The wilderness David describes in Psalm 63 is a very real one in two aspects: firstly he knew what it meant to be in a physical and natural wilderness, but as the psalm shows he also knew the pain of a spiritual wilderness. In the psalm the two are linked, the physical suffering reflects his spiritual longings.
There is much in this psalm to help those of us who feel we are in a place of spiritual wilderness:
1. The Right Response
2.The Right Outlook
3. I Will Remember
4. Where would I be without God.
We have a wonderful promise in Romans 8:35-39 that nothing shall ever seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, brother or sister in Christ I trust you will know that love in your present time of trial, whatever you face at the moment, no matter how barren your wilderness seems, our Lord is longing to be there with you. May the instruction of Psalm 63 help you, like David to find the place of peace and rejoicing even in the most barren and hostile of circumstances.
David had been forced into the wilderness in order to escape from King Saul who wanted to kill him. In 1Samuel 22 we find him hiding out in the mountains and forests of the wilderness of Ziph, the sufferings were real, David and his men were continually on the lookout, fearful of being discovered and handed over to Saul. There were surely times of shortage, hunger and thirst along with the discomfort of living and sleeping in caves and barren places. It was at such a time that David longed for a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem and 3 mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines to get it for him, though he refused to drink it (2Sam.23:14-17).
David found himself in a real wilderness, he calls it a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. He was in a situation of very severe physical punishment. Yet it is in such extreme circumstances the he realises his overwhelming need is not the feeding of his physical being but the feeding of his soul. His first thought is to cry out to God and to set himself to seek God early. So many believers fall at this first hurdle, instead of seeking to meet their spiritual hunger through close communion with God they look to fulfill some fleshly longing - perhaps by going to the cinema, spending money in the shops, overeating etc., at the extreme such attempts may even lead to a seeking of fulfillment through drugs, alchohol or sex. Yes, believers do fall into such sin and all because they failed to seek God at the outset of the time of trial.
David knew that although his physical need was very great he would find no safisfaction until he had met with his God and found that satisfaction that his soul longed for and which only God could provide. For us that satisfaction is found in the water and food that the Lord Jesus provides, this is the water that anyone who drinks of will never thirst again (Jn.4:14), and this food which is the bread of life is such that whoever eats of will live forever (Jn.6:50,51).
The first priority then in a wilderness time is to seek deep communion with our Lord, to understand that the need is not physical, but spiritual and that there is only One who can satisfy the longings of the soul. It is in the sanctuary of prayerful communion with the Lord that we glimpse His power and glory, such vision strengthens and equips the saint with all the spiritual sustenance he needs in every circumstance.
David declares that God's lovingkindness is better than life and the knowledge of that simple truth brings praise to his lips. God's lovingkindness is a wonderful attribute, it translates the Hebrew word "hesed", a word that is used countless of times throughout the Old Testament but especially so in the Psalms. It speaks of God's unfailing and steadfast love toward His people, many times it is the basis of a saints assurance that God will help him in times of trouble, Jeremiah knew the depth of this love when he declared, "through the Lord's mercies (hesed) we are not consumed" (Lam.3:22), he had just witnessed the horrors of the defeat and exile of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians yet comforted himself with the wonder of YHWH's love for His people, Jeremiah knew that though they deserved much worse the Lord had spared them because of His great love for them.
We too in our times of trial can be comforted with the knowledge that we are loved by our God, and that His love for us is steadfast and unfailing. If we should ever doubt His love we only have to look to the cross and see Jesus suffering there in our place, surely there is no greater expression of love than this. Surely we can be sure that the Lord does not restrain His love from us because we are feeling "under the weather", or because we have got things wrong. Even if we have fallen into sin He will continue to reach out to us, in love bringing us to the place of repentance and restoration, disciplining us as a loving Father with His children.
This overwhelming sense of God's great love has sustained many a saint through a wilderness time, even through prison and torture. Like David we too can find the wilderness to be a place of praise and rejoicing once we are settled in our minds that we need nothing more in life than to know that we are loved by our Lord and are content to rest in the warmth and comfort of that love.
Every born again believer ought to be able to look back over his life with the Lord and remember times when the Lord has been a help. To do so is a great source of comfort to the saint, as he or she reminds themself of all that the Lord has done for them in the past. While David was in the wilderness he would meditate on the help that the Lord had given him in times past. In remembering such events he encouraged himself to trust in the Lord and to walk close to Him. In reminding ourselves of the past mercies of the Lord we can take encouragement from the thought that our faithful and unchanging Lord is well able to aid us in our present circumstance.
Such meditations have further good effects on our spirituality, look at the 2 things David decides to do as a result of his meditation - he will rejoice in the shadow of the wings of the Lord and he will stick close to the Lord (My soul follows close behind You, v.8). David is so convinced of the Lord's help that he knows he can safely rest in His loving care, and he wants to stay close to His Lord. There is something here resembling the dependance of a young child to its mother, in another place David more clearly brings out this thought:
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Ps.131:2)
Jesus too reminds us that unless we become as little children we cannot enter the kingdom of God (Mt.18:3). The spiritual truth behind all this that we need to grasp is that in order to enjoy this sense of the overwhelming love, care, help and protection of God we must be fully surrendered to him, and allow ourselves to be totally dependant on his provision of our needs - especially in times of trial and hardship, we must have that same kind of dependancy as a child has with its mother. In so doing we will find great rest and peace for our souls.
In a time of trial there is a great temptation to try and sort things out for ourselves, such efforts are doomed to fail leaving the saint feeling more isolated from God and deeper in the wilderness. It is only in allowing the Lord to be our source of help and comfort that we will find the rest that our soul is so longing for.
Toward the end of his meditation David looks at the plight of his enemies, those wicked men who seek his life, he sees that their end is not good, they will go into the lower parts of the earth - they are destined for hell!
It is very sobering for us to contemplate the truth and reality of hell, and to remind ourselves that without the mercy of our God we too would be heading blindly to the same place. Whatever situation we may find ourselves in during our life on this earth, one thing we can be absolutely sure of is that it cannot be as bad as being in hell for all eternity. This is the plight of all those who do not know Jesus as their Saviour. If all else fails to bring us any comfort during a wilderness time this thought alone ought to make us glad. When we look at the people in the world around us and consider the horror and hopelessness of life without Jesus, when we see the misery and hurt caused by their sinful deeds then surely we must be thankful that the Lord ever put his hands on our lives, granted us sight and repentance and gave us an eternal place in His kingdom. Be very clear on this point, no trial, no suffering, no wilderness, no persecution, no lack can be even slightly compared to the horror that awaits the wicked in hell.