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My Soul Thirsts For You

August 7, 2021·Scott McBride

Psalm 63:1

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek You;
I thirst for You,
my whole being longs for You,
In a dry and parched land
where there is no water.

Summer is here, and we all know what it’s like to be hot and thirsty. The trick with hydration isn’t to wait until you’re thirsty to down a gallon of water, but rather to drink regularly and deliberately stay hydrated. Then our bodies work best and don’t operate from a deficit. It’s about intentionality.

David talks about his spiritual condition and desire for God, and compares it to figuratively surviving heat stroke in a desert environment. I believe the same is true when it comes to our connection to and worship of God. If we wait for Sunday to be our only point of worship, we’ll become spiritually dehydrated. Like David, without God we too will overheat and dry out. We need regular connections with God.

So what should regular spiritual connection with God look like? How should we do that? Just like carrying around Hydro Flasks or disposable water bottles, we need to intentionally cultivate a spirit of worship in our everyday lives. David gives practical tips in this Psalm on how to incorporate God-worship in our lives, like speaking and singing God’s praise out loud and even raising our hands. (I’ve discovered that I enjoy reading some of the Psalms out loud as part of my practice.)

But David also describes remembering God when he lays down and even meditating about God during the night. Worship isn’t an isolated or single event, but rather a lifestyle. The responsibility falls on you and me. We can praise God wherever and whenever we want.

And the great news is that David says God satisfies him as he seeks Him. That should be our expectation too. God will meet us. He will satisfy our thirst for Him.

Pastor Scott McBride