Psalm 63:1-8
1O 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.
2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6when I think of you on my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night,
7for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
___________________________________
One of the classic hymns of the church, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” reminds me of this psalm: “Beneath the cross of Jesus I long to take my stand; the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and burdens of the day.” (ELW, 338)
Psalm 63 speaks the same way. The psalmist is lonely, looking for God, and feels the pain of God’s absence in “soul” and “flesh”—in his entire being. The writer describes what farmers know well. When there is no rain, when the sun beats down week after week, and the loss of crops and income is at stake, we can understand what the psalmist means by comparing the dryness of life to drought in the fields. We have all been there.
What do we do when we are exhausted and weary? Notice what the Psalmist does. Instead of cutting himself off from community and living in loneliness, the psalmist goes where worshipers are and joins in praising God (“in the sanctuary…my lips will praise you…I will bless you…and call on your name.”).
The Psalmist also does some remembering. While lying in bed at night, tossing and turning with worry, this person looks back at a lifetime, putting the current problems in the perspective of months or years. Then the writer can say, “You have been my help.”
The sense here is the same as the children’s prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” When a child, or a parent, continues, “I pray the Lord my soul to keep,” the one praying knows that this is asking that God cares for one’s whole life. And, indeed, God does.
Prayer: “Eternal God, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your word and your promises for our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
–Pastor Mark Nelson