The Gift of the WildernessSample

Verses 3-5: Worship in the Wilderness

“Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus, I will bless you while I live, I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.” Psalm 63:3-5 NKJV

Let us flip the pages of our bibles back to 2 Samuel 15. When David knew what his son, Absalom, was attempting to do, he knew that he had to escape Jerusalem for the welfare of the people. David says to one of his devoted friends that he will go into the wilderness. If God finds favor in him, he will return to Jerusalem one day. But then David adds that if God is not pleased with him, then he is ready to let God do to him whatever He sees fit to do.

This is what surrender looks like; complete surrender to the will of God. When you can say that as long as you are doing the will of the Father nothing else matters, not even your life, you have found true surrender.

One commentator puts it this way, “For David, to dwell with God is better than life at its best, life at ease, in a palace, in health, in honor, in wealth, in pleasure, yes a thousand lives are not equal to the eternal life which abides in Jehovah’s smile.”

Here in these verses, we see David worshipping the Lord because his lovingkindness is better than life. 

David longs to:

· praise God

· bless God

· lift up his hands to God

· be satisfied with God

· sing joyfully to God

Worship is surrender. 

Paul says this in the book of Romans, “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.” (Romans 12:1-2 TPT).

Even though his enemies sought for his very life, David would still lift up holy hands in worship. The same must be true for us. We must worship, because we were made to worship.

Worship is easy when all is right, when we are happy, prosperous, and healthy. It is in those times of despair, hopelessness, sadness, and pain that we find our life when we lay it down at the altar of worship. 

Your arms may be weak, tired, and heavy from the hunger and drought of the wilderness but lifting them up is an act of submission. It is an outward expression of a heart yielding to the power, beauty, and majesty of our God. As we worship the Lord, our hungry and empty souls are satisfied just as a good meal satisfies our natural bodies. 

Leave your circumstances behind. Forget your troubles. Worship in the wilderness. Lift up holy hands. Sing with joyful lips. Believe that no matter the outcome, you can say with gladness, “God, you alone can satisfy me.”