Quenching Our Thirst || Psalm 63:1 || Weekend Wind-Down #23

Welcome to the twenty-third week of “Weekend Wind-Down.” This series is where we take the verse of the day, look at the face value interpretation, check the background and context of the verse, do a deeper dive on the focus scripture, and figure out what we can walk away with. 

Today’s verse is Psalm 63:1, which says this: 

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. 

Background

If you haven’t heard of a Psalm before, they are pieces of poetry that convey praise, worship, and confession to God. The book of Psalms in our Bibles breaks down into five collections. You can find Psalm 63 in the second book, which describes the nation of Israel as ruined and then recovered. For us, it’s a reminder that God rescued us. We don’t have to problem-solve our issues on our own. We can go to God with them and ask him to help.

Deep Dive

While focusing on verse 1, it’s good to look at Psalm 63:1-5. This section shares David’s intense loneliness. He is longing for a friend while hiding from his enemies. 

Psalm 63:1 talks about how David’s soul is thirsty. Here is what Psalm 42:2 says: 

2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?

For us, it’s talking about how we can seek God and try to understand his teachings and relationship to find eternal life. As this psalmist felt separated from God, he wouldn’t rest. He would continue to work on his relationship with God until he restored it because he felt his life depended on it. 

Psalm 84:2 says this about needing this life-sustaining energy: 

2 I long, yes I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. 

The psalmist wants to get away from the daily acts of life. He wants a break to meet God in the Temple. Going to church can help us quiet our minds and the world around us. The church can provide a place to meditate and talk to God quietly. 

What should we take away from this?

Take-Home Point

What does it mean to thirst for God? Well, it’s the Hebrew word tsame (tsaw-may’), which means to be thirsty. There’s an exciting thing that the Strong’s Exhaustive concordance shares with us. It means to suffer from thirst. Think about it. It’s one thing to be thirsty but another to suffer due to thirst. There’s a longing that comes from being thirsty. The psalmists have gone without for a long time, without the sustenance to quench their thirst. 

We saw in Psalm 63 that David is looking for a friend to quench the thirst of loneliness. Through his soul and his body, he’s looking for a friend. Think of the mental anguish that David is dealing with in this passage. People wanted to kill him. People wanted to remove David from the throne by any means necessary. What does he do? He runs. He hides. He’s in the barren wilderness of Judah, hiding from the people wanting his head on a silver platter. David is by himself. He has no one to help him. David needs someone to talk to. He has no one to share his thoughts with. It is just him. Being alone with his thoughts was a scary thing to him. His fight-or-flight is trying to plan his every move, deciding where to go, when, and what he needs to do to ensure his safety. He’s possibly hypervigilant, paying attention to his surroundings and the sounds of nature and life around him. When he takes a moment to breathe, he writes this psalm. David writes about his search for God and how intentional it is. There’s nothing good and sustaining where he’s at, so he’s searching for the sustenance that can give him life and energy. A friend. God. 

When we’re anxious, we often look for a friend to walk with us. I know I do. Being alone in my anxious moments is scary, unnerving, and fearful. I did not know the depth of my ruminating thoughts and how uncontrolled they could get—not knowing how my body would react and what that would mean over a long period. The anxiousness is a place that I don’t like to be at, but it’s the same place that God is already at. Let me say that again. The anxiousness is a place that I don’t like to be at, but it’s the same place that God is already at. God’s there in our anxious moments, ready to be called upon by us.

Many scriptures talk about giving our anxieties to God so that the burden anxiety carries no longer rests on our shoulders. Do I always lean on God when I’m in an anxiety or panic attack? No. Why? I’m a control freak. I try to handle it myself. I also feel burdensome going to God for my anxieties because “Why would God respond to me?” I know God would, yet I don’t know what to do in those moments other than survive. How do I change that? In those moments, with immediacy, go to God in prayer. I have a message coming out soon called, “When in Doubt, Pray!” That message will go in-depth about ways to do that. Yet, it’s that simple. When in doubt, pray. When you worry, pray. When you are anxious, pray. When in fear, pray. 

Thank you for joining me for this Weekend Wind-Down as we explored how to quench our thirst for God and calm our anxieties through the teachings of the Psalms. Stay tuned for the next reflection. Let me close out with prayer. 

Father God, we thank you for being a friend. We thank you for being our father and friend all at the same time. When we’re anxious, fearful, and worrisome, help us remember to give them to you and lean into our faith that you will nurture, heal, and care for us through these moments. We know you love us, God. We love you, too. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.