Sunday Devotional: Psalm 63: Better Than Life

Some days, this world feels a lot like a wilderness. Dry, desolate, uninhabited. To complicate things, you might be as David was, on the run, far from family and friends and all that was familiar.

Psalm 63 (NKJV) ... A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

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 there is no water.
² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

What should we do when we feel parched and needy? Press into God. Seek Him all the more fervently. Sometimes we don’t even know how dry we are.

³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Do we believe that—His lovingkindness, His mercy, is better than life? Do we believe it enough to make the effort to focus on Him only when all around us is dry as dust, when our own soul is famished, when all hope seems to have died? Because while we have life and breath, He is still merciful. He is still God—our God, and just the act of raising our hands to Him and praising His name can be enough to sustain us when nothing else can.

⁶ When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
⁷ Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
⁸ My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

What beautiful imagery, the thought of God overshadowing us with wings. Anyone who has worked with big birds will tell you, wings might look delicate, but they’re strong, powerful. He has the strength and power to protect us, to uphold us.

⁹ But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
¹⁰ They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

It’s vital to remember, while we’re stuck in this wilderness where everything we encounter seems designed to destroy us, that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. We may be given, as scripture also says, as sheep to the slaughter, but nothing separates us from the love of Christ. Not death, or life, or famine, or peril, or sword. Ultimately, we are held safe in His hands, and we will arrive in His presence at the appointed time.

God sees those who afflict His people, and the innocent. He hears and takes note of the lies. And their time will come to an abrupt end.

In the meantime, His lovingkindness is better than life.