Category: Psalm

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night (Psalm 63:6).

Many moons ago I had a friend named James.  James made it a practice to pray every night before he went to sleep.  Not just a quick, “Thanks, God–Nighty-night” sort of prayer.  He would painstakingly examine the day he had just spent, looking for any way in which he might have disobeyed God and repenting.  Sometimes he would arrive at work exhausted from a night short on sleep and long on soul searching.  While I think there may be a certain legalism mixed up in James’s approach that isn’t altogether healthy, I have always respected and admired his devotion.  He had a desire to connect with God on the deepest levels. It was a desire that was, and often still is, lacking in my own life.

And what of you, Beloved?  What are your thoughts as you drift off to Dreamland?  When you lie awake at night, are you praising your Savior, or are you stressing over your mortgage?

I think I’m going to go back to bed and practice this verse.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you (Psalm 63:5).

My first thought here is that you shouldn’t sing with your mouth full.

Shows you how spiritual I am.

You push back from the Fourth of July picnic table, stuffed to the gills with all the tasty num-numminess you can imagine.  Burgers, dogs, potato salad, corn on the cob, apple pie…

It’s just like that, only in a spiritual sense, and without the unpleasant, bloated feeling.

We began this psalm with David crying out in need; now we see him satisfied and content. David has feasted on the knowledge of God’s love and the praise of his glory.  He is full with the presence of God.  

Of course, no matter how stuffed you are on Independence Day, by the following morning you’ll be ready to eat again.  The hunger continues.

As it should.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.  Make it a feast.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands (Psalm 63:4).

It’s a lifetime achievement.

You get to praise the One who loved you and called you and picked you up and dusted you off and gave you a purpose and a hope and a future and a promise.

And you get to do it with every breath.

Till you drop…and after.

So

shall we 

commence?

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you (Psalm 63:3).

Better than life…

That means

Better than chocolate cake

Better than fuzzy socks

Better than an extra hour of sleep

Better than a hug when you need it most

Better than puppies

Better than new snow

Better than old movies

Better than getting your braces removed

Better than hitting a home run

Better than getting picked first

Better than hot chocolate on a cold morning

Better than holding a baby

Better than pinning the corsage

Better than starting a hike

Better than finishing a hike

Better than a smile aimed right at you

Better than laughing till your face hurts

Better than coming home

Actually, it’s exactly like coming home.

To stay

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory (Psalm 63:2).

David knew what it was to be in the presence of God.

Now he won’t settle for anything less.

You’ve felt it.  The sense that you are in His presence, that the concrete or sand or deep pile carpet or pine needles or tile or fresh cut grass or hardwood floor or squeaky snow beneath your feet has just been transformed.

Has become holy ground

Sometimes it makes you weep, sometimes laugh, sometimes stand in utter stillness of body and spirit.

But always, always, always, you know it is He.

That’s good stuff.

David went to the sanctuary to be in the presence of God.

But now, the sanctuary has come to us.  

It’s true.  You belong to Jesus, yes?  

So the Holy Spirit lives within you, yes?

So you are the temple of God.

Yes

Well, I mean, we are.  It’s not just you. Don’t get carried away.

But do enjoy it.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

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 (Psalm 63:1).

Have you ever been thirsty?

I mean, really thirsty?

Not, “I could sure go for a tasty caffeine-free diet soda right about now” thirsty.

More like, “I sure wish lizards could sweat, because I would lick the sweat off a lizard” thirsty.

That’s what David is describing here.

Only…you know…for God.

Beloved, I gotta tell you, I don’t feel that longing, that soul thirst, nearly as often or as intensely as I ought to.

Most of the time, I’m content with far too little of God.  Read a little Bible, post my little blog, say a little prayer on my way to work…

I want more.

No, if I’m honest I should say

I want to want more.

If this is ever going to work, if I am ever going to be the man he has called me to be, I need him to do more than grant the desire of my heart.

I need him to plant the desire in my heart in the first place.

Beloved, I’m glad you’ve got it all together, because some days I’m just a mess.

But, at least I’m His mess.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn–for he has done it (Psalm 22:31).

That’s us.

We’re the  posterity that David wrote about as he looked into the future and saw God’s praise growing and spreading. We are those future generations. And we can look ahead in faith and see that God’s praise will never end. I see it in my children, and, if I squint, I can imagine it in theirs.

You and I are blips on the timeline, Beloved.

But we are glorious blips.

Happy Thursday

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him–those who cannot keep themselves alive (Psalm 22:29).

Let’s say you’re wealthy.

No, wait–let’s say that I’m wealthy.

Really very wealthy.

I will worship him.

As will all the rich

and all the poor

and all the beautiful

and all the frighteningly unattractive

and all the fit

and all the fluffy

and all the wise

and all the ditzy.

We will all worship.

Not because of who we are

but 

because of who he is.

And who he is is so very worthy. 

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations (Psalm 22:28).

God is in control.

Nations are slinging missiles and bombs and

God is in control.

People are rioting in the streets and burning cars and burning flags and

God is in control.

Families are torn by sin and grief and loss and

God is in control.

Hearts are broken and desperate and despairing and

God is in control.   

It is all hIs, Beloved. He is king, and he rules with strength and righteousness.  The world may not acknowledge him as king 

yet 

but it will.

Every knee will bow.

Every tongue will call him Lord.

And it will be glorious.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him… (Psalm 22:27).

Every knee

Every tongue

Everywhere

And David gets to be part of that by praising God and sharing the story of his rescue.

And we get to be part of that by praising God and sharing the story of our rescue.

And the word will spread

And the praise will spread

Shall we join in, Beloved?

Happy Monday