"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)
David had correct ideas of his relation to God. He says, "You are my God." Too many imagine that God is far off from them, and that they have to make some great exertions to arouse his interest in them. They forget that God is "not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:27-28)
They forget that God has sought us, and is anxiously waiting for us to seek Him. They imagine that God is like a man,--holding off those who have done Him a wrong, and refusing to be reconciled. They forget that: "God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:8) and that: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself," (2 Corinthians 5:19) and that to his ministers he has committed the word of reconciliation, who in Christ's stead beg of sinners, "Be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Many people remain at a distance from God, because they forget, or have never heard, that He has proclaimed himself as: "The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." (Exodus 34:6-7) "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." (Psalm 103:8) "[He is] long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
So willing is He to forgive, that when men seek Him, turning from their wicked thoughts and actions, "He will multiply to pardon." (Isaiah 55:7,margin)
And so abundant and efficient is His mercy toward them that fear him, that though their sins be as scarlet, "they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
Why will not men let the goodness of God lead them to repentance? What more could He have done than He has done?
vs. 1: Early will I seek you.
David knew that this was the time to seek the Lord. "Those that seek me early shall find me." (Proverbs 8:17)
Is not this an indication that, if seeking the Lord is put off, He might not be found? Isaiah says: "Seek the Lord while He may be found." (Isaiah 55:6)
Then there will be a time when he may not be found. "Now is the accepted time." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
True, this refers to the gospel age, but it is literally true. We have known men, in this age when the gospel is preached, who could not find the Lord. They had once felt the strivings of the Spirit, but now they could feel no interest in divine things. They would acknowledge the truth of God's word, but they were indifferent to it.
Now is the time when the Lord may be found,--just now while you feel that the husks of sin, "the beggarly elements of the world," are unsatisfying food. Do not stifle the slightest conviction: "Quench not the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
Says Jesus: "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)
But it is not sufficient to simply seek early; some start to seek the Lord, but have not a desire sufficiently strong to make them persevere. Said David:
vs. 1: My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You.
He felt that he must have God. He could not be satisfied without God. When a man feels that way, he gets what he wants. Says Christ: "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
The trouble too often is, that instead of having an intense desire and longing for righteousness, we are simply passively willing to have righteousness. We ask the Lord to help us overcome some sin, with a mental reservation that we may indulge in it once in a while. We don’t like to say, "I hate the sins that made you mourn."--William Cowper, Hymn: O For A Closer Walk With God, 1772.
"Hate" seems too strong a word; we still cherish a secret love for the sin. We want (so we think) to be righteous, and yet we feel loath to part with that darling sin. That is very far from hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Such half-way desire will never result in anything except final defeat. But when the mind is fixed upon Christ; when He is to the soul "the chiefest among ten thousand, ... [The One] altogether lovely;" (Song 5:10,16) when to be like Him is the one absorbing desire;--then will He be found. To such the promise is: "They shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
Think of that. How much righteousness does that imply? Here is the definition of "fill":
To make full; to supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour into till no more can be received; to occupy to the whole capacity of.
Now that doesn't leave any room for anything else. When a man is "filled with the fruits of righteousness," (Philippians 1:11) there isn't going to be any wickedness cropping out. Such a one "keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not." (1 John 5:18)
But is such a condition possible? Let us see. Paul told the Ephesians that he prayed to God, "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Do you know anyone who has realized the answer to that prayer? Such a thing must be possible, for Paul prayed for it, and he says that God is able "to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." (Ephesians 3:20)
Ah that's the secret. There is some power working in us that a stronger than we, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts." Well, Christ was unsullied by the strongest of Satan's temptations, and if He dwells in our hearts, why may not we likewise repel all of Satan's advances? Says Paul: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
No man has the strength to resist the devil, but with Christ to strengthen him he can do all things. "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)
Not the victory that makes a feeble effort to overcome, and fails; but the victory that does overcome. What has been done may be done. Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth, "were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." (Luke 1:6) "Enoch walked with God;" (Genesis 5:24) and two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Moreover we have the Lord's own testimony concerning Job that he was: "a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil." (Job 1:8)
It is true that there was "none like him in the earth;" (Job 1:8) but the fact that there was one such man shows that there might have been more; and if there might have been more there ought to have been more. Let it be remembered, however, that this is not a gift suddenly bestowed, but is a constant work. Says David:
vs. 8: My soul follows hard after You.
It is not enough simply to seek the Lord early, or even to hunger and thirst after him, unless it is kept up. "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that you affirm constantly, that they which have believed God might be careful to maintain good works." (Titus 3:8)
Such a state of righteousness is progressive. "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be blameless till the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10) "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18)
The Christian can never arrive at a place beyond which there is nothing. Stereotyping is a thing that is gone in Christian experience. As a matter of course, walking with God produces humility. "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not up right in him." (Habakkuk 2:4)
When a man becomes satisfied with his condition, he ceases to hunger and thirst after righteousness; he ceases to follow hard after God, and consequently he becomes empty. Notwithstanding Job's perfectness, when God revealed himself to him in an especial manner, he said: "I have heard of You with the hearing of the ear; but now my eyesees You. Wherefore I abhor myself." (Job 42:5-6)
The nearer one gets to God, the greater will seem the contrast between God and himself. If it were not so, there would come a time when he would cease to say, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," (Revelation 5:12) and would ascribe worthiness to himself. That time can never come.
vs. 2: To see your power and your glory, so as I have seen You in the sanctuary.
That is what David longed for. He had been at times wonderfully impressed, during the services in the sanctuary, with the power of the love of God. He had been greatly blessed. Now he wants to see the Lord just as he had seen Him in the sanctuary. He believed that a person might enjoy just as much of the blessing of God while about his daily business as when the in church.
How was it with Daniel? He was prime minister of the kingdom of Babylon, with all the burden of the business of that mighty empire upon him, yet while he was in the palace, doing "the king's business," he received a vision from God. (See Daniel 8:1,2,27) He did not allow business care to separate him from God. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)
For what purpose was it told what Daniel was doing when he had that vision, except that we might learn that it is possible to "walk with God," and to have close communion with Him, even when burdened with business cares. Daniel had learned to cast his care on the Lord. When a man has learned that, he can say,
vs. 3: Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
He can't help praising the Lord.
vs. 4: Thus will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in your name.
Yes; "they will be still praising You." (Psalm 84:4)
vs. 5: My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips;
vs. 6: When I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the night watches.
vs. 7: Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings will I rejoice.
Continual remembrance of God must result in praise and thanksgiving; and praise to God is a powerful help in overcoming. Says David: "So will I sing praise unto your name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows." (Psalm 61:8)
Meditation upon God reveals His goodness, and this calls for praise; praise is but an expression of confidence in God, "and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)--Signs of the Times, July 1, 1886--Original title: Practical Thoughts on Psalm 63--Psalm 63:1-8.