When God Becomes Real
My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life. So I will bless you as long as I live; at your name, I will lift up my hands. You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. [Psalm 63:3-5]
Can you recall that moment in your life that God became real to you? How did it make you feel? What was your response? For some, you may have been able to quickly identify that moment. For others, it may have taken a little bit longer and for some, you are still trying to pinpoint it. No worries. God is not going to grade you on how fast you can recall the moment. However, I want to help you tap into the ability to do so. There is power in the honoring and declaring of God's goodness and sovereignty and it opens up your life to a greater revelation of Who God is concerning you.
In the book of Psalms, David often sang songs of praises and adoration to God in the light of both his victories and adversities. Often his words would shift from a posture of exhortation to a posture of worship. Now, you may be thinking, "what's the difference?" I'll give you an example. A few years ago, I came across this amazing drink at Starbucks and I started telling my co-workers about it. I noticed that every time I told a co-working about the drink, I was reminded of how much I loved it which ultimately prompted me to go and purchase one for myself. I went from telling others about it to personally partaking in the goodness.
David was a mighty warrior and an outstanding king. His fame traveled throughout the nations and he was loved and hated by many. He was a man of great stature and ruled with grand authority, and his legacy lives on even now. Yes, all of those attributes are noteworthy, however, the greatest attribute that he possessed was that he was "a man after God's own heart". Now one may look at David's love for God in the light of his victories and success and assume that that's why he was a man after God's own heart. This is true, but it wasn't the victories and successes that we are enamored by, like his victory of Goliath, but it was the ones we don't get to read a lot about.
In 1 Samuel 17:34-35, A short time before killing Goliath David told King Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him." He went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
God became real for David years before he became king or was ever called a mighty warrior. It was in the moments when it was just David and his sheep that God revealed himself. Those were the moments that David was able to pull from in the most challenging hours of life years later.
Daily you have to recall to mind, the faithfulness and sovereignty of God, whether we are in a good or bad season. When you are not able to quickly pinpoint anything personal, open up the Word of God. There is power in recalling the goodness of God. It awakens something on the inside of your heart that only can be awakened by the awareness of who God is.!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, today I come boldly before your throne and I earnestly seek you. Reveal your power and your glory, show me that you are real. I look to you with a surrendered heart and I ask that you shine the light of your love, breaking through the barriers that keep me from knowing you more. Create in me a clean heart and give me a steadfast spirit. I long to know you more.
In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen
