# 208 A journey through the Psalms. Psalm 63. Who/what is your god?

I have done it a few times, that is, responded to people’s exclamation, “O my god!” with the question, “Who actually is your god?” And of course, they look at me wondering what on earth I am talking about, revealing, generally speaking, the meaningless of their statement.

But, I think, it is still a relevant question. Because, we all have some person, thing, idea, whatever, that takes the place in our lives as a ‘god’. It seems that most people ‘worship’ someone, something, some idea. Maybe it is a loved one, wife, husband, child, or even oneself. Maybe it is a so-called ‘celebrity’ or other famous person. Or maybe it is money, or pleasure, or sport, etc. Then, just maybe it is an idea, or ideology or even a religious/”spiritual” activity or practice or being.

What/who do you worship?

When we come to the Psalms, there is no doubt who is being worshiped. In Psalm 63 David begins:

¹ You, God, are my God,

Although I am far from being a Hebrew scholar, I guess this verse could say, “You, YAHWEH (the Hebrew name for the Lord God, who revealed himself as the great I AM) are my ELOHIM (the generic term for God).” Thus, leaving no question as to who David is referring to and who he worships. In other words, it is clear that he is not referring to any of the false ‘gods’ of the Canaanites and others in the surrounding nations.

David’s God is no local deity. He is YAHWEH, the God of all creation, the Sovereign Lord of all the universe, the One who brought his people out of slavery from Egypt and chose the Hebrew people as his own to serve him and glorify his name throughout the earth. This is the One who said to his people concerning the foolishness and sinfulness of idolatry:

³² Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. ³⁷ Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, ³⁸ to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

³⁹ Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.     (Deuteronomy 4:32-40)

And so, the commandment:

 “You shall have no other gods before me.  (Deuteronomy 5:7)

And it is this God that David longs for. He says:  

 ¹ You, God, are my God,                                                                 earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

Do you know this God? Do you know how much he loves you and desires to have companionship with you? Do you earnestly seek Him?

Jesus taught us that it is possible to be “pure in heart” in our relationship with God, and that it is a “blessed” place to be because then you “will see God”. (Matthew 5:8)

Or as the TPT puts it:

“What bliss you experience when your heart is pure! For then your eyes will open to see more and more of God.^”  

And Jesus should know. He said of himself, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and then “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9)

Are you experiencing that incredible love of God in Jesus? You can! Come to the Father through Jesus and then you will know and enjoy what it means to be able to say, “You, God are my God, earnestly I seek you.” So, ‘Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.’

What a privilege Father to worship you, to know your Son, Jesus, to experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Help us today to get rid of any false gods in our lives and acknowledge and worship only you. Amen.