“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
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.
My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
This Psalm was most likely written when David was in the desert region of Judah while hiding from Saul. Water probably was scarce in that area. The One Great Hour of Sharing offering and other groups work to help bring water to people who are still living without safe drinking water. We can also think of lack of water as a spiritual longing for God. Water is used in Baptism. Genesis1:2 says the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. As I was thinking about this a CD I had on played “There Shall be Showers of Blessing,” using a water metaphor as a sign of God’s blessing. This Psalm expresses a longing for God from someone who trusted in God but could not openly attend any place of worship. David knew God’s love is better even than life, and he was able to praise God even during the difficult circumstances he was in at that time.
God is present with us now during this difficult time we are in with the COVID-19 virus. He is with people in areas where they face persecution for their faith, including people mentioned in the “Voice of the Martyrs”, like the 3 Christian families in Laos. They were driven from their village and their houses were destroyed because they would not deny their Savior and give up their faith. Their faith was more important than their jobs and possessions. God was with the Pakistani Christian who was fired from his job because he would not embrace Islam, even though he knew it was hard for Christians to get a well-paying job. God is with people who struggle with physical deformities like those helped by Mercy Ships. One was a 12 year old boy whose deformed legs made it difficult for him to help his father in the fields and to play soccer, which he loved. He was able to get surgery from a Mercy Ship doctor to straighten his legs, and with extensive physical therapy was able to have a normal life, a real answer to prayer for his family. I am going to close by reading verse 5. Note that it does not say “my body, but “my soul.” “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lip my mouth will praise you.”
A devotional provided by Ruth R.
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