The God of Refreshment
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh languisheth for thee, in a dry and weary land without water" (Psalm 63:1).
David wrote this psalm in the wilderness of Judah, a land literally dry and weary, a land that yielded no such refreshment as that for which the heart of man thirsts. His lonely experiences in scenes so barren of comfort and prosperity were intended by God to teach him that the world itself is a barren wilderness, spiritually speaking, in which no true blessing can be found to refresh the heart of one who has known the sweetness of the grace of God. He must seek his refreshment outside of it all, and in the living God.
Through such things the believer learns that God is not far off, as though He were merely an impersonal Creator of the universe, having little interest in His creatures. He learns to know God as his own God, and his heart is moved to seek Him early, with no delay; for the very time of felt deprivation is the time when the sweetness of the presence of God should be cultivated. On such occasions of being alone with God, the thirsting soul will find delight in the comfort of fellowship with God.
Too frequently believers allow themselves to be discouraged and downcast by the wilderness life. They may feel the lack of fellowship with others who love the Lord: they think they need the exhilaration of exciting circumstances. Yet the Lord may have put them in totally different circumstances, intending to have them learn their need of the precious fellowship of His own love and goodness.
If then in faith we cry out for the living God, languishing for Him as in a dry and weary land without water, the results will be far better than we had ever expected. Our inmost soul will be refreshed and filled with goodness.
