June 29, 2025. Lessons from Desert Moments

First Mennonite Church

June 29, 2025

Lessons from Desert Moments

Text: Psalm 63

David’s cry to God, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you,” reveals the intensity of a desperate situation in his life. It could be that you have had the literal experience of intense thirst sometime. Hiking in the summertime can lead to those situations. After hours of walking under the scorching sun, you begin to feel that your mouth is getting dry and your lips sticking together. Even swallowing your saliva is a challenge because your mouth feels like a dry cave. But more than anything, you feel your body, your insides screaming for water. Let me tell you, David was not thirsting for water; he was not fainting due to heatstroke. He had supplies of food and water during the situation he was going through, from which this psalm was born. So, it would be very helpful to understand the context from which David’s words came.

In 1Samuel 15, 16, we are told that Absalom, one of David’s sons, was for four years plotting to overthrow his father from the throne. Absalom began to build around himself a loyal group of followers by charming and enticing them to come to him to solve their problems. Therefore, when the day came to take over the palace from his father, David, Absalom surrounded himself with an army and marched toward Jerusalem. But word came to David; therefore, he, accompanied by his servants and remaining family members, began to flee. David wanted to avoid a bloodbath and the destruction of the palace and Jerusalem; thus, he fled barefoot and crying.

It was a severe intra-family crisis David was confronting when he wrote these words. After having everything, after being the most powerful and loved man in Israel, and after raising all his children, including Absalom, David found himself having nothing, not even shoes to wear. David found himself alone and like in a parched place, desperately longing for water. David was running for his life. It was all he had, plus one more thing: his confidence in Yahweh.

I remember a dear church member of our congregation in Belize. Dona Panchita—Francisca. She lost her husband when she was still young and was left with 4 young children to raise. She worked hard to raise her children, going out to her field. By the time her youngest son was a young adult, she had already built a nice house. It was not long after that that this young man began to rebel against his mother. He kicked out his mother and the grandchild she was raising from the house. Mrs. Francisca had to live with her daughters, moving between them for some time, until her sons-in-law and some church volunteers built her another house in the outskirts of the town. “Sister Panchita,” as we called her, never missed a church service. She was a very humble person and was always willing to help in whatever way she could when there was someone in need in the church.

David’s experience with his son Absalom was something like Mrs. Panchita’s, but on a larger scale. David, after owning everything, found himself having nothing but the clothes on his back, plus one special possession: his faith in God. When everything was gone, his prestige, his wealth, and even the love and respect from his children, David had someone he had always relied on and could still do: Yahweh. Thus, he proclaimed: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you.” David’s love and reliance on God only intensified when he found himself having nothing.

I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

It is noteworthy to see that when David had lost everything, he did not ask God to give him back the throne or to destroy the source of his grief and his loss. Instead, he craved the comfort, peace, and protection of God. All he wanted was to be embraced by God and to find delight in the presence of the Lord. David knew what it felt like to be in the desert. When he was anointed king of Israel, David did not ascend the throne right away. Saul was still king, and for ten years, he relentlessly sought to kill David. David fled from desert cave to desert cave. There was a time when David and his men were dying from thirst. One of his men risked his life to get David some water, but David refused to drink the water, saying it was the life of a man who got the water for him.

For David, the desert had taught him a lesson: God will always be there for those who trust in him.

You see, God never abandons those who trust in him. God will never forsake those who love him. Thus, when everything is gone, when life as we knew it is no more, when our health is no longer as it used to be, when our loved ones are no more with us, what still remains and will always do, is the Lord. He is our strength and refuge. Having him is what matters most after all.

We hear time and again, when people lose everything, be it from natural disasters or wildfires. When these people come back to the site of where their homes stood once, we hear them say, “We are extremely thankful to God that everyone in our family managed to escape. We have each other, and that is all that matters.”

But for the people of faith, the perspective is even more beautiful and profound, which David so rightly expresses:

 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.

In David’s perspective, and for those who have tasted the sweetness of God’s love, he knew that even life is not worth much if not for the love of God. What is life if it has not known and tasted the love of God, through Christ, our Lord and Savior? What is life if it has not been washed in the blood of the Lamb? What is life if death seems to be the end of it? Real life is that which has been redeemed and has the promise of a resurrection in Christ Jesus.

David’s past experiences in the desert had taught him that in moments of drought in the soul, only God can refresh and revive it. His heartfelt praise and cry to God were inspired by desert experiences. And this we know also. When everything is going well for us and our loved ones, when we are healthy and strong, when it seems the wind is blowing in our favor in life, relying on God might feel easy or even unnecessary. But when we are confronted by misfortune, hardship, and the going gets tough, we not only have the opportunity to rely on God but also to give him genuine praise and heartfelt thanks that is born out of those experiences.

If we notice, life is lived at the border of the desert. Desert moments are not far away. It only takes a mistake, a serious illness, a family problem, or inattention to our relationship with God. Each of us will have moments in the desert during our lifetime. It is part of life, but faith in God can turn those moments into learning opportunities. Faith in the Lord can bring out heartfelt praises and thanksgiving to God.

Are you going through a desert in your life right now? There can be various kinds of desert moments in life. For some, it can be health issues, for others, issues of relationships with their children or spouse. Still yet for others, it can be financial challenges or spiritual drought. Take it from David, desert moments are opportunities to rely on God. Desert moments in life bring deep convictions about God’s grace. Desert experiences teach us that in the end, it is only God that matters in life. If you read the Book of Job, in general terms, he learned that lesson; thus, he could say, “My love for God is not based on the good circumstances of my life; my love for God is because he is always good.” David said it this way: Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you. Amen!

Pastor Romero