Love AffairMarch 23, 2018
Psalm 63:1
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.
Do you hear the heart for God? The passion, the longing, the desire for God? Does it stir you? Does it awaken something deep in your heart?
What makes this psalm especially remarkable is the life situation behind it. David is on the run, fleeing from his own son, fleeing for his own life. Can you imagine his broken, grief-stricken heart? His own son!
And yet here he is pursuing God with all his heart. “O God, you are my God.” David is saying, “My whole world has unraveled, but you are still my God. You are the Almighty God. You are my Shepherd. You are my God and you will see me through!”
“Earnestly I seek you.” Not casually. Not half-heartedly. But passionately, fervently, wholeheartedly. This is not religious ritual. This is not duty. This is a love affair. The whole kingdom is at stake, including David’s very life. And yet here he is, seeking God with all his heart. Is this not David’s greatness, this passionate heart for God?
“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” There is no water in the Judean desert. And David’s thirst for water is a picture of his thirst for God. He is saying, “Lord, only you, only you, can satisfy the deepest longings of my soul.”
I think of Mother Teresa, who was going through a dry period in her spiritual life and yet still had such a passion for Christ that she prayed this prayer: “I want to love you Jesus like you have never been loved before.”
What hearts for God!
Why do some people have such unusual passion for Christ? I don’t know. Ultimately, this kind of heart for God is a gift. Every good thing is a gift from God. But you can ask for the gift. “Lord give me this kind of heart for you! This thirst for you! This love for you!”
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