Read: Psalm 63; SOAP: Psalm 63:3-4

Have you ever noticed how sometimes God seems so close that it feels like you could touch Him or hear Him but other times it seems as though He is no where to be found? David’s description is much like that – while at some point he has been able to experience God’s loyal love and see His power and splendor in the sanctuary David’s current situation in the desert seems vastly different. He finds himself longing for God, thirsting for Him as one who has been without water (1-2). Yet he was able to find satisfaction in his previous experiences and knowledge of God and declare the bold statement of verses 3 and 4.

Once we have experienced God’s love, once we have tasted and seen His power and His splendor nothing else satisfies. His LOVE truly is better than life- so much so that even in the midst of drought and storms – we are satisfied by the comfort and hope of recalling His LOVE AND POWER – and we are moved to praise and worship.

I have had these verses committed to memory for several decades now and have drawn peace and comfort from them and used them to turn some of life’s hardest times into a time of praising God but until now I never looked at them as verses that spoke of being satisfied. However, as I was considering the idea I was reminded of a time shortly after the my grandson was born. I was holding him while my daughter took care of some things she needed to do. When he began to fuss I walked with him, that helped for a few minutes but the fussing grew more agitated so I offered him the pacifier, which, like the walking, soothed him for a while but the growing urgency of his fussing made it clear that what he needed was the one who could hold him and had the power to feed him and satisfy his hunger. The pacifier and the walking were simply temporary fixes that did not truly satisfy – the only thing that could do that was the comforting, satisfying supply of his mother’s milk. You would think the analogy stops there, for surely this sweet baby can not simply live on the recollection of his mother’s milk. Yet, his persistent cry, even after offering a different position such as walking or something soothing like a pacifier, are reminders in themselves. A lesson, if you will, for us to not become satisfied with the false securities of life that may be offered to us in the deserts or the storms of life. Instead, may we persistently cry out for and be satisfied only with the life-giving supply of God’s love that truly is better than life.