Desiring God

Do you desire God?

The question is not, “is there some part of you that is somewhat inclined to God?”  And it is not, “Were you passionate to know God at one time?”  And it is not, “Do you read much about God and spend much time in church and have many friends who are passionate about God?”

The question is, Do you desire God?  Do you desire Him?  And do you desire Him — do you long for His fellowship and when you awaken in the morning is He the first thought in your mind and when you lay your head on the pillow at night is He the object of your final meditations for the day?

Most of us live at least occasionally, if not frequently in the state identified by Tozer:

The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all. [The Pursuit of God]

If that is where you are today, then consider David’s words in Psalm 63 as a stimulant to your delight in God.  Here is why David loved and sought for God:

• God is David’s God (v. 1).  David is possessed by God; he belongs to Him.  And Christ’s reconciling work would advance this truth even more — not only does the believer belong to God, but he is adopted by God into God’s family as a son and made a part of the bride of Christ and is also a brother to Christ.
• David had meditated on the power of God as it was revealed in the sanctuary, the Tabernacle (v. 2).  When David meditated on the atoning work of God, he saw God’s power and glory and that compelled him to desire God.
• David contemplated all that life had to offer and considered the loyal love of God to surpass anything given by life (v. 3).  Because He is better than it all, as a friend of mine likes to say, David was stimulated to praise Him.
• Regardless of what he had materially, David considered what his soul received from the Lord and he was as satisfied as if he had received the most indulgent and succulent meal (v. 5).
• David intentionally remembered the work of God to help and assist him (vv. 6-7).  In the middle of the night, when one’s mind is prone to despair and discouragement, David intentionally meditated on God’s goodness to him, and it made his soul sing.
• David pursued and clung to God as a husband clings to his wife (v. 8; cf. Gen. 2:24).  And yet as David pursued God, he was also aware that he was sustained and upheld not by his pursuit of God, but by God’s strength holding onto him (v. 8).  We are kept in God not by our ambitions, but by God’s will and power.
• David remembered that while evil exists and some even sought to destroy and kill him, God would bring divine and equitable judgment (vv. 9-11).  There may not be equity on earth, but there will be in heaven.

Do you desire God?  If not, you and I do well to engage in the kind of purposeful meditation David used to stimulate our hearts to cling to the Lord.