Longing for God

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Scripture
 
Psalm 143:8     Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
        for in you I put my trust.
    Teach me the way I should go,
        for to you I lift up my soul.

Observation

This Psalm is written during a time of distress but the deep desire is for intimacy with God, not just for the end of difficulties. The Psalmist goes to the LORD in the morning, beginning the day in anticipation of steadfast love. This is the anchor for his day for the steadfast love of God keeps him secure throughout the storms of life. His trust is in no person, but in God alone. It is in this morning space of intimacy that the Psalmist receives his marching orders. As he lifts up his soul to the LORD, he has discovered that he will be taught the ways in which to go. This all happens when the Psalmist’s longing is for God.

Application

What a great way to start the morning! The Psalmist lays it all out there for all of us. Our desire should be to know God, not to get things from God. Therefore, with anticipation of experiencing the steadfast love of God, we greet the LORD with the dawn.

There is something significant about starting out our day in the presence of the LORD. This time with God sets the tone for the entire day. Instead of living in the tension of everything that must be accomplished in the day, we live in the sweet peace of steadfast love. This is the very nature of God which is shared with us when we put our trust in the LORD. What does wholehearted trust of God look like in the tension of the day? There are plenty of things that we won’t understand along the way and yet we are to trust in God. In trusting we experience steadfast love. The arms of God that will hold us in the midst of everything that we are doing.

We may be pretty bright people, but our knowledge is nothing in comparison to God. Therefore we must learn to listen to the sweet still voice of God who will teach us in the way that we should go. There is guidance from God for every day. When we learn to hear the voice of God, or the sweet nudging we can take direction and be led through difficulties.

Recently I was driving through Los Angeles and the traffic there is rather notorious. I was using my phone’s GPS to get to me where I needed to go. Throughout my travels my phone would relay to me when there was a traffic jam and how I could be rerouted to get around it. If my phone can give me that kind of direction, can’t we believe that the God who loves us would want to give us those kinds of nudges and directions throughout the day?

When you forget your phone you feel completely lost. You have to go home and get it because you’re not sure how you would function without it.

When we forget to hear of the steadfast love of God in the morning we are lost. We don’t have GPS and we begin to head out and try to figure it all out on our own. Our longing for God ought to be greater than for our phones! Navigating life without the steadfast love of God and gentle direction will simply make life more difficult. Time to long for God.

Prayer

Lord, may the longings of my heart always lead to you. Amen.

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