Sunday, May 25, 2008

Psalm 63

It appears that Blogger.com took the liberty of reverting my blog format to an old version. Not sure what that's about. For now I've updated the links at left. I may get a wild idea to switch blog hosts. I hear good things about Wordpress...

Speaking of the links to the left, if you haven't heard, my brother Kyle continues to excel in the Dynamo program. I'm very excited for him!

For now, I thought I might share a Psalm that helped get me through the 3 week trip to India in February. Not that India was so bad, its just that 3 weeks is a long time to be away from my family. So one Saturday in the middle of the trip, I woke up and had Psalm 63 imprinted on my brain. I didn't have it memorized ... I literally woke up thinking 'Psalm 63'. Weird, I know.

So I cracked it open. Before I post a few verses below, a couple of notes that might help you see the poignance of this scripture for me at that particular time. 1) We Americans have to drink bottled water in India, as our digestive systems aren't used to the local water. 2) While I certainly found foods I like in India, one of the things that seemed a constant reminder of my location was the absence of the familiar foods of home. I missed my wife's cooking, not to mention Chipotle, Pei Wei, etc etc.

With that preamble, here is Psalm 63:1-5, NIV:


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.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.



That morning, reading this Psalm, I was pretty convicted. At that point, I had not 'earnestly sought' God in weeks. And here was God, pulling me into a Psalm that related to my spiritual position, and to an extent, my physical location.

I'm happy to say I've been more earnest in my seeking of God since that trip in February. I wish I could say that the seeking was simple or that I received clear answers to some complex questions on my heart. But I believe God is faithful, and I continue to trust Him. I am very thankful that God continues to pursue me, even in times when my soul feels dry.

And I'm thankful that God is as close to India as He is to Texas.

B

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a good post on Psalm 63. Thanks! I needed that today.

As far as Blogger v. WordPress - go back and read my post from the beginning of last week about how I feel about Blogger and what success I found with TheoBloggers, who help me out with my blog using WordPress software. It only costs me $3 bucks a month (which is a steal for the service these guys offer - they're ministers), plus $10 a year because I have my own domain name (deeandrews.net).

If you're interested, just email me Brian and I'll have Brad Palmore answer any questions you may have whether you decide to go with TheoBloggers or not.

Glad to see you blogging!

Many blessings to you today!

Dee