Sanctuary

"O God you are my God; early I will seek you. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory." Psalm 63: 1-2

This psalm actually has a title that gets us into its context and setting - "A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah." Being in a desert type wilderness is not an easy experience: there is little food to find, little water to be had, excruciating elements to endure, and prowling predators looking to take your life. David was in such a wilderness when he wrote this psalm. In spite of his fear and discomfort, he was not consumed by them. The desert did not overcome him. David you see found his comfort, protection and sustenance in his God. Early on, in his foray into the desert of Judah, he sought the God that cared for him, and he relied wholly on his God to watch over him.

It can be very easy to let the desert times in our life overtake us. More often than not, the fear seems larger than our hope, our harsh and excruciating situations weaken us to the point of surrender, and our spirit are being starved to the point of unconsciousness. We too, like David, need to seek our God early in our wilderness journey. But sometimes that is really hard to do isn't it? Doesn't feel as if sometimes when we survey our situation, we have a hard time seeing God, only more and more sand dunes and despair. What can we do when we have a hard time finding God's care in the wilderness?

David went looking for God in the sanctuary to be reminded of His power and glory.

David went back to that place in his life (perhaps even literally back) where God's glory and presence and love for him was so real and tangible that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. He went back to the place where he most remembered God's power knocking his socks off. He went back to the sanctuary.

Do you have a sanctuary? Do you have a place in your life where you had an amazing, never forget it experience with our God, where He made your knees weak with His presence and comforted you with His love? I hope so. This place can be your sanctuary to look for God when the deserts of life try to consume you. I have even had times in my life where, in the midst of difficulty, I have even physically traveled back to one of my sanctuaries in order to find the reality of God's love, protection and provision. I thank God for places like this and the fact that His presence is so amazing that it leaves such a residual memory for us.

Maybe you need to look for God in the sanctuary right now - as you do so, may you be overwhelmed by His power and glory.

Be God's, Scott