Suzi Pitts, Director of Communications 

Psalm 63:1-4
You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched 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.

Reflection:
The psalms are not just songs and poetry; they are stories. When we view them in the context of the story, we can see so much more. So, here we go with this story, which has a marvelous message for us today…especially today.

David is hiding from his enemies and is alone in the desert. That’s three pretty powerful strikes against him. First, he is hiding from enemies. We can assume this causes significant distress and that his flight or fight response is in full effect. Second, he is in the desert. Now I know something about the desert because our son was deployed in Iraq. Bring your own water, and lots of it, because dehydration during the daytime is a constant threat. There are tremendous temperature swings in 24 hours where blazing hot days collide into really cold nights. Physical discomfort is always present. Third, he is alone. In the Creation narrative, God said that everything made was “good” except “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Gen. 2:18) God created us for community, and David was all alone with his thoughts. Imagine the emotional distress. Except he wasn’t all alone. He was with God, and God was with him.

David recalls his heritage of faith, having experienced God’s power and glory in corporate worship. As I read verse 3, I find a smile grow as he starts to worship. “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live.” Worship beckons us into an intimate relationship with God. When we have fear and anxiety, God wants to be in it with us and bring us peace. When our bodies are broken and we are in pain, God bids us to come closer to experience God’s comfort. When we are lonely, God says, “You’re not alone. I’m here.” Scripture tells us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

In Contemporary Worship at St. Luke’s we close every worship service with “We Will Worship.” Here are the lyrics:

We will worship the Lamb of glory
We will worship the King of kings
We will worship the Lamb of glory
We will worship the King
And with our hands lifted high
We will worship and sing
And with our hands lifted high
We come before You rejoicing
With our hands lifted high to the sky
As the world wonders why
We’ll just tell them we’re loving our King

So, on Sunday morning during these COVID days, our TV room is our sanctuary. And we sing out loud, lifting our hands and rejoicing. Is it awkward? Absolutely. But David said in V. 4, “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

If it’s good enough for David, it’s good enough for me.

Prayer:
Father God, you are faithful, and your lovingkindness is overwhelming. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who can change TV rooms into worship spaces. Keep our worship vibrant, especially as we are apart. We love you and pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.