We Won’t Know What David Knew Without Doing What David Did

Psalm 63 contains one of those lines that stops you in your tracks and ought to make you think. As David describes his Creator and addresses him as “God, my God,” he makes a bold claim. “Your steadfast love is better than life.” That sounds good in a book of Hebrew poetry, but is it true? Is that even possible? Maybe it was at some point for some man who lived 3,000 years ago, but can it be true today? For me? Could a rich, vibrant connection with my Creator really be so satisfying, so fulfilling that it moves me to authentically say with full conviction, “Your steadfast love is better than life”?

Can I challenge you today, even as I challenge myself? Here’s the bottom line: We won’t know what David knew until we do what David did. His declaration about the satisfying steadfast love of God is surrounded by descriptions of his own devotion. Listen carefully to the outcomes of his mindset, the fruit of his rhythms, the effects of the steps David had already taken…

I earnestly seek you. I’ve developed a thirst of the soul for you. My whole being has come to long for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I’ve looked upon you in the sanctuary. I’ve beheld your power and glory. I remember you on my bed. I meditate on you in the watches of the night. I know that you have been my help. My soul clings to you. I can say with confident assurance that your right hand upholds me.

And what is the first word of Psalm 63:3 and our key phrase? “Because.” David isn’t making an empty, baseless, wish-upon-a-star declaration that’s beautiful on paper but detached from reality. David has tasted. He has experienced. He has seen. He has known, and that’s precisely the point. We won’t know what David knew without doing what David did, which places the mirror in front of each of our faces and begs the question…

Am I earnestly seeking God? Am I developing a thirst of the soul for him? Has my whole being come to long for God as in a dry and weary land where there is no water? Do I look upon him with eyes of faith, beholding his power and glory? Do I remember him on my bed? Do I meditate on him in the watches of the night? Do I appreciate that he has been my help in the past? Is my soul clinging to him? Do I recognize that his right hand upholds me and that without him all would be lost?

We won’t know what David knew without doing what David did. Psalm 63 is a living testament to the truth that a God-centered mindset coupled with soul-fueling rhythms and steps of focused faith can open the door to a priceless “because.” Having personally tasted and experienced and seen and known, David is compelled to declare and equipped to resolve.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips… (63:3-5)

…and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. (63:7)

We won’t know what David knew until we do what David did, but when we taste for ourselves, we’ll have what no amount of money can buy. We’ll experience what no earthly power or prestige can yield. We’ll know that which no tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or danger, or even death itself can separate us from or rob us of.

The steadfast love of the LORD is better than life.

“O God, you are my God.” What could we possibly say today or experience tomorrow that is more satisfying, more eternally significant than that?