“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where no water is—to see Your Power and Your Glory so as I have seen You in the sanctuary. Because Your Lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus will I bless You while I live. I will lift up my hands in Your Name.”
Psalm 63:1-4
Until we realize He’s what we’re looking for, our search will never end.
What do you need from the Lord this morning, Pilgrim? What burden are you carrying that’s weighing you down? What “concern” has been so robbing you of your joy and peace-of-mind that you find it difficult to sleep at night?
Whatever “it” may be, the solution is the same:
Him.
The God of Abraham. The Creator of Heaven and earth. Jesus, the One with nail-scars in His Hands, Who’s “well-acquainted with your grief” (Is. 53:3). The Holy Spirit, Who “searches our hearts and minds and prays for us according to God’s Will” (Rom. 8:26-27).
Yet, even He cannot/will not help us unless we let Him.
Or, at least we won’t recognize His intervention until after the fact UNLESS we “seek Him early. . .thirst for Him as a dying man in a desert. . .and long for Him as the One we’ve been looking for all of our lives.”
The Hebrew word “shachar” is used here for “early will I seek you” and is the picture of one arising before dawn and earnestly searching for something lost or desperately needed. It’s like the person who’s misplaced his wallet and is turning the house upside down to find it—or the parent whose child has wandered off into nearby woods and he’s out there in the dark trying to “find that which was lost” (Lk. 15:1-24).
Pity the one who says “I want to know Him (Christ) and the Power of His Resurrection” (Phil. 3:10a), but is too busy, preoccupied or self-satisfied to seek Him in such a way.
Why is that?
Quite simply, because only those who “seek Him will find Him” (Mt. 7:7; Prov. 8:17; Jer. 29:13). And, only those who are “desperately driven and drawn to see His Power and Glory” will “see the fire fall and the Glory fill” (II Chron. 7:1-3).
Oh, dear Pilgrim, is His “lovingkindness (Heb. ‘checed’—‘kindness, beauty, mercy, condescending Love, etc.’) better than life” to you? Does your heart ache to see Him move in your life as you’ve seen Him move in the past?
If so, keep “seeking, thirsting and longing/pining for Him.”
The time will come when He’ll refresh you with Himself even as the cooling wind and rain after a long, hot summer day. And, as these “times of refreshing come from the Presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19), your “soul shall be satisfied and your mouth filled with praise because He has been (and will continue to be) your Help” (Ps. 63:5-7; 46:1). Hallelujah! Why not stop right now and “rejoice in the shadow of His wings” (v.7b)?
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated October 25, 2010
