Text: Psalm 63:1-7
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. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
Devotion
Notice how David “thirsts for God” and – rejoices; how in the midst of the most difficult troubles he happily and joyfully praises the Lord. He sang such psalms in the wilderness, when he fled from his son Absalom. Won’t you also consider this glorious situation: always to be longing inwardly for God, the more troubles you have, and always to be more happy to praise Him, the more the fire of the cross burns you? “For David all the sources of human comfort were dried up, but even more eagerly he thirsted then for the heavenly fountain. This is the true mark of the child of God. When the people of the world wander in the desert, then the last remnant of longing for God in their soul dies, while the children of God thirst for Him more and more, the greater the sufferings He brings upon them. Let everyone test the condition of his soul according to this.”
“All the Lord’s waves and billows have gone over me… The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me” (Psa 42:8-9). You say: “Show me the way to the holy land, and give me the key to its gate!” If you sincerely want to enter there, then you are near, and the Spirit, the true and steadfast Spirit, shall lead you. David shows us the way: “So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory, Because Your lovingkindness is better than life.” If we have the Lord’s Word and Sacraments and use them, there is no doubt that the Lord Himself is here with grace and life. Had David “seen Him” with his physical eyes? No, he believed His presence, because the Lord Himself had promised it. That’s how he “saw” Him. The God who had delivered Israel from Egypt, planted them in Canaan, had given them the Law and kept His covenant with them – David “saw” Him in the Tabernacle of the Most High, where it was pitch-dark to the eyes, and where no one except the high priest went in. Let the Holy Spirit show you your sin. It is very real. But you cannot see it except by the enlightenment of the Spirit. Let Him teach you, just as He taught David, to see our Lord Christ, who is just as truly present among us in His Means of Grace. He who “destroyed death” established the Church and upholds it to the end, and He pardons all your sins. Let Him teach you to see Him in that way, and He becomes “your God,” becomes glorious for you as He is in truth the Holy One. And the Spirit shall set your heart more intently on Him through many trials.
I beg and exhort you by the fervent love of Jesus Christ: Let nothing, nothing in the whole world, hold you back. But come in, and learn to “rejoice in the shadow of His wings!”
Closing Prayer
God, may it happen, by Your Spirit for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Hymn
You give Yourself to me,
O Sun, my soul to gladden;
Away with ev’ry care
That still may try to sadden!
For Jesus shines within
My heart with glory bright,
And brings me perfect joy
By His most wondrous light.
You give Yourself to me,
O Manna for my eating,
My soul is empty still,
And hungry for Your feeding.
But now You make me strong
Upon life’s weary way;
You grant me rich supply,
That I faint not for aye.
You give Yourself to me,
O Fount of life from heaven!
You are the sweetest Drink
Unto my thirst now given;
When I am full of care,
The world no comfort gives;
Your Source e’er sweet remains,
And so my soul now lives.
Elmenhorst: Du skjænker mig dig selv L 314:2-4 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: O Gott, du frommer Gott (ELH 470); alternate hymn: In heaven is joy and gladness ELH 482