Seek Him
What stirs you in your soul and body?
My wife and I have been walking and working out, and my body and soul have begun to enjoy it. It But I must admit it cannot compare to encounters with Jesus. Relationship encounters with the Lord, where I hear Him speak to me, are very special. Special times of just He and I uninterrupted are very important.
I am very private about my personal times with Jesus because I do not do them for show. Such times are about Him. I can relate well with what the psalmist spoke.
Psalm 63:1 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.
The psalmist records that he knows who his God is. It is important to know this first and foremost. It is also apparent that the Psalmist also knows the great worth of His God because he notes that God stirs something in him. A thirst in his soul for God is stirred at the thought of Him, and there is a longing in his flesh. This longing is also established by the circumstances he finds himself in. Thus, the description of a dry and thirsty land.
The psalmist needs God’s comfort, wisdom, and great power for his situation, so he is inspired to seek God where he is assured he will find Him. He is seeking God for a reason, a purpose.
To see God’s power and glory. When you are in the press of life, it is reassuring to witness the power and glory of God because it reminds you there is no one and nothing more powerful than the One who loves you. Truly knowing this can turn your emotions around and breathe life and hope into you where despair once threatened you.
When you meditate on God’s greatness, His power, and His glory and then begin to realize His great love for you manifested in Jesus at the cross, something other than complaint rises up within you. Praise to Him rises up within your soul and spirit, and you find yourself speaking out praise to Him. You may have come before Him in an attitude of desperation and need, but before you leave that moment of intimacy with Him, you are transported from what brought you to being captivated by Him and finding yourself needing to declare praises to Him.
We might begin approaching His throne of grace with or need to find mercy to help us, but if we linger there, we cannot help but be overcome with praise towards Him due to His overwhelming lovingkindness and goodness. Then we, as the psalmist, find ourselves declaring, I will bless You while I live! I will lift up my hands in Your name!
Real encounters with Him always result in thanksgiving and praise responses from us. It is good to know Him according to His great power and goodness.
