PSALM 63:1-8 – 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. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE HEART DESIRE OF THE HEALTHY CHRISTIAN. Donald Whitney, in his book Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, opened with the most important question of all – Do you thirst for God? Whitney offered this personal illustration . . .
“Lord, I want to know You more,” sang the soloist, just before the sermon. One of my seminary professors from years back, who was a guest preacher at our church that Sunday morning, sat next to me on the front pew, transfixed. As the soloist continued, I could hear my older friend sigh occasionally. When the song was over, T. W. sat motionless for so long that I thought he had forgotten he was now supposed to preach As I turned to remind him, I saw his shoulders lift and fall with the slow draw and release of his breath. Finally, he opened his eyes and stepped thoughtfully to the pulpit. He looked down for what seemed to be a full minute before he could speak. And then he said, “Lord, I do want to know You more.” Departing from his prepared words for a while, he spoke of his thirst for God, his longings to know Christ more intimately, to obey Him more completely. Here was a man who had followed Christ for more than fifty years and was still captivated by the sweetness of the quest. In his second half-century as a disciple of Jesus, the grace of growth still flourished in him.
A thirst for God. It is the highest mark of a healthy spiritual life, but it is only a true thirst or desire if the self-discipline, self-desire, and self-control is present in our lives to satisfy the thirst or pursue the desire. No one knows the Lord without extreme effort to know the Lord. Lazy Christians may say they thirst for and desire to know the Lord, but without diligence in seeking, the thirst and desire are false – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied (Proverbs 13:4).
In today’s scripture, David models this thirst. Notice three things marking this thirst for God. First, it is intense – earnestly I seek you. Next, it is personal – my soul thirsts for you. Combining the two, we see into the heart of David. He doesn’t want God to do something for him. He wants Him. He wants to know the living God and that is a personal way to satisfy what he was created for – a close relationship with Him. David knows nothing will bring contentment to his heart, purpose in his life, and satisfaction to his soul apart from God making Himself known to him. And what is important to note is that David isn’t experiencing this right now. He is in the wilderness of Judah far away from Jerusalem and the place God meets with His people in worship. Yet, this only intensifies his longing for God.
Application? Do we thirst for God? Like Whitney’s friend in the first paragraph. Like David in today’s scripture. If not, let’s ask God to give it to us. If so, let’s ask Him to intensify it. This is what healthy Christianity looks like, and God will satisfy our thirst for Him. That is why He created us, then saved us in Christ.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the times I allow lesser things in life to replace the best thing in life – seeking You .”
QUOTE: “A desire to know the Lord that produces the discipline of seeking the Lord is present in healthy Christians.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim