Dependence on God
Pause:
Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus.
Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.
Read:
Psalm 63v1-11:
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly 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.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
Going Deeper:
In Psalm 63 we find David fleeing from his son Absalom, who has overthrown him in a coup and has taken his place as King. Running for his life David finds himself in the wilderness. Everything has been stripped away from him and life as he knows it has changed completely.
For many of us the Coronavirus has stripped away of lot of what we have known, our way of life, perhaps our financial and physical health, and seemingly our security. In times like these we can find ourselves developing various coping mechanisms as we try to deal with the uncertainty and fear that this pandemic brings.
Often, we can try to navigate these situations on our own, apart from God, trusting in and depending on something other than him.
For me personally, denial and escapism seemed like the perfect strategies for the moment. Employing the tactics of an ostrich, I tried to stick my head into the sand hoping that this would all be over soon. I started to use all the resources at my disposal (tv; food; convincing myself this is an overreaction) to escape any fears that might creep into my mind instead of coming to God with them.
Perhaps for some of us we are depending on science and the invention of a vaccine to get us through this time. For others we are putting our hope and trust in the wisdom and actions of world leaders. For many of us we find ourselves independently looking to our own abilities to whether the storm, whether it be through our savings or health care plans. Although some of the above is not bad in and of itself, as followers of Jesus they are not the things we are called to put our hope and trust in.
We see that David’s response in the wilderness is to depend on God by seeking Him and reminding himself of who God is.
Seeking God Earnestly
Psalm 63v1-2: “O God, you are my God; earnestly 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. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.”
In this Psalm we see that David is desperately seeking God’s presence. He longs to be with God and to enjoy relationship with Him. He is completely dependent on God, and therefore cannot be apart from Him. In verse 8 David says, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Will we choose to depend on and cling to God in the midst of our fears and uncertainty?
It would be so easy for us to prop ourselves up by trusting in things other than God. But God calls us to himself and away from the temptation to look to anything other than him as our refuge. He is the only firm foundation that cannot be shaken. As the world frantically looks for a saviour in this moment as all else fails, we have the incredible privilege of knowing the true Saviour Jesus and finding rest and peace as we depend on him.
Will we seek him above all else? Will we spend time with him in prayer, the scriptures, and worship, beholding him as we seek his refreshing presence?
Remembering who God is
Psalm 63v3: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
Psalm 63v5-7: “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”
David continuously reminds himself of who God is (his character and nature) and of all that God has done for him. That God’s unwavering love is better than life itself. He reminds himself that true satisfaction is found in God alone and not in life’s circumstances.
He remembers how God has helped him and protected him in the past. That his God is faithful. When he is awake at night, he reminds himself that he follows a God who is trustworthy and dependable.
Often when we are lying in our beds at night worry and fear encompasses us. ‘What if’ scenarios start playing out in our minds as we attempt to make plans and control the situation around us. We can grow desperate looking for things to depend on in our uncertainty and fear. Psalm 63 shows us that there is another option: we can find rest and peace in God instead, as we remind ourselves of who he is.
God has proven his love for us and his faithfulness to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Because of the cross we can rest assured that God has gone to great lengths to help and protect us. Ultimately, he has already met our greatest need by forgiving us of our sins and reconciling us back into relationship with him through Jesus.
We can trust that he is dependable and faithful and will not abandon us now.
Are we seeking God above all else during this time?
Are we reminding ourselves of who God is and what he has done?
What or who are we depending on, and is it Jesus?
Pray:
Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to your from this passage this morning.
Listen:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?
Apply:
What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?