Monday, May 5- Psalm 63:2-4

hi real lifers!
huge week coming up at Real Life- have you invited some friends to join us? we can't keep all this excitement to ourselves!!

well, I understood these verses better when I started reading back at the first verse-
so here it is:
"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."

You know, for me, there are times when I'm reading the Psalms and forget all the hard ache that David- the writer went through. I mean, he went through a ton of junk, but his writing proves that he new how to deal with it all. Just a little background on verse one here- David was hiding from his enemies in a barren wilderness, he was completely alone (who knows for how long), longing for a friend he could trust to ease his loneliness. No wonder he was crying out "... my soul thirsts for you..."
So, the verses to follow are an amazing expression of praise and worship to the Friend that David found in that dry and lonely moment in his life- he found God. He found God's power, honor, and His unfailing love.

We've been talking a lot about worship lately. Answering questions like-
What is worship?
Why do we worship?
Does my worship really matter?
How should we approach worship?
What is real worship?

Well, I think these verses and many others like them- answer another question about worship...
How am I supposed to worship God when I don't even feel God near me?

The above verse, Psalm 63:1, shows us that some of our most intense and real times of worship come while we are in the midst of some of the toughest moments in our lives- even when we feel lonely- even when God seems far away. But, the clincher is this-ready?? We need to make the effort to call out to God. He promises to hear you and be there for you when you call on Him. And believe me- when you can experience God the way David did here (in the midst of his pain), you will be able to worship God like you never have before- as a matter of fact, your worship from here on out will never be the same. This is the coolest part: you will realize that in this time of worship- you have forgotten the pain you were dealing with because God's 'unfailing love' is greater than ANYTHING!!

What is your 'parched and weary land' experience? Does it seem like it will never end? Or are you just in a dry place concerning your relationship with God?
Well, what are you waiting for? [[Don't wait for things to get better to worship God- recognize that the toughest time in your life can create the most real time of worship for you]]- and allow calling out to God in worship be just the beginning of God's healing and time of refreshing for you!!


you're AWESOME and I love you guys,
Pam S.