480 Praying Through Psalms 63: When God Says "Leave!"

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What do you do when God says “Leave” — calling you out of your safe stronghold into the open wilderness?

Join Jaime on the Praying Christian Women Podcast for a devotional on Psalm 63 — The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God — a psalm born out of raw obedience in the wilderness of Judah, where David dares to leave the secure cave of Adullam and his band of four hundred loyal men at the prophet Gad’s command — and still sings for joy in the shadow of God’s wings.

Jaime unpacks the historical backdrop from 1 Samuel 22–23, when David was fleeing Saul, had tucked his parents safely away, and had built a strategic military stronghold… only to hear God say, “Leave.” In that dry and weary land with no water, David’s soul thirsts for God more than his body thirsts for drink. He speaks truth before his emotions catch up, declaring that God’s covenant lovingkindness is better than life itself, lifting his hands in praise, clinging to the Lord, and choosing to meditate on Him through the fearful night watches.

Come ready to look at your own strongholds — the places that feel secure, logical, and safe — and the moments when God calls you out into uncertainty. Let this psalm remind you that there is no truly secure place apart from Him. Because His lovingkindness is better than life, His wings are the only shelter you need, and in the wilderness, when your soul clings to the One whose right hand upholds you, you can still sing for joy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Life Audio. Hi there, and welcome to another Prayer through
the Psalms episode of the Praying Christian Women podcast. I'm
Jamie Hampton, and I am really excited today to get
to talk about and pray through Psalm sixty three. So
before we actually read the psalm and get into our
prayer time and our devotion, I want to give you

(00:24):
a little bit of background, because this is really fun
that this Psalm gives us a footnote with some extra
scriptures that give us a background into what David's mindset
was and what his situation was when he wrote this psalm.
This is Psalm sixty three. It's called the Thirsting Soul
Satisfied in God. It's a psalm of David when he
was in the wilderness of Judah. And this little footnote

(00:46):
that we get is First Samuel twenty two five and
twenty three fourteen. So I want to go a little
bit further back First Samuel twenty two. I want to
just kind of read the beginning in a nutshell. David
was fleeing Saul. That was the theme of when we
get into First Samuel chapter twenty two. So David departed

(01:09):
from there and escaped to the cave of Agilam, and
when his brothers and all his father's household heard about it,
they went down there to him. Then everyone who was
in distress, and everyone who is in debt, and everyone
who was discontented gathered to him, and he became captain
over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
So a few things are happening here. David is fleeing

(01:32):
from Saul. He has found this nice little cave in Agilam,
and it's called a stronghold. Caves were great places of
military strategy because usually they're up high in a mountain.
You have a great vantage point to look and see
when your enemies are coming. Typically you're surrounded on all

(01:53):
sides by rock. So unless they're coming through a mountain
from the other side through corridors, which you know, more
power to them. If they go to that trouble, then
I guess they deserve to win. But other than that,
you basically are secure on all sides but one, and
so you can have a great strategic vantage point. And

(02:14):
David himself calls God a stronghold, and that can be
this picture of being in the safe, secure cave on
a high vantage point solid rock all around you. Then
he's got his family that came down to this strongholder,
came to this stronghold with him, who heard about him
fleeing there. And also this whole other group, everyone who

(02:39):
is in distress, everyone who is in debt, everyone who
is discontented, gathered to him and he became captain over them,
and there were about four hundred men. Later on, there
is a group of men that David kind of considers
his inner circle, and they came from this core group
of men that originally decided to follow him. Were guessing

(03:01):
if they were in debt, if they're discontented, if they're
in distress, that they're not enjoying Saul's leadership and the
way that he does things. So they're basically pledging their
loyalty to David, and he became captain, which is a
military term, so he basically became their leader. He kind
of had like a militia beginning to form, and it

(03:24):
wasn't small. So David went from there to Mispah of
Moab and he said to the King of Moab, please
let my father and mother come and stay with you
until I know what God will do for me. So
he knew God would do something. He was a man
after God's own heart. God was his leader, his general,
so to speak. But he didn't know what his fate

(03:45):
would be, and so he wanted his parents to be safe,
so he tucks them away in Misbah, where the King
of Moab kept his parents safe. And presumably he goes
back to this stronghold with his band of brothers of
these four hundred people, and it says that they stayed
with that king until the whole time that David was
in the stronghold. But God, the prophet said to David,

(04:08):
do not stay in the stronghold, leave and go into
the land of Judah. So David left and went into
the forest of Herath. And this is where we find
David writing Psalm sixty three, is when he is in
the wilderness, in the forest of Herath, after basically leaving
the ideal strategic military situation in this stronghold, surrounded by

(04:32):
a bunch of loyal men, his parents tucked away safely
with the King of Moab. But he did it because
God told him through this prophet God, to leave and
to go into this unprotected land, into this forest where
he would be open to his enemies. He would be
not safe like he would be in the stronghold, but

(04:55):
he chose to obey. So I just really want us
to kind of be in that mindset as we go
into Psalm sixty three, because I don't know if you
can relate or not, but I totally can living a
life where you feel secure, you feel like everything is good,
and then God throws you a curveball and he's like, Nope,

(05:15):
it's time to go somewhere else that's not as safe,
that's not as secure. But what David knew, and what
you and I know, at least in our brain, if
we can't always internalize it, is that we would rather
go to an unideal, less secure, more dangerous situation with

(05:36):
God than to stay back in safety without him. And
that is what this psalm boils down to. All right,

(05:57):
let's pray Father God. We just we just thank you
so much for being our general, for being the one
who leads us into whatever battle you choose for us
to go into next. And we know that when we
follow you, even if it's scary, even if it doesn't

(06:21):
make sense in a worldly sense, even if it's not logical,
even if it doesn't seem like the best strategic move
for the moment that when you lead us, that good
will come of it. And I just pray for those
that are listening right now, who are being called out

(06:43):
of the security of a stronghold that feels right and
safe and logical into a forest that feels scary and
open and vulnerable. Just give them the peace that transcends
understanding to guard their hearts and their minds. In Christ,

(07:05):
Jesus Father, we want to hear from you clearly. We
don't want to miss your voice. We don't want to
go into things or rush into things recklessly or carelessly.
We want to be good stewards of our lives and
of our finances, and of our family, and of the

(07:26):
people and the things and the ministries and the gifts
in our care. But we don't want to miss your
best by playing it safe. And so we just come
before you begging you speak to us, Lord, like the

(07:48):
verse that says, whether you go to the right or
to the left, you'll hear a voice behind you saying
this is the way walk in it. We just pray
for that voice, for that word, for that guidance, that
it would be clear, and thank you God that we
don't have to get it right every time we're in

(08:10):
a relationship with you, so we can keep asking. We
can keep asking for confirmation and clarity. And we know
that when we ask, you will be faithful to show us.
And we claim that and we stand on it in
Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's jump into Psalm sixty three.

(08:31):
We're reading as usual from the Nasby nineteen ninety five.
And like I said, this is the thirsting soul satisfied
in God, a psalm of David when he was in
the wilderness of Judah. Oh God, you are my God.
I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirsts for you.
My flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary

(08:52):
land where there is no water. Thus I have seen
you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory.
Because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips
will praise you, so I will bless you as long
as I live. I will lift up my hands in
your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

(09:15):
and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I
remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in
the night, watches for you have been my help, and
in the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you. Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life to destroy it will

(09:38):
go into the depths of the earth. They will be
delivered over to the power of the sword. They will
be a prey for foxes. But the King will rejoice
in God. Everyone who swears by him will glory, for
the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

(10:00):
So here's David in the forest, in the wilderness. I'm
guessing that he is probably physically thirsty, physically tired, physically hungry, weary,
maybe even feeling a little hopeless. And as we know
with David, I hate saying fake it till you make it.

(10:22):
But I feel like David speaks truth before he can
internalize it. Like I said, we can know things in
our mind and in our brain and not be on
board with it completely with our hearts and our feelings
and emotions. And what David does so many times is
he speaks truth before he actually is necessarily caught up

(10:45):
with his heart and spirit and emotions. And I feel
like that's what he's saying. He's saying, I will seek
you earnestly. I am thirsty in body, my soul thirst
for you. I am hungry in byes. My flesh yearns
for you in a dry and weary land where there's
no water. I've seen you in the sanctuary, to see

(11:08):
your power and glory. And he says, because your loving
kindness is better than life. And that word loving kindness,
the original Hebrew word, is covenant language. It's not just oh,
you're being nice to someone or showing someone mercy. It
is your loving kindness that you have bound yourself to me.

(11:32):
A human, the creator of the universe has chosen to
adopt a human as his own. It's a permanence, it's
an agape love and also an all encompassing adoption and sonship.
And because that is better than life, my lips will

(11:54):
praise you. And I think David is saying, you know what,
even if all of this was for nothing, even if
I come out here and I starve to death, or
I die of thirst, or I get eaten by jackals,
it's worth it because you're here and that cave might
have been safer, but you weren't there. And so even

(12:16):
if I die, your loving kindness being bound to you,
being a bond servant to you, Lord, It's better than life,
and death doesn't scare me when you're with me. I
love this, he says. When I remember you on my bed,

(12:39):
I meditate on you in the night watches, for you
have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings,
I sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your
right hand upholds me. So as David goes to sleep
in this scary wilderness, he's probably needing to be watchful
for predators, for enemy, for bandits, for robbers, and so

(13:03):
he meditates on God during the night watches, where presumably
it's scary. I'm guessing, but God has been his help
And I love this picture. We've talked about it before.
In the shadow of your wings, I sing for joy.
Think of that picture. You cannot sing for joy. If

(13:25):
you're being hypervigilant. You can sing, you know, Like I
remember when we would go hiking in the Alaskan wilderness.
We would sing sometimes or whistle or do something because
we wanted to make ourselves known to any bears, because
bears don't really want to come across humans typically, but
if you sneak up on them, they might just eat

(13:46):
you or maul you if you scare them, especially if
they have babies. So we wanted to be singing or
talking loud, or have bear bells, although some people call
bear bells dinner bells. But you wanted to have something
to let them know you're there, because the bears would
not necessarily want to be there. But so you could
be singing and still be vigilant, but singing for joy,

(14:11):
Like I kind of have you ever just been singing
a praise song and just you kind of get lost
in it. When you're singing for joy, your attention's all
on God. And David says, and I wonder if he
sang for joy out there in the wilderness, knowing that
he was musical, knowing that he did sing and play
the lyre in different instruments. But he said, in the

(14:32):
shadow of your wings, I sing for joy, whether it's
metaphorical or actually practical. When he feels held by God
in a protective sense, in the shadow of his wings
where nothing can get to him, then you have that
freedom to sing for joy. So going back to our

(14:53):
example of is God calling you out of a place
of safety into a place that feels more vulnerable, that
feels more dangerous, that feels more uncertain. I just I
want a picture for me, that imagery of I want
to get to the place where I feel so held

(15:14):
in God's perfect will for my life, that I have
the freedom to sing, that I don't have to be
hypervigilant or scared, and then no matter what chaos is
going around going on around me, that I can be
kind of in that holy cocoon of God's wings sheltering

(15:34):
me and giving me the freedom to absolutely sing for joy.
Let's pray, Father, God, we praise you for being bigger
than anything we could ever imagine. There is no problem,

(15:56):
there is no enemy, there's no hurdle, there's no barrier,
nothing that can stand in the way of us and
the perfect plans that you have for our lives. There
is no safer place than being right in the middle
of your will for us. And it doesn't mean that

(16:20):
we will necessarily have the privilege of being physically safe
or even to keep our lives. There are plenty of
people who lose their lives in the service of the king.
But as David said, you are far greater. You are

(16:42):
far better than the safety that has afforded us apart
from you. So even if we step into danger, even
if things that we wish hadn't happened to us, we
know that you are there with us, and that you
are accomplishing good in us and through us. So Lord,

(17:06):
we again just ask for your words, your instruction, your
direction to be louder than any of the other stuff
around us. Please diminish and quiet all of those other
things so that your voice would be clear. Just attune
our ears to the frequency of your voice and your

(17:27):
voice alone. And I just pray Lord that whatever it
is that you're calling us into, or have called us into,
that you would remove fear. You've not given us a
spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of
love and of a sound mind. All fear does is

(17:51):
paralyze us and keep us from the abundant life that
you have planned for us. So help us to live
in freedom and enjoy that we could sing songs of joy, Lord,
and embrace what you have for us. Next and where

(18:11):
you have called us, you will also equip us and
protect us to be able to accomplish those things that
you have for us. Lord, Amen, we'd like to take
just a quick second to thank the team at Life
Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. If

(18:32):
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