Joy in the Fellowship of God

Psalms 63:1-11 

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 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.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.

7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.

8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

Ah, how this song shows joyful praise in fellowship with God!  The first verse moves me as it has for almost three decades as an expression of my inner being, just as I moved the psalmist when he wrote and sang it in worship with giving of thanks and praise.  To meet God each morning because of thirst to know Him more and to commune in fellowship, these things cause a worshiping soul to seek Him more.  His presence in such a relationship moves us to long so much for God that we are as a weary or even dying traveler in a desert, yearning to drink from Him for satisfaction and sustenance (1 Corinthians 11:25, John 4:13-14, 6:35, Revelation 7:16).  This should be every believer’s drive in knowing the Lord, and a great motivation to spend time with Him in the word and prayer each morning in devotion to Him to hear His voice in that quiet time.  David looked in the sanctuary to see God’s power and glory; we now who are in Christ look where He lives, in the temples of our own bodies and in the congregation of those living stones of the called out, the church, to glorify and worship Him.  We also praise our Lord God because we know His lovingkindness is better than life itself apart from knowing and worshiping our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).  We lift up holy hands (1 Timothy 2:8) in prayer as well like the psalmist did, blessing and honoring His great name above all names (Ephesians 1:20-21).  Our satisfaction in Him is completely fulfilling and leads to praise as we meditate on God’s character and on Himself.  Not only can we worship God in the morning and throughout the day, we can also imitate David by dwelling on our Lord as we lie down at night to sleep, mediating on His word and His work through that by His Spirit in us giving meaning and understanding to live by.  We can rejoice as well for His help and protection, His providence in our lives in both good and seemingly bad situations (Romans 8:28).  Just like the king who lived and wrote and sang these words, we should follow our Lord closely and rely on His grace to hold us up, even when our enemies attempt to knock our feet out from under us.  We stand on a firm foundation of our Rock, so we know that we should remain unmoved (1 Corinthians 15:58) and rejoice in our rock and fortress who is our God.  If we swear by the Lord, let us also speak the truth and glory in Him alone, and rejoice.  These are lessons to learn from this psalm of the joy in fellowship with our God and Savior Jesus Christ, an attitude of life for all who are in Christ.