Thirsting for God (2 Samuel 15:30-37)
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
“O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You. So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.
My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You. When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night. For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth. They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will exult, for the mouths of liars will be shut.”
“O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.” David is fed up! King Saul has been chasing David all over Israel and now David and his men are hiding in the Wilderness of Judah not far from the Dead Sea. The sun is broiling hot and heat waves are shimmering off the hills. The only way to stay cool is to hide in caves, coming out in the evening to hunt. Drinking water is at a premium and David and his men are rationing their water as they search for new sources to replace the water they are consuming. Little wonder then if David refers to thirsting for God in a dry and weary land. As David gazes out on the glaring noonday heat, he is remembering the good times when he was able to worship with other believers without fear of being annihilated…and probably when he had all the water he could drink.
“So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You. So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.” What has David seen while in the sanctuary? We don’t know, but clearly God has manifested Himself to David in some special manner so that David can confidently speak of God’s power and glory. Now as a fugitive, David is reminding himself of God’s loving devotion that is more important than anything else. David plans to keep on praising the Lord and blessing Him, no matter what.
“My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You. When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night. For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.” While David and his men are lucky to get sufficient bread and water to survive, David continues to glory in God’s goodness and mercy. Countless times as a shepherd, David has watched birds sheltering their fledglings beneath their wings to protect them. That image of the sheltering wings runs throughout many of David’s psalms. But God’s wings are not made of flesh; they are eternal, fireproof, and bomb-proof. David knows that as long as God is protecting him, no evil can touch him unless it comes through God first.
“My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth. They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will exult, for the mouths of liars will be shut.” By himself, David has little means of protection. Wherever David has fled, even the people whose lives he and his men have saved have turned traitors in hopes of currying favor with King Saul. More then once, David has had the chance to kill Saul, but he has refused, leaving Saul’s fate to God. Samuel has already anointed David to be the next king of Israel, and David is trusting that God will bring that kingship to pass. God Himself will shut the mouths of David’s critics.
APPLICATION: No bush hospital should have fewer than two doctors, and three doctors are even better; I know, for I have manned (womanned?) two different mission hospitals as the only doctor for several long years. At one point, I even served as the Medical Superintendent/Acting Administrator. (I had to buy books on Health Service Administration and read them quickly just to do a barely adequate job.) In such situations, sleep deprivation is a constant problem and decision-making is very difficult; meanwhile, my well-rested critics have persisted in assailing me. Many times the criticism has had nothing to do with my performance and everything to do with the fact that I am an honest woman working for Jesus and I refuse to countenance corruption and favoritism. Having grown up on a farm having to handle animals far bigger than I am, I refuse to be bullied.
When we are reading these psalms, we should remember that David has also had to overcome daunting challenges. Here is a man who has walked or run long miles over rocky terrain, subsisting on bread and water, sleeping in caves, and fearing for his life. David has suffered, and yet his faith has even grown under these circumstances. One of the laws of the Kingdom of God is that faith that has not been tried is not really faith but a wistful belief.
Dr. Jeanette M. Troup was working at the ELWA Hospital in Jos, Nigeria in 1970 when a Lassa Fever outbreak took place. While performing an autopsy on one of her nurses, Jeanette accidentally cut herself. As Jeanette was developing the Lassa Fever from which she herself eventually died, she told a missionary friend that “Nothing can come to me except through my Father’s hand.” Little was known about Lassa Fever before this outbreak. The autopsies that Jeanette performed before her death helped advance the knowledge of this disease and make it possible to develop a vaccine. (Lassa can still kill; a few years ago, a colleague in a hospital in Togo died from Lassa.)
Jeanette Troup’s faith was an inspiration to all who knew her because that faith was forged in the fire of suffering. We treasure David’s psalms today for the same reason. No matter what you are going through, God’s strong right hand is still there to hold you securely. Trust Him to keep you, even in the middle of your struggles.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are facing severe trials, things too terrible to speak about to others. But You know us better than we know ourselves and You know all the pain. Lord, speak to the hearts of all who read these words so that they will put their trust in You and never quit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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