The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David, [a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You [b]earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh [c]yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with [d]marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches,
7 For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings [e]to You;
Your right hand upholds me.9 But those who seek my [f]life to destroy it,
Will go into the [g]depths of the earth.
10 [h]They will be [i]delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a [j]prey for foxes.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
This psalm has a theme that is most clear in verse 3, “Your lovingkindness is better than life…” Can you imagine anything better than life? It seems almost a silly question, because if you don’t have life, you can’t enjoy anything else. Life is essential, and yet the psalmist tells us God’s lovingkindness is better. Why?
Because His lovingkindness transcends this mortal life, it sustains us even when nothing on this earth can. Even when food is scarce, there is no water, and sleep would escape one, God sustains our very souls. Should our body perish, we will be born anew in His spirit. Indeed, if we put our hope and trust in God, we are already new creations, but when we shed our mortal flesh, it will be all the more clear.
Not that we have a death wish, because God has put us on this earth with a purpose. As long as we draw breath, we praise Him, and like the psalmist, we “sing for joy”. In this temporal life then, His lovingkindness makes it all the sweeter because we find true meaning and fulfillment. Without which, this life is a pretty dull and sorry thing.
For all the myriad of pleasures on this earth, for all the beauty and splendor (that God himself created), it is all meaningless and like “chasing the wind” without God’s presence in our lives. And with His presence? It is something else entirely, beyond our wildest imaginings, something we see only “as in a glass darkly”. But one day, we shall see Him face to face.