Psalm 63

I thought I would share a little of what God is teaching my in my devotions. I was reading Psalm 63 the other day and I read vs.1, "O God, you are my God; earnestly 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." When I read this, I thought, I wish I felt like that all the time, because, honestly I don't. There are more times than I'd like to admit that I think, "oh I'd better do my devotions so I don't feel guilty", or "I can check that off the list", or "God will be happier with me if I do my devotions". Do you ever feel that way? As if I can "score points" or something with God. His grace has nothing to do with my righteousness, praise the Lord! Thankfully it's all about relationship not about keeping score.
Anyway, I do desire a closer relationship with God, I desire to have this "desire" all the time. I'm not a very proactive person, I'd rather have things just come to me, rather than me do the hard work to seek them out. Basically, I'm lazy. So that is why vs. 2 struck me, "So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory." David (the author of the Psalm), didn't just sit around and wish for a better relationship with God, he went and did something about it. He "looked upon Him in the sanctuary". He sought out God. He didn't just do it for a minute and count it good. He took time, it says that he "looked" and that he "beheld" God. I think this means that he spent time with the Lord, he really looked deeply at Him. I need to do this more. I need to not just check that Bible chapter off my list, but really spend time, see the heart of God, behold Him.
The rest of the Psalm tells us David's result of looking and beholding God. You should read the rest of the chapter yourself, but it tells us that David was satisfied, he had joy, he had a deeper, closer relationship with God. He had dependence on God and confidence, security. And ultimately he praised and glorified God.
I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty great result!