Praying when desperately Thirsty

Psalm 63

A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.

¹ O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
² I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
³ Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
⁵ You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.

⁶ I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
⁷ Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.

⁹ But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear to tell the truth will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.

You don’t fully appreciate your body’s need for water until you are desperately thirsty and dehydrated. In the opening lines of this Psalm, the writer David uses physical thirst to describe his sense of desperation for God’s presence in his life.

David goes on to tell us that he has encountered God’s presence in the place of the sanctuary (church corporate worship). Amen to that!

I remember during COVID when we weren’t allowed to meet together in church for months on end. At first it just felt novel, but after a while I began to feel desperately thirsty to gather together with our church to worship God. What a relief it was to finally be able to come back to church to worship together. I remember encountering God’s presence in a fresh way at that time.

There is power in the church gathering. God has designed us for community, and we encounter Him in a special way when we gather together for the purpose of worship.

As we have recently celebrated 30 years since we planted C3 Carlingford, I am so grateful to be part of this church. It has been a place where I have met with God week by week in worship, and it has changed my life forever.

Lord God, help us to love Your church and thirst after Your presence. Thank you for the amazing gift of Your lovingkindness as we gather together in Your Name.

Written by Shelley Witt

Have a look at this reflection on prayer in the psalms by Timothy Keller.