Psalm 63 - Thirsting for God

 

Psalm 63  KJV

Psalm 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Thirsting for God is a reoccurring theme throughout the Scriptures.

In Psalm 42:1-2 we find, “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

In Psalm 143:6, I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsts after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

In 1 Samuel 1:10, we see Hannah praying in bitterness of soul while she wept sore. She is thirsting for God that He respond to her bitterness of soul of being barren.

In Daniel 10:2-3, we find Daniel in prayer and fasting in search of forgiveness for God’s people. “In those days, I Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till these whole weeks were finished.”

In Isaiah 55:1-3a, God calls the thirsty to Himself. “Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live.”

It is in hearing God word, God’s truth, that gives us strength to carry on.

In Isaiah 41:17-18, we again have the imagery of being thirsty and hungry. God promises to fulfil are physical and spiritual needs. “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”

In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:6, Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

To the Samaritan woman at the well Jesus spoke of quenching the spiritual thirst we have.

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

In Capernaum Jesus spoke to the masses that followed Him.

John 6:35 ^“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.”

At the feast of the tabernacles in Jerusalem Jesus said to the people.

John 7:37b-38a “If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated by building temporary shelters, waving the lulav and etrog, and, traditionally, a daily water-drawing ceremony.

The lulav and etrog were central symbols of the Jewish holiday of Tabernacles, representing the "Four Species" waved to celebrate the fall harvest and symbolize unity. The lulav is a bundle of palm, willow, and myrtle branches, while the etrog is a citron fruit; they are shaken in six directions to represent God's presence.

Priests would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and carried it to the Temple to pour upon the altar. The act symbolized thanksgiving for the present harvest, and prayers for rain for future harvests

The Water-Drawing Ceremony took place for seven days. A golden pitcher was filled with water at the Pool of Siloam and brought in a joyous procession to the Temple's Water Gate.

The priests poured the water, along with wine, onto the altar. This ritual reached its peak on the final day, known as Hoshana Raba. The Talmud describes this ceremony with extreme joy, with people dancing with torches. It was a time to pray for winter rains and for the Holy Spirit’s presence throughout the land. Jesus used the context of this ceremony to declare Himself the source of "living water.” [1]

The thirsting for God is also seen in our desperation in prayer. Apostle Paul said we should approach God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. If we do, Paul says, God will send His peace which passes understanding into our hearts.

In Jeremiah we see the same formula of desperation, of thirsting.

Jeremiah 29:13 “You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart.”

In the last book of the Bible Jesus promises to fulfil the thirst we have for truth, for peace, for unconditional love, for God.

Revelation 21:6-7 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”

Those that have hungered and thirsted for righteousness, for truth, for God, shall find Him.

Psalm 63:2-3 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

When we find God, when we have the experience with the Holy Spirit, and are baptise with the power of love, all we want to do is love everybody. All we want to do is share with the good news we have found in Jesus with the world.

Psalm 63:4-5 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 in our search for truth, in search for the source of love, when finally, we find God, our hearts and mouths are filled with praise and thanksgiving. We have found the source of life. We have found our way out of darkness. The day star, Jesus, has risen in our hearts, and all we can do is praise Him. David sings, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation,” i.e., the joy we experience in being saved, in finding God.

Psalm 63:6-7 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.

David remembers God when he is unable to sleep, or needs to stay awake as a guard in the night. He uses the frequent imagery of being a chick under the protecting wing of its mother hen.

Psalm 63:8 My soul follows hard after thee: thy right hand upholds me.

Moses told the children of Israel that they should not cleave unto the gods of the world, the culture around them. He told them to cleave unto the Lord.

Deuteronomy 10:20 “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.”

Deuteronomy 11:22 “ For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him.”

Deuteronomy 13:4 “Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”

Deuteronomy 30:20 “That thou may love the Lord thy God, and that thou may obey his voice, and that thou may cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou may dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Joshua gave the children of Israel the same commands and warnings.

Joshua 23:6-8 "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day."

Joshua 23:12-13 “Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:  Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.”

We need to make sure we are cleaving unto the Lord, and not unto the culture around us.

Psalm 63:9-10 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

God has promised to protect the righteous. We are the apple of His eye. Those that rise up against us shall not go unpunished.

Psalm 63:11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that swears by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

David could be talking of his future position as king, and of his rejoicing in God. David could also be referring to that future King, the Messiah, the longed for promised King that will bring peace on earth to all men everywhere.

In Isaiah we find the Lord saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed,” Isaiah 45:22-24.

Apostle Pauls uses that same imagery to declare, “That at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Fater,” Philippians 2:10-11.

“But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.” Satan is the father of lies and shall have his place in the lake of fire and brimstone along with all liars, which is the second death, Revelation 20:11 & 21:8. The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

King James Version (KJV)  Public Domain

Notes: 

[1] Research information on Feast of Tabernacle from Google Search.