the name of God! 

            Don’t try to do the hikes alone my friends.  Seek God with all of your heart.  Listen for those whispers and obey.  When we try to do it on our own we will be confused and our world will be spinning.  Thanks be to God for the giving of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to sustain us! To give us life.  As John 10:10 says “the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”  Get rid of that which steals, kills and destroys and lean into the ONE that gives you life, full life. 

God is our Refuge-Psalm 62

            Psalm 62 recognizes something very important.  It recognizes that humans are going to let us down.  “For all of sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23).  I just watched the movie, War Room.  I would encourage everyone to see it.  In the movie a mighty prayer warrior points out to a woman whose life is in shambles that she can’t fix it.  She points out that she must stop trying to fight the battle and she tells her that the only place she can fight those battles of her life is in the prayer room.  In other words, you must give your battles over to God and let God fight them.  It’s so easy to pick those battles back up.  We get impatient.  We don’t like the answers we are hearing.  We think there must be a quicker and easier way and we try to solve it on our own.  All that brings is more pain and sorrow.  We must trust God with our lives.  As the psalmist points out God is the place where we find rest.  It is in God that we must find our strength. Pray this prayer of Psalm 62 today.  Let go.  Trust God. 

Only in God do I find rest;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Only God is my rock and my salvation—
    my stronghold!—I won’t be shaken anymore.

³ How long will all of you attack others;
    how long will you tear them down
    as if they were leaning walls or broken-down fences?
⁴ The only desire of this people
    is to bring others down low;
    they delight in deception.
With their mouths they bless,
    but inside they are cursing. Selah

⁵ Oh, I must find rest in God only,
    because my hope comes from him!
⁶ Only God is my rock and my salvation—
    my stronghold!—I will not be shaken.
⁷ My deliverance and glory depend on God.
    God is my strong rock.
    My refuge is in God.
⁸ All you people: Trust in him at all times!
    Pour out your hearts before him!
    God is our refuge! Selah

⁹ Human beings are nothing but a breath.
    Human beings are nothing but lies.
    They don’t even register on a scale;
    taken all together they are lighter than a breath!
¹⁰ Don’t trust in violence;
    don’t set false hopes in robbery.
When wealth bears fruit,
    don’t set your heart on it.
¹¹ God has spoken one thing—
    make it two things—
    that I myself have heard:
    that strength belongs to God,
¹²     and faithful love comes from you, my Lord—
    and that you will repay
    everyone according to their deeds.[1]

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[1] www.biblegateway.com

Psalm 61-a reflection on Grief

                I have been thinking a lot about grief.  We experience grief at many points in our lives.  Sometimes we think of grief as only occurring when someone dies but there are many other points of times in life when we grieve.   We grieve the loss of a relationship.  We grieve the loss of a job.  We grieve the loss of expectations.  Grief takes many shapes and many forms.  When we are going through grief it is as if we are standing in the ocean and just when we think we have gotten up and are steady on our feet another wave comes and knocks our feet out from under us and we begin the struggle again to stand up and get our feet steady again. 

                It is very easy when the waves come and knock us down to just lay there in the grief and to isolate ourselves from everyone.  We might isolate ourselves from those who want to help, who want to be there with us in the pits.  More importantly how easy it is to turn away from God.  We may not do this consciously.  We may not say “okay God, I’m done with you.”  We may simply stop being aware of God’s presence.  We may simply stop finding time to be with God and commune with God.  We may stop spending time in the word and in prayer.  We decide we’re better off fighting the grief on our own.  We begin scheming and plotting ways to get out of the grief.  Friends this is so easy to let happen.  One day you become aware.  One day you realize, I’ve not talked to God in two weeks.  You look back, you reflect, and you realize it was when one of those waves knocked you down that you stopped talking to God. 

                Psalm 61 reminds us that it is God we must cry out to when our heart is weak.  If you are in the midst of grief and heartache, make this your prayer today:

God, listen to my cry;
    pay attention to my prayer!
² When my heart is weak,
    I cry out to you from the very ends of the earth.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am
³     because you have been my refuge,
    a tower of strength in the face of the enemy.
⁴ Please let me live in your tent forever!
    Please let me take refuge
    in the shelter of your wings! Selah
⁵ Because you, God, have heard my promises;
    you’ve given me the same possession
    as those who honor your name.

⁶ Add days to the king’s life!
    Let his years extend for many generations!
⁷ Let him be enthroned forever before God!
    Make it so love and faithfulness watch over him!
⁸ Then I will sing praises to your name forever,
    and I will do what I promised every single day. (CEB)