God satisfies our hunger and thirst at His banquet table
Oct. 11 (Thanksgiving) – Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
On Thanksgiving we eat a rich feast of what the land has produced. God’s abundance of food and harvest all around us. Hungry and thirsty we find a table spread for us and enjoy the feast, eating our fill.
The psalm says there is another rich feast that God offers us – a feast to satisfy the soul. A feast that is better than life (vs. 3), a feast that fills the mouth with joyful songs (vs. 5). As Jesus said, “Human beings do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The feast that God spreads in the world is one which not only feeds us physically, but which also gets us through “the watches of the night” – the times when the dark fear and doubt and anxiety arise. A feast that helps us in the times of joy and in the times of despair, in the times of contentment and in the times of uncertainty.
This relationship is not just something on paper – not mere words – no “my soul clings to you” (vs. 8) – this relationship is the source of life and the ability to keep going. Even when the road is hard – when others seem to want cause us harm, when lies are told about us – even at those times – we are to remember the abundance of God who feeds our souls and our bodies with a rich feast. God is as worthy of praise and thanksgiving when the road is hard as God is worthy of praise and thanksgiving when all is going well.
PRAYER:
On this Thanksgiving Day, we rejoice that you have provided us with abundant tables full of food, and fridges and cupboards that overflow with abundance. We thank you that you have also fed our souls, filling us with meaning and purpose as people who are loved by you, and called by you to serve our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.