[long blog. sorry. i needed to write down my devotion today tho]
“May my soul cling fast to You,
Your right hand grasp me.” -psalm 63:9
Naturally, we take the text as it is and realize that there is a need for David to “cling” to God in the wilderness of Judah. The psalm as a whole seems to break into a triad of desire, praise, and cry for help; but ultimately, it’s a song of trust that God is empirically the controller of every situation.
The questions arise in the second portion of the verse when David recognizes God’s active role in his need. Obviously, David’s soul “clings” to God; not holds, but “clings fast”…conveying imagery of a desperation of his soul to create a stronger degree of adhesion to God’s power and promises. But if David is already “clinging”, then why the need for God to extend His right hand to “grasp” David? Isn’t David’s act of dependence enough to carry him through tribulations? Was God’s right hand merely for David’s affirming comfort?
I kept rereading the verse and the only way i simplified it was to “Tommy Tenney” the situation and use the analogous relationship between a father and his son. Upon request, when a young child needs to be sheltered by his father, he normally clings fast his arms around his father’s neck. Due to the great amount of need, the child will tightly hold on, but what is the response of the father? Simply, a reciprocated grasp of reassurance, not primarily for mere comfort, but for the assurance that the child will remain safe. Naturally, the child is not strong enough to sustain his physical dependence, no matter how strong and desperate the initial hold was. Ultimately, the child’s strength will wane, yet it is the grasp of the father that will assure his safety.
What does this mean for me? Sometimes, we are resolved that we are clinging to God. But we fail to notice when our hold begins to weaken. Sometimes, even in the midst of our burdens, esp. the ones that really test our craziest weaknesses, we forget to realize that although we have failed to hold on tight to God, He still has His grasp on us. He is not letting go.
He is not letting go.
Even when we can, He will not. There are so many moments in our lives when we must walk through the intended valleys. We need to trust that God knows it as part of our timetable, so when we look to Him for help and cling in earnest desperation, He looks back at us, accepts our act of dependence, yet adds His loving yet mighty grasp to make sure we go through it. He’ll see the valley sights with you. He’ll listen to your cries, but He knows you need to endure it all for His glory and your revelation. So accept your valleys and even twhen you don’t have any strength to hold on, God’s grasp is more than enough to carry you through.
So what does this all mean, (no really, without all the metaphoric jargon?) Simply, there will be times when we cling to God as best as we can but we’ll fail and self perceive that we’re so weak and ultimately give up. We’ll cry to God and offer apologies that we’re not strong enough, and we can’t hold on. We are not mighty warriors of faith after all. The verse is fills us with relief though because it tells us that we’re not designed to be supermen or wonderwomen of emotional strength. But we are called to trust that God still has His grasp on us- that our problems and trials will not consume us, and that God is still working His plans and glory in our lives. I’ll even take it as far as to say that when we say we trust God, we cling fast to Him because we need to know that His reaction to grasp us foreshadows a road that will not be easy to travel, that His grasp is necessary for the arduous road we must take.
So there it is. Maybe verse 9 is a verse about a relationship. It shows our essential need to trust in God’s omnipotence, God’s reassurance, God’s love, and God’s control for He alone has the bird’s eye view.
- Tags: bird's eye view, devotion, psalm 63, trust
