"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary."
Psalm 63:1-2
Part 3
Yesterday: What does My Body and Soul Long For?
“My soul thirsteth for thee.”
As the deer thirsts for the cool water pool, I thirst for God.
“My flesh longeth for thee.”
My body longs to be in His presence.
“In a dry and thirsty land.”
We live in a spiritually parched land.
“Where no water is.”
Where there seems to be no place to rest or comfort ourselves. “This world is not my home; I’m just a passin’ through.”
Today: In Times of Public Worship, David saw God’s Power and Glory.
What does David want?
“To see thy power and thy glory.”
He fondly remembers his times of worship in the Tabernacle, and he craves to see God’s power and glory again.
“The reference here is to what was manifested of the presence and the power of God in the services of public worship; the praises, the prayers, the rejoicings, the evidences of the divine presence”[1] (Barnes).
He is thirsting for those times of worship when he met with the LORD and saw God’s glory and power firsthand.
“Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore” (Psalm 105:4).
Believers, we can understand this from God’s working in our lives through His Gospel.
“In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves, your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).
“So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”
During David’s times of worship, he has witnessed God’s power, and glory poured out.
“Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people” (Psalm 77:13-14).
“Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary” (Psalm 96:6).
“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD” (Psalm 134:2).
Besides the Word of God working in our own hearts during public worship, we can watch and hear the Gospel preached boldly. Proud sinners are broken and turned into humble saints. They are taken from the kingdom of darkness and planted into the Kingdom of Light.
“They who have ever witnessed the power of God in a revival of religion, will ever afterward long to see again ‘the power and glory’ of God, as they ‘have seen’ it ‘in the sanctuary’”[2] (Barnes).
Every time God saves a soul from sin, we get to witness His power and glory once again!
Quote: “Now unto Him, that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25).
[1] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Psalm 63:1.
[2] Albert Barnes, ibid.