Homilist Psalm 63:1-11 O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land… I. The greatest HUNGER of the soul (ver. 1). The soul wants God, as the thirsty land the refreshing showers, as the opening flower the sunbeam. II. The greatest FAITH of the soul (ver. 3). Lovingkindness is indeed better than life; it is independent, it is the cause of life, the redemption of life: It is lovingkindness that supplies the wants, gratifies the desires, develops the powers of life. All the elements of soul-joy, — gratitude, admiration, moral esteem, benevolence, — are awakened by lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is heaven. Faith in this lovingkindness is the greatest faith — greatest because it is the most soul-sustaining, soul-inspiring, soul-ennobling. III. The greatest EXERCISE of the soul — praise. It is not a service, but a life. It is not that which merely "goeth forth " in sacred music and on sacred occasions; but, as a sap in the trunk of the tree runs through all its branches and leaves and blossoms, so true praise runs through all the activities of human life. IV. The greatest SATISFACTION of the soul, David's great desire was, "To see Thy power and glory as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary." The blessedness of such a soul is ever with it. "The pleasure of the religous man," says Dr. South, "is an easy and portable pleasure, such a one as he carries about in his bosom, without alarming either the rage or the envy of the world. A man putting all his pleasures into this one is like a traveller putting all his goods into one jewel; the value is the same, and the convenience greater." V. The greatest STUDY of the soul (ver. 6). 1. Man can think upon God — not merely on what He has done, but on what He is, Himself. 2. Man, can think upon God on his bed. When all other objects are shut out from him, when the beautiful earth and the star-spangled heavens are excluded, God cart be brought into the soul as the subject of thought. No study so quickening. The thought of God vivifies the faculties and stirs the heart. None so humbling, With God before the eye of thought, all egotism wanes and dies. None so spiritualizing. With God before the mind's eye, fleets, armies, markets, governments, the solemn globe itself and all it contains, dwindle into insignificance. None so enlightening. The study of God lightens up all the fields truth. All the branches have their root in God. VI. The greatest TRUST of the soul (ver. 7). (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.} O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; |
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