Satisfaction (The Word, Introduction)

On New Year’s Day I was excited to find that the reading from my daily devotional was Psalm 63:1-8. I knew exactly what the verses said – in 2007 I had memorized them, then pondered them for weeks. The passage had spoken directly to my biggest spiritual issue at the time: my passion for God had been fading.

By meditating on those verses I was challenged to reignite my love for Him – and see the blazes burn brighter than before. In fact, I blogged about it early the following year.

David’s words of unmistakable, deep devotion to God in the passage can only be described by, well, themselves:

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

To convey the impact the verses had on me, I’ll quote from my original entry about the passage:

I’m sure I’d read or heard this passage some time before [that year], but it hadn’t resonated. Some parts were familiar—the praising God, loving Him, beholding his glory. But the body longing and the thinking through the watches of the night—those were things I didn’t really think about with God. But the message really is Lord, you are all I need. Nothing else. And not only do I need you, I long to know you with everything I am and have—my body, my mind, my soul; my LIFE.

As I meditated on the passage for weeks, it really did make sense. I started to feel passion for God in ways I hadn’t ever—at least not in recent memory. [As a result]…I’ve seen my relationship with God become more about simply knowing Him.

It would be wonderful to say that after rediscovering Psalm 63: 1-8 I have never since had a passion problem in my walk with God. But, alas, I cannot.

On the positive, now I am so much more compelled by a deeper understanding of His love for me, which helps me love Him – and others – more openly.

Yet recently, I’ve noticed that my passion for Him has cooled. A major reason is because I've neglected one of the areas that first helped light any fire I’ve ever had for Him, and was the catalyst for my Psalm 63:1-8 lesson: regular meditation on His Word through scripture memory. In another Psalm, Chapter 119, verses 9-11, the psalmist asks and answers a critical question underscoring why scripture memory is a key ingredient for developing - and maintaining- ardent devotion to God:

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you. (NIV ©2010)

In a world where even we as Christians are so prone to seek sources other than God’s Word to help us through life, this passage is a reminder that It has all the answers for holy, right living. When we follow God’s Word, and seek Him with open hearts, He gives us the ability to live set apart lives that pierce our dark world to gleam for Him (vv. 9-10). Even more, when we “hide” His Word in our hearts – memorize it, know in our depths and minds – we can’t help but love Him more - and live as He calls us to (v. 11).

This New Year one of my goals is to reignite my love affair with God through regular Scripture memory. Because blogging is another avenue that really gets me to meditate on God’s Word, I’m marshalling it to keep me on track with my goal. With a “series,” if you will, on God’s Word, I’ll be reflecting on why it is so important in our world today – and chronicling the impact scripture memory has had on my own life since childhood. Additionally, I’ll share updates on my progress with my Scripture memory goals.

Psalm 19:10 says that God’s Word is “more precious than gold, than much pure gold…sweeter than honey...” Let’s really dig into His Word this year, burying ourselves in the vast, sweet treasures It holds.