“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.”
Psalm 63:1-2
Only those who know their need will pray in this way.
How desperate are you for Him this morning, Pilgrim? Did you cry with David, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You”? Or, did you arise this morning, with your “To Do” list on your mind as you rushed out the door, without even telling Him “Good morning”?
If so, don’t be surprised when you find your soul emaciated from hunger and dehydrated from deprivation.
Only the “thirsty soul” will seek Him. And, only the desperate soul will “seek Him early.”
And, even then, don’t allow your eyes to look around you at others at their faithfulness (or lack of it). Instead, “look only unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2) and keep on looking.
Say unto Him even now, “My soul thirst for YOU, O Lord. My flesh longs for YOU in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. I’m like someone lost in the desert, dying from thirst, and everything/everyone I’ve looked to has been a mirage. No, I thirst for YOU, the living God (Ps. 42:2a). Every ounce of my being longs (Heb. ‘kamah’—‘to pine after, deeply yearn for, crave, etc.’) for YOU and no one/nothing else.”
“Why do you thirst after Me?” He asks.
“To see Your Power and Your Glory as I have in the past in the sanctuary,” we reply.
“Oh, so you need a fresh touch from Me?” He says.
“Yes, dear Savior, a refreshing touch that creates in me a clean heart and restores unto me Your Joy. I am so dry inside. For so long I cried an ocean-full of tears; but now, they’ve stopped. It seems my faith is old and my heart is cold. Stir me once again, O God so once again I can see You move in power as I have in the past.”
At first, nothing may happen.
No Voice from Heaven. No “sound of an abundance of rain” (I Kings 18:41). Only silence.
But, do not fear or despair, weary one.
“In due season you shall reap if you grow not weary in well-doing and faint not” (Gal. 6:9). When all the “sound and fury” has subsided. . .when all options have been exhausted. . . when all hope seems lost, He’ll come to you. . .speaking “in a still, small Voice, ‘Peace, be still’” (I Kings 19:11-12; Mk. 4:39).
And, as He does, we realize “His loving-kindness is better than life” (Ps. 63:3a) and “because He has been our Help, we will rejoice in the shadow of His wings” (v.7) as “His right Hand continually upholds us” (v.8b). Thank You, Lord.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated January 28, 2010
