Truth be known, the older I become, the harder it gets looking in the mirror. My face, my hair, my body reflect back to me lines of care, more gray, and the scars of a battle with cancer. Today, however, I didn't have a run in with my bathroom mirror but rather with the spiritual mirror. When I took an honest look, I didn't like what my soul reflected back... the lines of life's cares that hadn't been lifted up to the Lord, a cold, gray heart that had been unsuccessfully pumping through the day without drawing from its life Source, and the scars of a battle with sin (or were those fresh wounds I perceived...).
Part of me wanted to justify my struggle and focus on the circumstances of life that in all honesty are just plain hard, but then I read Psalm 63, a psalm of David, and found what I was missing... not a "make over" to mask what's really there but rather the honesty of a mirror and the revitalizing balm smoothed on by the God of the word.
What made Psalm 63 powerfully poignant was not that it was written by a king on his throne enjoying the glory of his kingdom and the allegiance of his subjects. No, it was written when David was fleeing the vehement sword of Saul and found himself in the wilderness of Judah. Yet he wrote, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."
I have to admit when I first started reading, I couldn't echo David's prayer. I was not seeking God earnestly though I needed Him desperately. My soul was not thirsting for Him though parched to the bone. But I kept reading...
"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name... My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."
It was then the prayer began, 'Lord help me to seek you earnestly, help me to thirst for you and yearn for you in the midst of my wilderness.' It was not going to be because of a change in my circumstances that I might praise Him, but because His lovingkindness is better than even life itself. 'Lord help me to bless You as long as I live...' a tall order when clothed in this body of flesh, yet "as long as I live" happens only one moment at a time. Could I make a choice this moment, right now, with the power and help of my resurrected Savior to bless Him? Might I - energized by His Spirit - take time to meditate on who He is and remember His unchanging faithfulness to me, for He has indeed been my help. It truly is in the shadow of His wings that I can sing for joy. Joy is a rare commodity when life is hard - yet He shows me where it is found: in the shadow of His wings, by His side, even in the midst of the wilderness.
By God's grace and with His help when I glance in the spiritual mirror, though circumstantially in the wilderness still, may the reflection I see be a soul clinging to God, upheld by His right hand, singing for joy in His presence, and praising the God whose lovingkindness is better than life.
He is Risen!
Part of me wanted to justify my struggle and focus on the circumstances of life that in all honesty are just plain hard, but then I read Psalm 63, a psalm of David, and found what I was missing... not a "make over" to mask what's really there but rather the honesty of a mirror and the revitalizing balm smoothed on by the God of the word.
What made Psalm 63 powerfully poignant was not that it was written by a king on his throne enjoying the glory of his kingdom and the allegiance of his subjects. No, it was written when David was fleeing the vehement sword of Saul and found himself in the wilderness of Judah. Yet he wrote, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."
I have to admit when I first started reading, I couldn't echo David's prayer. I was not seeking God earnestly though I needed Him desperately. My soul was not thirsting for Him though parched to the bone. But I kept reading...
"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name... My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."
It was then the prayer began, 'Lord help me to seek you earnestly, help me to thirst for you and yearn for you in the midst of my wilderness.' It was not going to be because of a change in my circumstances that I might praise Him, but because His lovingkindness is better than even life itself. 'Lord help me to bless You as long as I live...' a tall order when clothed in this body of flesh, yet "as long as I live" happens only one moment at a time. Could I make a choice this moment, right now, with the power and help of my resurrected Savior to bless Him? Might I - energized by His Spirit - take time to meditate on who He is and remember His unchanging faithfulness to me, for He has indeed been my help. It truly is in the shadow of His wings that I can sing for joy. Joy is a rare commodity when life is hard - yet He shows me where it is found: in the shadow of His wings, by His side, even in the midst of the wilderness.
By God's grace and with His help when I glance in the spiritual mirror, though circumstantially in the wilderness still, may the reflection I see be a soul clinging to God, upheld by His right hand, singing for joy in His presence, and praising the God whose lovingkindness is better than life.
He is Risen!
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