Woefully, many Christians go through life with little spiritual interest or vitality. Their days are consumed with secular pursuits. For them “real life” is not life in the Spirit, but life in the flesh. It is reaching here and there, doing this and that, and fitting in some Christian activity, mostly to meet their own social needs. Bible reading and prayer are like a once-a-day “fast food” activity. They may even close the night in prayer as a “spiritual glaze” over their real interests, but there is no serious heart-hunger for God.
Does this describe your life? This limited relationship with God may fit nicely into your busy schedule and presently satisfy you. But I remind and assure you that this can change, sometimes sudden and dramatically, causing you to feel separated from God. Serious illness or accident, death in family, loss of job, business or home, conflict in marriage or with children, may bring you to a crisis point of despair and desperation that frightens.
But whatever the reason, these emotional earthquakes will break down our defenses and open us up to the Lord. The feelings of helplessness, inner emptiness, and separation from God generates an intense longing for God. You feel much like small children feel when they are separated from their parents; frightened, lonely, angry, depressed, and intensely longing for your parent to return.
Psalm 63 is a prayer psalm of David written while hiding from Saul in the Desert of Judah. It is a prayer of lament dominated by trust in God. In spite of his dire circumstances, his psalm also becomes a song of confidence and thanksgiving.
In verses 1-2, David calls out in prayer, confessing his faith in God. This God is his God. He lives in a daily personal relationship with Him, a relationship that is the priority of his life.
For David to say “you are my God” means he is assured that God can be trusted, and that he is concerned about David’s situation. It also means he is willing to stake his present and future on God and God alone. Can we honestly say that?
In praying “earnestly I seek you” David puts his whole self into his spiritual search. The Hebrew verb used here means “to seek with longing” and implies a passionate desire for relationship with God.
To pray “my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,” is no disembodied spirituality. Rather, it expresses the deep passion of his whole being in seeking God’s presence of love and provision in his time of need.
Psalm 42:1–2 expresses a similar thought: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
David’s thirst for God is set in the context of a “dry and weary land where there is no water.” He thirsts for God as an exhausted wander needs water in a parched desert. This is a classic metaphor for spiritual longing. If you are feeling this way, read on.
Then David remembers where his spiritual thirst has been quenched in the past. It was in the “sanctuary” that David felt the presence of God. It was there that David sees God’s “power” and “glory.” (Read Psalm 27:4-6).
The memory of seeing God in the sanctuary is so powerful that he says, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” (vv. 3-4).
David’s worship is based on God’s “love” which he says is a greater good than “life” itself. And David’s response to God’s love is, “my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live.”
And the result of this worship is that David’s “soul” is now “satisfied as with the richest of foods.” The refreshing power of the nearness of God is compared to a rich feast. And he responds in praising God “with singing lips.”
In verses 6-8, we hear that David also seeks God “on my bed” where he remembers and meditates on God. Through the dark and dangerous night, David meditates on God’s help, protection, and authority. Remembering that God has been his “help” in protecting him, David sings “in the shadow of (God’s) wings.” And so, David “clings” to God and is upheld by God’s “right hand” of authority and power.
What is fascinating and most reassuring about these verses is that David’s situation has not changed at all. He is still in the desert. He is still a hunted man. But, within that condition, David has learned the secret of spiritual richness.
He has learned that when he fully puts his trust in God and longs for God as much as he longs for the cool refreshing stream of pure water, he finds God. He finds a deep sense of peace and acceptance. His longing is answered by God presence.
David’s longing for God is satisfied as he meditates, remembers, and worships. As this becomes our spiritual lifestyle, we too will see God’s “power” and “glory” and our hunger for God will be satisfied.
David’s experience teaches us that God’s presence can be enjoyed right now. Yes, right now! In the midst of the pressures and debilitating forces that threaten to diminish and destroy us, God is there!
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 26, 2022
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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