Imagine you are in a desert. It’s hot, it’s dry, the sun is burning your skin. You haven’t had water for too long, and you feel as if you could just shrivel up. And what do you want more than anything else? Water. Water, to quench your thirst and satisfy you. Now think of your spiritual body. You are on this earth, and it’s hard. Temptations hit you one after the other, and what do you need more than anything? God. You need God, the comfort He brings and the victory that is His. This how David describes our relationship with God in Psalm 63,

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

In verses 1-3, the passage tells us about how powerful and glorious God is. It talks about His love. It’s so great; it’s everything. There is nothing on earth that compares to it. The first verse focuses on our need for God. It’s such a big thing in our society to be the best, and to never admit that we need help sometimes. 1 Peter 5:6-7 reads, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” It’s so hard sometimes to accept how much we need God, especially when life is going well, but we don’t realize just how much we need Him. I know sometimes we have the opposite problem. We recognize how much we need him whenever life is going great, and we’re thankful for Him and all that He has given us, but then whenever we’re at our low points, we struggle to humble ourselves enough to let Him lift us up. It is so important to remember that we need God and his guidance at all times. We need Him, His power, and His love. We need Him like someone in a desert needs water.

Verses 8-10 talk about how we can find comfort in God. Life is not easy. There are some days where we feel as if we are at the bottom of a pit with no way out. It is in those days, and all days really, where we can find comfort in God. Look back to the verse in 1 Peter, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” There are times in my life when I am struggling and I know that I can find comfort in the Lord, but then I will let my thoughts get the better of me. I will start thinking about how I’m not good enough and how He doesn’t want me, doesn’t need me. But here’s the thing, by ourselves, we’re not good enough. Without Christ and His sacrifice, we would never measure up. That’s where we can find our comfort in God and HIs Son’s love. Through Him, we ARE enough, because He is enough. In Him we can find our comfort and our strength, we just have to go to Him. He wants us to go to Him and find shelter under His wings, just as David writes. He is there. All we have to do is go to Him, and there, He comforts us, like water would be a comfort to someone in a desert.

Verse 11 shows us that we can rejoice in the Lord because He is overall. Romans 8:31 says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” We have hope in Him. This passage is one of my favorites. It goes on to tell us how we are more than conquerors in Him who loves us. There is a spiritual battle raging, and we are a part of it. But I think sometimes we forget what exactly our role in that battle is. As Christians, we are warriors of God and His truth. As His children, we don’t need to worry about where we will end up. We are on the side of the one True and Living God. The God who will rise and whose enemies will be scattered. That sounds pretty awesome to me, so why do we spend so much time focusing on what we can’t do, instead of focusing on what God can and will do? David reminds us, the Lord’s is the victory. If you’re wandering through the desert and come upon an oasis, I think you would feel as though you’ve just won life. That is how we get to feel because we are on the side of the Lord who is overall.

David is called a man after God’s own heart, so I’d assume his spiritual body looks and is really healthy. In this Psalm he shows us three ways to ensure ours look the same. We need to recognize our need for God, we should find comfort in Him, and always remember that God will prevail. I do believe we could all benefit from really looking at ourselves to see if our spiritual bodies are really longing for the Living Water.

By Makaley Waide

Makaley is 16 years old and lives in Waukomis, OK. She’s blessed with two loving parents, an older sister, and a younger brother. She is a junior in high school, and enjoys reading, painting, sports, and learning more about God and His plan for our lives. She wants to travel the world, and plans to go into the mission field to further God’s kingdom.