LONGING FOR GOD AND BEHOLDING HIS GLORY in worship are inseparably linked. Psalm 63 is a window into a heart filled with a desire for God, to know him and encounter his presence amid life’s great struggles and sorrows. “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” (Ps 63:1).

For the desert wanderer, water is the singular pursuit and sole passion, with every other care and concern overshadowed by the desire for survival.
Beautiful and poetic as this imagery surely is, if you’re honest, you may struggle with psalms of this nature. How does anyone truly obtain this desperate longing to know God? Rather than joining them in this place, you may instead feel confusion or even shame at your lack of desire. We may wish to long for God in this way, yet in our heart of hearts, we struggle to see how this could ever be true of us.

The answer, according to this psalm, is found in a life of worship. A thirst for God finds its fulfillment in his presence, beholding his power and glory (Ps 63:2). It is in God’s presence that our desires are fulfilled and awakened within us. Our thirst is quenched, and we are simultaneously made aware of how deeply we long to know God more.