In 1 Samuel 22:5, David was in the forest of Hareth. In 1 Samuel 23:15, he was in the wilderness of Ziph. He likely penned Psalm 63 during one of these two wilderness experiences.
God works wonders in wildernesses! In Genesis, God turned the earth from formless, empty, and dark into a paradise. In Numbers, mighty miracles occurred in a wilderness. In 1 Kings, Elijah experienced miracles while he was in a wilderness. Ezekiel, Daniel and John received visions from God while exiled from their homelands. In the Gospels, John the Baptist preached to and baptized many people in a wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and overcame the devil’s temptations in a wilderness. Paul wrote five of his thirteen books of the Bible from prison.
In 1982, two young entrepreneurs, Mike Coleman and Ed Lindquist had entered it seemed into “a wilderness.” Their Christian magazine called “New Wine” had run its course. They needed to close it down, but what would they do next?
Previously, Coleman and Lindquist had received a recording of Grace Outreach Center’s worship music. Being impressed with it, Coleman reached out to Grace Outreach Center. He asked if they could advertise the recording in the last edition of their magazine. Their answer was yes.
The response to the advertisement for the recording was far more than Coleman expected. Coleman, Lindquist and producer Tom Brooks met together to discuss the future. Although the magazine had run its course, Coleman sensed that God was doing a new thing through live worship recordings. The Holy Spirit led Coleman to offer “New Wine” magazine subscribers a new tape of live worship music captured from churches all around America every eight weeks. Subscribers could listen to the tape for free and return it for a refund if they didn’t like the recording. The response was incredible. Thus, the “Hosanna Music” label was formed.
Later, Coleman and Lindquist changed the label from “Hosanna Music” to “Integrity Hosanna.”
“Don Moen, Robin Mark, Darlene Zschech/Hillsong, Paul Baloche, Marty Nystrom, Kent Henry, Randy Rothwell, Graham Kendrick, Bob Fitts and Ron Kenoly are some of the well-known worship leaders on Integrity Hosanna’s recordings. Their music became a primary source for many churches to discover new songs of worship including favorites like, ‘Give Thanks,’ ‘Shout to the Lord,’ ‘Ancient of Days,’ ‘More Precious Than Silver,’ ‘God will Make A Way,’ ‘Days of Elijah’ and ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart,’ many of which are still sung in churches around the globe today.” [1]
God turned the wilderness of Coleman and Lindquist into a fountain of blessing. As Psalm 84:5-7 says, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs. The autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
“O God, You are my God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” Psalm 63:1-2
God was still David’s God in a wilderness. When his soul and flesh were thirsty, David turned to God to quench his thirst. He did not try to fill the void with something other than God. He took advantage of the loneliness and lack of “fun” activities to open wide his heart and mind to God. He didn’t wait until many days passed to do so. He sought the Lord early. He did not waste a moment of his time to be alone with God. Instead of looking down, he looked up to God’s holy place and envisioned Him in His power and glory.
While in the wilderness, the Lord inspired David to write Psalm 63.
“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live. I will lift up my hands in Your Name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.” Psalm 63:3-6
Have you experienced God’s lovingkindness being better than life? I don’t want to be disingenuous. There are lots of things that I enjoy about life. I like eating delicious food. I like watching an inspirational movie. I like residing in a home that meets my needs. I like doing fun activities with my wife. So, how can I say that God’s lovingkindness is better than life? Well, amidst everything else, I most treasure the love that God puts in my heart for Him and for those around me. It is God’s love in my heart... genuine love which is better than life.
My most valued moments have been when God’s love flowed in and through me to others.
The Spirit of God transformed David’s desperate petitions into jubilant praises. Psalm 105:3 says, “Let the hearts of those rejoice that seek the Lord.” David was in a wilderness, yet his heart was greatly enlarged as he praised the Lord!
When God filled David with His love, David’s lips began to praise the Lord. His hands began to raise because he wanted to blessed the Name of the Lord. God’s presence satisfied David’s soul where all other substitutes failed to do so. After being filled with love for God, David even thought about the Lord when he woke up at night.
In Psalm 16:7, David wrote, “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me.” In Psalm 119:62, David wrote, “At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.”
“Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You. Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:7-8
David’s joy of being under the shadow of God’s wings, alludes either to the wings of the cherubim stretched out over the Ark of the Covenant, between which God is said to dwell, or to the wings of a bird, under which the helpless young ones have shelter. In Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11, the Lord describes Himself as an eagle carrying His people and protecting them with His wings. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus used the imagery of a humble hen wanting to protect her young under her wings to express His heart to protect His people from the coming invasion of their city.
“God’s right hand upheld me” is an allusion to Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.
“My soul follows close behind You.” In Philippians 3:14, while in prison, Paul wrote, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” “To press hard after God is to follow Him closely, as those that are afraid of losing sight of Him, and to follow Him swiftly, as those that long to be with Him.” [2]
“But those who seek my life, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by Him shall glory, but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.” Psalm 63:9-11
King Saul sought to destroy David but fell by his own sword. David did not have to do it. Death eventually swallows up those who persecute God’s anointed ones. In Luke 19:27, Jesus said, “Those enemies of Mine who did not want Me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of Me.” The mouths of those who speak lies against Christ shall be stopped.
Death seeks to destroy all people. Jesus Christ is our Savior from death. In 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, Paul wrote, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
With faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the “wilderness” of death becomes a portal to paradise. Praise the Lord!
Attached below is link to an interview that Travis Doucette did with Mike Coleman on YouTube. His testimonies were helpful to me.
https://youtu.be/CBXzGTBcJa8?si=Y_lj5Myqh6H2jw33
[1] https://travisdoucette.com/2022/06/24/this-history-of-integritys-hosanna-music-with-tom-brooks/ (all my information about Integrity Hosanna was from Travis Doucette)
[2] Matthew Henry’s Commentary
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