Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Psa 63:3-7 This Psalm, with its passion of love and mystic rapture, is a monument for us of how the writer’s sorrows had brought to him a closer union with God, as our sorrows may do for us, like some treasure washed to our feet by a stormy sea. The key to the arrangement of the Psalm will be found in the threefold recurrence of an emphatic word. In the first verse we read, "My soul thirsteth for Thee;" in the fifth verse, "My soul shall be satisfied;" in the eighth verse, "My soul followeth hard after Thee." These three points are the turning-points of the Psalm; and they show us the soul longing, the longing soul satisfied, and the satisfied soul still seeking. I. We have the soul longing for God. (1) This longing is not that of a man who has no possession of God. Rather is it the desire of a heart which is already in union with Him for a closer union; rather is it the tightening of the grasp with which the man already holds his Father in heaven. All begins with the utterance of a personal, appropriating faith. (2) Upon that there are built earnest seeking, expressed in the words "Early"—that is to say, "Earnestly"—"will I seek Thee," and! the intensest longing, breathing in the pathetic utterance, "My soul thirsteth for Thee," etc. (3) Notice what it is, or rather whom it is, that the Psalmist longs for. "My soul thirsts for Thee." All souls do. Blessed are those who can say, "Thou art my God." (4) Notice when it was that this man thus longed. It was in the midst of his sorrow. (5) This longing, though it be struck out by sorrow, is not forced upon him for the first time by sorrow. The longing that springs in his heart is an old longing: "So have I gazed upon Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory." (6) This longing is animated by a profound consciousness that God is best: "Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life." (7) This longing is accompanied with a firm resolve of continuance: "Thus will I bless Thee while I live." II. In the second portion of the Psalm, which is included in the next three verses, we have the longing soul satisfied. (1) The fruition of God is contemporaneous with the desire after God. (2) The soul that possesses God is fed full. (3) The satisfied soul breaks into the music of praise. (4) This satisfaction leads to a triumphant hope. The past of the seeking soul is the certain pledge of its future. III. The final section of the Psalm gives us the satisfied soul still following after God. The word translated "followeth" here literally means to cleave or to cling. (1) "My soul cleaveth after God." Desire expands the heart; possession expands the heart. More of God comes when we can hold more of Him, and the end of all fruition is the renewed desire after further fruition. (2) There is also very beautifully here the co-operation and reciprocal action of the seeking soul and the sustaining God. We hold, and we are held. (3) The soul thus cleaving and following is gifted with a prophetic certainty. David’s certainty of the destruction of his foes is the same triumphant assurance, on a lower spiritual level, as Paul’s trumpet-blast of victory, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 243.) THE LONGING SOUL ABUNDANTLY SATISFIED Ever since the third century this has been the morning song of the Church. The superscription tells us that it was written in the wilderness of Judah, probably during the events recorded in 2Sa_15:23-28; 2Sa_16:2; 2Sa_17:16. Notice the many references to the life of the soul. These are the many considerations of our mortal pilgrimage! My soul thirsteth; my soul longeth; my soul shall be satisfied; my soul followeth hard after thee.
The soul thirsting, Psa_63:1-4 Let us be on the alert to see God’s power and glory, not only in the sanctuary, but in dry and thirsty lands. How sad and weary, R.V., is life without God! The soul satisfied, Psa_63:5-7 To desire God is to have Him. To long for Him is to be at the well-head. To remember Him on the bed rests us. To meditate on Him in the night is to have the dawn. The shadow of His wings is absolute safety. The soul in hot pursuit, Psa_63:8-11 God is always in front of us. The Savior went before; we must follow in His steps, but there ought to be as little space as possible between us. Another turn of the road, and you will see Him. (F.B. Meyer) Comments are closed.
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Welcome
On this page there will be information regarding Christian mediation, and weekly short meditations. More content will be added as the Lord leads.
The NightWatchman And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luk 6:12
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed. Mark 1:35 Gander Story Poems
https://www.gander poems.org/ Resources
Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer / Christian Audio Book (1 / 2)
https://youtu.be/eihZWpAk7y4?si=PQ-_J3Y6i8u-N2Ac Union With God By Jeanne Guyon Chapter 1 Of 7 https://youtu.be/d5AfKS2dFLg?si=VtWAeEurkAddTDpL The Practice of the Presence of God - audiobook Brother LAWRENCE (1614 - 1691)- https://youtu.be/rRAs_BK1NR8?si=hGAL4C829aH7DKMn Praying in the Spirit https://www.twosparrowsministry.org/the-prayer-closet Archives
July 2024
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