Satisfaction

Psalm 63:1-8 (ESV)

1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

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.

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

As I looked ahead in my current Bible study workbook, I looked forward to today's topic: "To Find Satisfaction in God."

You may know that a book that profoundly impacted my life is Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson. And the chapter that did it was "Listen to your Longings." (Followed closely by "Encounter your Journal.")

Longings. We all have them. To be brutally honest, there are times that I question God. I ask Him why I still have the "ache," or the "hollow place" in me even when I spend so much time with Him and in His Word.

The answer that Nicole landed on was that we are indeed made for more than this. We are made for Eden. For paradise. For daily walks in the garden with God. Unashamed. And so we yearn for that. We yearn for heaven.

This scripture passage was written by David when he was in the wilderness. That encourages me. I have wilderness days, and the enemy of my soul taunts me on them. But do you know what the answer is on those days? See verse one: earnestly seek Him from the wilderness. Cease striving. Be still. (Psalm 46:10)

What does verse one indicate is the actual longing? God! We thirst for Him. We hunger for Him. We faint for Him.

Verse 2 shows one way to satisfaction: find him in the sanctuary. I think of this as church. But the definition of the Hebrew word is "it means apartness, holiness, sacredness; a holy thing; a sacred place or thing." Yes, that includes church, a place that is set apart to God. An hour that is set apart. But for me it includes my "curl up with Him" time. I have some rituals - a sunny place, a quilt, a cup of tea or coffee, my journal, my markers, stickers and colored pencils, and of course my Bible and reference books. It is my holy time. I have a space set up for it. It is sacred to me. I can find Him there.

Look at verse 3. This seems to me to be the psalmist's logic taking over. I relate to this. I often say "I am going to logic this through." When I am gripped by oppression or depression or sadness or grief or hopelessness, I logic it through. As David did in verse 4: Because I know *this* about God, I will *do this.* Do you know the key to this? KNOWING God. Because David *knew* that God's love is better than life, he chose to glorify God with his lips. That is not normal. It is supernatural. When I feel like cursing or crying or blaming or just stomping my feet in frustration...I can glorify God with my lips. Thank you Jesus. [oh my... I have *such* a long way to go in obeying this...]

Verse 5 hits home with me. Do we try to satisfy our Jesus longings with rich food? Enough said.

Verse 6 is written for moms of young ones and menopausal women! Do you lie awake on your bed? David has a curriculum for that holy time.

Verse 7 is my favorite. Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to write a book about the birds of the Bible. I love birds. Bizarrely. I can spend hours watching them in our feeders. "In the shadow of your wings." What a picture. Nestle in! I want to nestle in - close enough to be shaded by His wings. There I will sing. I like to sing!

Verse 8. Clings. What a lovely word. Clings. I need to be like Saran Wrap to the bowl. That is cling! This is an active posture, and it's not going to come naturally. Although I will tell you that as you spend time with Him it does become more of your natural response. You begin to long for Him. Run to Him. Nestle back under when you've strayed too far.

No, none of that was in the study. Beth Moore used this as one of *many* passages in my study, but the passage gripped me and reminded me of a few basics:

Expect some wilderness times. Prepare your response: seek Him more! Spend your time beholding HIS power and glory. And, in the words of a great old song, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."