Back to Psalm 63

We took a short break for Valentine's Day week, and traveled to many spots in the Bible for our study. Today, we are getting back to Psalm 63.

Let's refresh our memories . . . . before we talked about "X's and O's" we studied how important it is to make God the center of our lives. Making Him the top priority and seeking Him is like having the very best paddle as we navigate the rapids of life; it is He Who fills that "hole" in our lives and makes us whole.

But like in so many situations in life, we may want to "do" something but not know "how" to do it. 

How exactly does a person seek after God?

The first step is to know God personally through Christ. We begin a relationship with God when we realize that we have sinned against Him, the holy God, and we flee for refuge to the provision He made for our sin: the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ. We know from the scripture that no one seeks God unless He first speaks to their heart:

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44, NASB)

So we are all undeserving; none of us can boast about it. We have simply received a gift we do not deserve! (If anyone reading here is unsure of whether or not that relationship has begun with our Savior, please look on the right-hand sidebar of this study blog. There is a tab there called "What is Salvation?" and if you click that, a page will open and you can read about God's plan for our salvation. He is a loving, merciful God, and He has compassion on us, the creations of His hands. I hope you will read and believe on Him.)

Once we have believed on Him, we will put love for Him at the center of our relationship with Him.

Let's check out how David said it:

Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.... I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. (V 3,8)

David said that he valued God's love so much, it was better than life itself. And look at the balance in verse eight --he clings to God, but God's powerful hand is always holding him.

When I consulted the scholars (nope, I don't have any long-haired, bearded translators looking over my shoulder and advising me as I type these posts, but I often do look at commentaries and cross-references to help me, since I am not fluent in Hebrew!) I found that the Hebrew word that is translated "cling" in verse eight points to both loyalty and affection. Let's look at other places where this word is used:

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, RSV)

Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. (Ruth 1:14)

It's also translated in other spots as "joined" or "united." There are feelings of loyalty and also feelings of affection.

Our relationship with God is comparable to a marriage relationship. Why? Well, a marriage starts off with intense joy and a lifelong commitment. The commitment carries us through the hard times, when the joy may fade a bit! Sometimes we even have to "work" at keeping the joy in a marriage; we have to nurture the relationship.

In much the same way, seeking after God means keeping our passion for God alive. It's not just a matter of our heads -- it's a matter of our hearts, too! When we think on the many blessings and things that God has done for us in Christ, are we moved emotionally? As we reflect on His faithfulness to us over the years (in spite of our many failures) we should feel love for Him.

In a marriage, each spouse may have to say no to some things. Keeping passion and joy means we may have to put some things aside or place less priority on them. Our job, our time with friends, even our church involvement -- all of these are wonderful things. But they should not come before our commitment to our marriage partner. In the same way, nothing should come before our relationship with God. 

Seeking Him must be our highest priority. We must put our love for Him at the center of our relationship with Him.