Lent 4: Yearning for God

"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. "

(from Psalm 63:1-8)

Elaine and I spent a lot of time walking and hiking in Acadia N.P.

We climbed several mountains, chose our favorites and climbed them again.

We hiked many of the carriage roads, including one two miles in and two miles out.
Those days are gone and we miss them.

It's a major effort to walk half a mile up the street, turn at the cul-de-sac and return home.

Sure, we could grieve our inability to repeat those walks and climbs, but God gave us the gift of celebrating our adventures.

So, we remember our past uplifting memories as we talk about the stunning views and the presence of God.

Just as we yearn to return to Acadia and climb mountains and walk carriage roads, so we yearn for God.

Yearning for God is a human experience along with the thirsting of our souls; our flesh fainting for God, as in a dry and weary land without water.

It’s possible David wrote this Psalm after Absalom, his son, organized a uprising against his father and was killed in the revolt’s battle.

David, yearning for God, wrote psalm 63 in the Judah wilderness expressing this longing and thirst for God's presence, power, and glory, during worship in the sanctuary.

Declaring God's steadfast love is better than life itself, he praises God aloud finding spiritual satisfaction and joy in meditating on God's goodness.

The assurance in these verses is in recognizing a profound sense of trust and God's strength and support when we face times of difficulty.