“God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.” (Psalm 63:1)
Read Psalm 63.
Have you ever known someone who was desperate? Singles may feel desperate to be in a relationship; married people may feel trapped and desperate to get out of a relationship. The sick may be desperate for health, the homeless for shelter, the hungry for food. Desperation is the misery that drives us to change our circumstances in any way possible.
Desperation can be bad. A palpable sense of despair can provoke us to throw caution to the wind and make hasty and unwise decisions. Likewise, an addict can be so desperate for his next hit that he sacrifices his job and family. But desperation can also be good when it drives us to God, when we have reached the absolute bottom and can only look up.
Before he became king of Israel, David’s life was filled with periods of desperation. He was often isolated and threatened with death. HIs memories of a tranquil life caring for his father’s sheep seemed distant and unreal as he roamed the wilderness avoiding the wrath of King Saul. David was desperate for relief and for rescue. More importantly, David was desperate for God. “I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you” – these are desperate words. He realized his utter hopelessness without God. With brutal honesty, he saw his distressed life and his powerlessness to change, and knew that God was his only way out.
Storms and trials in life can be good for us when they make us desperate for God. Life-altering events have a way of knocking us out of our complacency and forcing us to re-evaluate our lives. You may be going through such a moment right now. Any former, tranquil life seems a distant memory, replaced by days of isolation, fear, and uncertainty. These are desperate times that quickly sap our energy and peace, and leave us miserable and hopeless. This is when we begin to realize how much we really need God.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done;
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His pow’r has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
(from “He Giveth More Grace” by Annie Johnson Flint, 1866-1932)
So, are you desperate? Would you say that your prayer life is characterized by desperate pleading for God’s presence and power in your life? Have you reached the end of your dependence on your own resources? Then rejoice, because that is the place where God shows up!
“You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.” (Psalm 63:5)
Written by Pastor Jeff LeMaster