SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/22/2012 9:15:33 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: Worship in the Wilderness
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 63:1-2
Message of the verses: “In deepest words of devotion, this psalm
expresses David’s intense love for his Lord.
The psalm was written while David was in the Judean wilderness, either
during his flight from Saul (1Sam. 23), or more likely from Absalom (2Sam.
15:cf. 63:11 ‘the king’). David writes
from the perspective of these tenses:
I.
Present—Seeking God’s Presence (63:1-5)
II.
Past—Remembering God’s Power (63:6-8)
III.
Future—Anticipating God’s Judgment
(63:9-11)” (John MacArthur Study Bible)
“The
superscription informs us that David was ‘in the wilderness of Judah’ when he
wrote this psalm, suggesting that it was probably during Absalom’s rebellion
(2Sam. 15:23). However, he didn’t look back in regret at the mistakes he had
made as a father, nor did he look around in fear or complaint at the
discomforts and dangers of the wilderness.
Instead, he looked up to the Lord and reaffirmed his faith and love. In an hour when David might have been
discouraged, he was excited about God, and in a place where there was no
sanctuary or priestly ministry, David reached out by faith and received new
strength from the Lord. Note the
progressive experiences he had as he sought for the Lord’s guidance and help at
a difficult time in his life.”
Desiring God (vv. 1-2): “1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the
wilderness of Judah: O God, You are my
God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for
You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 Thus I have seen You in
the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.”
Michael
Card, who not only writes songs but sings them too, and the songs that he
writes are based on his study of the Word of God, wrote a song entitled “In The
Wilderness,” and the song is based upon the wilderness experiences of people
found in the Scriptures.
“In The
Wilderness lyrics
In the
wilderness
In the
wilderness
He calls His sons and daughters
To the wilderness
But He gives grace sufficient
To survive any test
And that's the painful purpose
Of the wilderness
In the wilderness we wander
In the wilderness we weep
In the wasteland of our wanting
Where the darkness seems so deep
We
search for the beginning
For an
exodus to hold
We find that those who follow Him
Must often walk alone
In the
wilderness
In the
wilderness
He
calls His sons and daughters
To the
wilderness
But He
gives grace sufficient
To
survive any test
And
that's the painful purpose
Of the
wilderness
In the
wilderness we're wondering
For a way
to understand
In the
wilderness there's not a way
For the
ways become a man
And the
man's become the exodus
The way
to holy ground
Wandering in the wilderness
Is the best way to be found
In the
wilderness
In the
wilderness
He
calls His sons and daughters
In the
wilderness
But He
gives grace sufficient
To
survive any test
And
that's the painful purpose
Of the
wilderness
Groaning
and growing
Amidst
the desert days
The
windy winter wilderness
Can
blow the self away
In the
wilderness
In the
wilderness
He
calls His sons and daughters
To the
wilderness
But He
gives grace sufficient
To
survive any test
And
that's the painful purpose
Of the
wilderness
And
that's the painful promise
Of the
wilderness”
David
knew the wilderness experiences of life for he had spent ten years running from
Saul and much of it was living in the wilderness.
We
see in Psalm 63 that David was lacking physical necessities and there is not a
lot of food and water in the wilderness but we also see that David did not lack
Spiritual necessities for in verse two David speaks of the seeing God in the
Sanctuary. We have physical senses that
are in need of being satisfied, but we also have spiritual needs that are in
need of being satisfied. The writer to
the Hebrews says this about are spiritual senses: “But solid food is for the mature, who
because of practice have
their senses trained to discern good and evil.” How do we get this
“solid food” in which we can have our spiritual senses trained? The Word of God is the answer to this question,
but as we learn in Psalm 63 David knew much about the Word of God and because
of this he turned the wilderness into worship.
Jesus spoke in John 6 that He is the bread of life, and in John 4:1-14
we learn about the water of life by His Spirit, this is also seen in John
7:37-39; and Rev. 22:17. Jesus said that
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (Matthew
5:6). Just as Jesus told His disciples in
John 4:32 that he had food to eat that they did not know about, so David could
be saying the same thing.
Dr.
Wiersbe writes these timely words for those of us who are experiencing
wilderness experiences “It is our regular
worship that prepares us for the crisis experiences of life. What life does to us depends on what life finds in us, and David
had in him a deep love for the Lord and a desire to please Him. Because David had seen God’s power and glory
in His house, he was able to see it in the wilderness as well!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is because that there are some wilderness
experiences that I am experiencing at this time that I am thankful for the
encouragement that I am finding in Psalm 63 and also in the song by Michael
Card. Turning wilderness experiences
into worshipful experiences is something that I am in need of learning more
about.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
To continue to learn from some difficult experiences. To continue to read and study the Word of God
so that I can continue to grow and as I grow more in the Lord then I am better
prepared for the wilderness experiences.
I want to continue to learn contentment.
3/22/2012 10:13:44 AM
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