Two Questions

A Series on the Psalms – a collection of prayers
Feeling spiritually dry
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 63 

[Life is filled with emotions. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers that express our emotions which are the cry of our soul for help and hope. In this series, we will be looking into the Psalms to learn more about ourselves and our Lord.]

  

David had two questions to answer. But in order to do so, he needed to flee into the Judean Desert. His son Absalom had crowned himself as king and led a rebellion against his father. He followed David into the wilderness with the intent of killing him.

 

The Judean Desert was the perfect place for David to hide. It is described as being “marked by barren wilderness, mountains, terraces and escarpments. It is crisscrossed by a number of valleys and has deep ravines cutting through the rock”. It’s also a stark land devoid of food and water.

 

Having been driven from his home, David must have felt isolated and alone. In addition, he was no longer in the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem where the sanctuary and the ark resided. Instead of being a safe place, the surrounding wilderness of Judea had become a spiritual desert for David.

 

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.            NLT

 

In his whole being, David desires the Lord. His soul thirsts and his flesh yearns for the Lord. He will seek him at dawn; watching for him; waiting for him. He will think about him throughout the night.

 

⁶ As I lie in bed, I remember you;
    all night long I think of you.    GNT

 

Throughout the Bible, the wilderness is the setting for extreme experiences including a severe lack of food and water, isolation, danger, divine deliverance and encounters with the Lord.

 

The nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Once that generation had passed, the next generation was given this command by Moses before entering the Promised Land.

 

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.   NIV                            Deuteronomy 6

 

As a result of David’s exile in the desert, he was able to answer two life-changing questions. First, what do you want so badly that you’re willing to do whatever it takes? And second, what keeps you awake at night?

 

Sometimes, we have to wander in the wilderness; we have to go through dry times; we have to struggle with adversity. And when we come out at the other end, we find that like David, there’s nothing more important than knowing the Lord.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Laundry and Letters

Deuteronomy 5:32-33, 6:4-9

 

Before I left for college my Mom showed me how to do my laundry. My Dad told me that he expected me to write a letter to them every week. I guess their expectations had been laid out for me: keep my clothes clean and write home often.

 

In today’s passage Moses laid out the Lord’s expectations for the Israelites. Israel had been wondering through the wilderness for forty years in preparation to go into the Promised Land. The time had finally arrived, only Moses would not be the one leading them. Therefore, he was giving them their final instructions; their final marching orders before they crossed the Jordan River.

 

Although these expectations came in the form of commandments, they were based in love, faith and grace. They were intended for the wellbeing of the Israelites. In fact, they were intended to help the people of Israel grow in their faith in the Lord.

 

^“Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments]. You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.”          5:32-33 AMP

 

^“Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever
you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.”   6:6-8 MSG

 

These same words could be repeated to us each and every day before we go out the door as we face the pressures and stress of work; the temptations of the Internet; a world system that rewards selfish behavior; unresolved anger and resentment; and any other character defects that we may struggle with.

 

On that day when I left for college the first time, I knew that I was expected to keep my clothes clean and write my parents every week. Those expectations had been clearly communicated to me.

 

God has clearly communicated to you and to me through Moses. In fact, with a slightly different application, it’s not all that different than my parent’s expectations. The Lord has told us to keep our “hearts clean and to communicate with Him often”.

 

In other words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”