O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. (Psalm 63:1-5 — New American Standard Bible)
A note in the title of this psalm explains that it was written during a time that David was in the Judean desert, possibly one of the times that King Saul was chasing and trying to kill him. David acted like so many of us in times of trouble — he turned to God and reminded Him that He was his God, that He was responsible for his welfare. In this short, five-verse passage we get a glimpse of why David was such a great and successful man, a man after God’s own heart — his soul thirsted, and his flesh yearned for God. Because he was on the run and far from God’s place of worship, David felt that he was in a spiritually dry and weary land and craved for the water of God’s presence. Can anyone imagine God not coming to the rescue of a person expressing these types of attitudes? I can’t.
King David says that God’s “lovingkindness is better than life”. Lovingkindness could be translated as loyal love… a love that never gives up, that can be counted on, that will never fail. Isn’t this what most people in this world are in desperate need of? There are so few guarantees when people don’t know God. Couples that love each other end up getting a divorce after a few years of marriage. People are fired from jobs that they gave their all to. People work their whole lives to build up some savings and then lose it in a bad business deal. This is why David says that God’s lovingkindness is better than life — His loyal love ensures that no matter what tomorrow brings, He will be there to help us make it through and overcome any obstacle, even life after death.
David was the most successful king of Israel, so much that his name is even used to refer to the Lord Jesus: the root of Jesse, the Son of David. If he could have this attitude and say these things, I think it’s clear that you should follow his lead. — No excuses. Follow his lead. — Decide that God is going to richly satisfy your soul, and that your mouth will soon praise Him with joyful lips because of all He will have done for you.
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