MAIN POINT: God rules through His powerful, benevolent presence by establishing His kingdom of security and provision.
If you are following my adventure through the Psalms then you probably have realised with me that the more traditional devotional psalm of quiet meditation, peaceful contemplation or restful jubilation are so far the exception and quite rare. Most of the psalms until now with a few notable exceptions have been desperate cries for help, vengeance and justice. And to be honest I think we need to correct our expectations a lot and recognise that life is pain, warfare and a struggle. And if we are determined to live for God, then we'll face roadblocks from our own selfish soul that doesn’t want to relinquish power, obstacles from friends and family who want to occupy the place in your heart where God must live and the ever present forces of darkness who are grasping to kill, steal and destroy everything of God’s that is good. That is probably why Psalm 63 is so well known. And yet as I read the context title before verse one in English and in verse one in Dutch, I keep thinking of Jesus in the wilderness and the children of Israel in the wilderness and Hagar in the wilderness with Ishmael thirsting for water. The intensity of longing and desire is heightened by the wilderness setting. And further it is wild. Wildness is a place outside the garden of God, beyond Eden. We were given the job of dominion. We should be bringing order to the wilderness. The earth should be a garden and we with God should be its caretaker. So when we are in the wilderness, we are not necessarily closer to God. Thus the intense longing. In fact when people are in the wilderness, God comes to them. David contrasts God’s presence in the sanctuary of the tabernacle with the feeling he has of God’s absence here in the wilderness. Because David longs to be with God's people, in God’s city, in God’s sanctuary in the presence of God. When God is present He provides:
God provides the refreshment of living water. v.1
God provides a caring, need-meeting presence. v.2
God provides a loving relationship which meets a higher order of need than life. vv.3-5
God’s presence brings the sanctuary of His power and glory to our soul and mind. vv.6-8
God dwells in David’s thoughts (heart, mind, meditation, soul…)
God lives in David’s emotions.
God inhabits David’s need for security.
God’s presence gives a sense of justice, security and resolution. vv.9-10
Knowing God gives order and purpose in place of wilderness and desert in a person's soul.
I’m going to ramble my thoughts through the outline above without directly recreating it here, but you can know in the flow of my thoughts I’m following the above points.
How many times in the Bible do we encounter a person alone in the “wilderness” and in need of water? Interestingly, Jesus himself, who claimed to be the living water, stood one day thirsty asking for a drink. Everyone, even Jesus, needs water. And like David and like Hagar and like the children of Israel, it is ultimately in the provision of God's own presence that our thirst is quenched. I’m talking to my own heart when I say REMEMBER the presence of God! Hold on to your memories of when God came to you in His power and glory. Maybe it was when you were first saved, maybe in a worship service or maybe just surprisingly while going about your daily chores. But I trust you have encountered the presence of the loving God at least once in your life or you would not be reading this. I have seen him and heard Him call to me and tell me He loves me. When you feel like you are far from God, remind yourself of the time when He was near to you. He still is.
Long before good old Maslow provided us the Hierarchy of Needs, David knew about it and addressed them here in Psalm 63. Water, food, shelter, longing and desire, LOVE. No matter the order, these needs are met in the presence of God.
I know, even for myself, there is a form of spirituality that is an asceticism which seeks the quiet of dark forests and severe wild deserts to find the presence of God. But let me remind you of a few facts.
God is everywhere. You can’t escape His presence.
God has stamped His image on people. That’s one reason why we don’t need (they are actually forbidden) idols and images of God. Because look at your brother, your neighbour, your child and your spouse, and you are seeing the image and in some ways the presence of God. If you do good to the least of those you are doing good to God.
God is a king with a kingdom, and He is bringing about order, dominion, and providing plenty and protection. The so-called untamed wilderness is not the plan of God; He will make a garden of the whole world and He will make the lion and the lamb to lie down together, so God is about turning wilderness into His ordered kingdom. That is at least in part your reason for existence: to have dominion, to be a co-regent with Jesus. So firstly, David submits the wilderness of his soul to God but then by the end of the Psalm, it is the wilderness of society that is tamed and brought into order. Order, dominion, kingship and justice are part of what happens in the presence of God.
Conclusion:
We need order. God’s presence will bring a rule of truth and peace and that will satisfy your every longing.
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| Handwritten Psalm 63 |
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