D. Scott Meadows
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: 1
My soul thirsteth for thee, 2
My flesh longeth for thee, 3
In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 4
2 To see thy power and thy glory, 5
So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 6
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, 7
My lips shall praise thee. 8
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: 9
I will lift up my hands in thy name. 10
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; 11
And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 12
God-centered desire, praise, and anticipation—that is the heart of true worship so obvious in this 12-line excerpt from the Psalms.
Desire for God (vv. 1-2)
It’s all about God. Fourteen times He is referenced, counting pronouns—six in the first verse. The psalmist’s whole being is directed upward, where God dwells, as symbolized by uplifted hands in prayer and praise (line 10). By definition, true worship exalts God above all creatures, which is to recognize His transcendence as Creator and sovereign Lord.
Yet the psalmist glories in his connection with this transcendent Deity. The Most High is also present, not only in His being but also relationally. “O God, thou art my God” (line 1a) is covenantal, founded upon His Word of promise, and wonderfully personal. Not only Israel is the chosen nation, but I am one of God’s elect. God’s love joined with His mighty acts of redemption have singled me out from a world of sinners to be holy, belonging to God in a special way. I am His and He is mine. I trust Him. I own Him. I love Him.
Therefore, “early will I seek thee” (line 1b). Our covenantal union is why I want to know Him and to experience more fully His revitalizing fellowship (lines 2-4). Without this my soul dries up; my whole being progressively dies. The world without God is a desert. All its wealth and opportunities leave me parched and dry. Physical hunger and thirst are among the most intense bodily cravings known to man; the desire for God in the best worshiper exceeds them.
The invisible God is known by His voluntary revelation. His acts in salvation-history, whether rescuing His people as a whole or mercifully delivering a single saint from danger, are prized by the true worshiper because they are a means of beholding the power and glory that belong to God alone (line 5). Likewise, the Temple’s holy ordinances, received from heaven, display His being with all His glorious attributes (line 6). The true worshiper deeply yearns for this God of power and glory, and to be filled with a sense of His being.
Do you have something of this appetite for God? Is your hunger and thirst for Him comparable in some degree to this? There really is no true worship without it, but only a shell of that empty formalism which is extremely offensive to God.
Praise to God (vv. 3-4)
Having known and experienced God’s “lovingkindness” (translating that wonderful word checed: “The love of Yahweh is His commitment to those who love Him to be unceasingly generous in His forgiveness, compassion, and blessings,” VanGemeren, EBC on Psa 25) as “better than life” (line 7), that is, better than the best things besides, the psalmist cannot repress a joyful response of whole-souled, verbal praise (line 8). “My lips shall praise thee” encompasses singing, praying, and proclaiming His Word. As psalms were for singing together in public, this testimony is a call to worship for the entire believing community in unity around the one Lord and one faith.
The psalmist’s soul is so gripped by adoring wonder and gratitude that he commits to lifelong praises (line 9) and prayerful trust in all circumstances (line 10). Raised hands were a typical posture for prayer (1 Tim 2.8). True worshipers are not fickle, but continue in the sacred service during times of prosperity and adversity.
Do you habitually participate both internally and externally in expressions of worship? The socially reserved may imagine that internal dealings with God are sufficient, but Scripture expects and insists upon the bold, outward testimony of visible worship, especially your active participation in the services of the gathered church.
Anticipation of God (v. 5)
Lines 11 and 12 are parallel statements that join my internal and external being in the blessedness of true worship. Inwardly, my soul shall be satisfied, as after a great feast, and outwardly, my joy in the Lord shall be heard in the praises to Him who is the feast, and hosts it. Their future tense conveys a happy anticipation of this blessedness, a state of well-being that shall never end. Indeed, anyone who shares the spirit of the psalmist may expect the same joyful destiny.
Are your desire for God and your praise to God reasonably consistent through the vicissitudes of your life? Do you often consider that your brief, earthly pilgrimage as a Christian will soon be over, and then you will wade into an ocean of bliss in the Lord’s immediate presence? One paraphrase says, “At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.”
True Christians want nothing more than this, and this is exactly what we shall have by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. “O taste and see that the LORD is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psa 34.8)! May He grant that we, in ever-increasing measure, possess and exercise more of the heart of true worship. Amen.