Cling to God – Psalm 63:1-8

A text – Psalm 63:1-8

63:1  O God, you are my God; I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

63:2  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

63:3  Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

63:4  So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

63:5  My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

63:6  when I think of you on my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night,

63:7  for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

63:8  My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

A reflection:

In this psalm of David, David is starving while on the run from his enemies. He is out in the wilderness, where there is very little water, and whoever is chasing him could find him at any moment. So instead of dreaming of his own safety and his own bed and his own dinner table laden with food and drink, David throws himself into dreaming of God, his ultimate sanctuary. His whole soul is working at clinging to God, the way we might cling to a tree or a post in a raging windstorm.

I don’t know about you, but I have rarely tried clinging to God. I have clung to people I loved. That never works very well. I have tried clinging to a wish that could never come true (such as wishing things ere not as they really are). That did not pan out, either. But if I would just remember that our Creator God loves us without ceasing, and that our Savior died to open the way to eternal life for us with God, and then if I could just cling to that knowledge and the God who makes that true forever, that might really be something. Clinging to that reality – a promise-keeping God, a God who makes a covenant where God pays the price when promises gets broken, THAT God – clinging to God is the best thing to do. And when I do, God’s right hand upholds me.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your love and goodness. Help us to remember to cling to you always, especially in times of trouble or need.  And when others see our clinging to you and wonder why, help us tell them why. Amen.