Psalm 63:3. Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
It’s the big day of the work week friends – Friday! The day when our spirits finally exhale a huge sigh of relief that work is winding down for a couple days, and hopefully a li’l excitement and enjoyment will enter our lives on the upcoming weekend. But in these unfortunate times of pandemic, strife and all kinds of natural disasters, the chances are not as great as they were a year and a half ago. However, as sincere believers in Christ Jesus, we have an undying, an unending hope that things will turn out right once He is involved.
And all God’s children declared a loud, proud and grateful: ‘Thank You Jesus for being in my life! Thank You for all that You’ve done for me, including paying my sin debt in full on the cross of Calvary, for giving me your righteousness so that I could be reconciled back to the Father, and have everlasting life with You in heaven when my mortal body is no more for this earth! We LOVE You and give You much thanks and praise! Amen!’
And a very good example of that hope and faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the words of Psalm 63 – God satisfies the thirsting soul – written by Bruh David when he was hiding out in the wilderness from his nemesis, King Saul. Bruh David, in his anguish and uncertainty writes: ‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary (so have I looked for thee).’ (Ps. 63:1-2)
That’s what you call hope and faith friends! In the midst of his problems, Bruh David is still concerned with seeking the face of God because he knows that’s his only hope for successfully getting out of those problems. In our time of adversity, do we seek the Lord with an ever-increasing intensity and fervour, or do we get angry and complain about why those problems are happening to us, and why the Lord didn’t prevent them in the first place?
Ah mih people, I know our first tendency is always to complain, but remember the Lord is the Boss and He moves in mysterious ways, and has a plan for each and every life, and within those plans are times of adversity and hardship that He thinks are necessary to develop our faith and trust in Him. And we can take Bruh David as a good example of that. He was anointed king in his teenaged years, and he did mighty deeds in his early twenties, that had the women dancing and singing, ‘Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,’ (1 Sam. 18:7) but it was not until he was in his thirties, some twenty years after he was first anointed, that he finally became king.
And during those wilderness years, he experienced a whole heap of trouble, including constantly running from Saul, who wanted to kill him through simple jealousy. And Bruh David had a couple of opportunities to kill Saul, but simply refused to, saying ‘I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ (1 Sam. 24:10) And that’s the same Saul who was trying to kill him for no good reason. No wonder the Lord considered him His friend and a man after His own heart.
And though he was struggling and suffering in the wilderness Bruh David continued writing in the psalm: ‘Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (the best) and fatness (abundance); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.’ (Ps. 63:3-6)
Oh friends, what a heart for God Bruh David had. Do we even come close to that? We need to, because it’s only when we truly believe and live our belief that the Lord moves heaven and earth to satisfy our needs and desires. Can we be in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty and afraid and still conjure up thanks and praise for Almighty God? Bruh David did it. He further declares: ‘Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after (close behind) thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.’ (Ps. 63:7-8) There is no remorse or bitterness in his supplication, despite his tough circumstances.
And then he concludes, with even further assurance. ‘But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion (a prey) for foxes (jackals). But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.’ (Ps. 63:8-11) Oh my fellow saints, what powerful faith and trust!
And I like how the scholars explain it. ‘Psalm 63. The location of the writing of the psalm is described generally as in the wilderness of Judah. Unlike many of the psalms written in these dire situations, however, this psalm is overflowing with thanksgiving rather than lament and petition. David declares his longing for spiritual renewal (vs. 1-2), he expresses his thankful mood (vs. 3-6), he gives voice to his trust in God (vs. 7-8), and he announces his hope for the future (vs. 9-11). Enemies are mentioned only in passing (vs.9-10).’
That is how we ought to live as faithful believers, my brethren. The Lord God Jehovah must mean, and be EVERYTHING to us, and eternal faith and trust in Him and His awesome promises must make our souls burst with praise and thanksgiving, even in our worst adversity. That means in troubled times like we are now experiencing, our faith and trust ought to rise to the top and push our fears and anxieties to the bottom. And the best way to do that is like Bruh David did, in and through prayer. So, let’s take our problems to God right now nuh, as we declare our Friday Chant.
‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets.
So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways.
And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!
Please remember though, that our God isn’t looking for talk from us, but action, so until we truly behave like faithful believers, our prayers won’t be answered positively. Much LOVE!
…talk is cheap…but true faith requires action and sacrifice…
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