Psalm Meditation 943
Proper 10
July 15, 2018

Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God, 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; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on 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 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 prey 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.
(NRSV)

Most days it is possible to make it through the day without giving much thought to what a gift family and friends are. We take them for granted because they have always been around and we expect them to continue being around. And then something happens. Something monumental happens. Something that brings us to the realization that these people are a special group of people. It may be an addition to the group or a loss within the group that helps us realize how special and important each person is to this group of people.

We do this with God as well. We go on our merry way, knowing that God will always be around and will be somewhere between present and distant in our lives. And something happens. We experience God as particularly present or absent for us. The psalmist discovers that the presence of God is something worth seeking. I get a sense that the psalmist is approaching from a distance, looking in with longing to where God is. Having discovered a desire for God the psalmist approaches with a new appreciation for all the ways God has been and can be present.

When we decide to seek God we discover that the presence of God is a rich feast for our souls and senses. We find that God has been present far longer than we realized at the time. God has been supporting us in ways that were once outside our awareness. Our gratitude is deepened and we look for other ways God has been watching over us and holding us up in the trials and triumphs of our lives. We find ourselves saying with the psalmist, “O God, you are my God, 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.”

July 9, 2018
LCM