Daily Devotional

Thus is my soul this morning.  It waits on God.  It yearns to connect with Him alone.  I wish for a “faith capsule” in which to function all the day; that in that capsule I would hear one voice alone, that of the Spirit, that comprehensive voice that guides and blesses all day long, both in the mundane and in the deepest prophetic utterances which come from the very throne of heaven, and which perform life change.

I wish not to try too hard, but to “strive to enter that rest” of Hebrews 4. Oh, to walk on the high road, in the Spirit, always flowing along in the river of life, the river of grace & mercy, in my faith capsule!  To always see what to do.  To always do what is flowing in the eternal life stream.  To move always in realms unseen by the common man, as with Elisha (2 Kings 6:16-17, ESV).

The world rolls along noisily and demandingly.  It compels all the denizens of the earth to move with it.  But Christ invites His chosen ones to live in some kind of cross-current, leading to goals and works not comprehended by those in the flesh; things foreign to them.

Waiting seems like wasting, like David’s water, gained at the risk of life, poured out on the ground!

 And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:17-19).

It is this odd movement I want all my days!  It is the Lord’s task, His unusual task.  It is His work, His extraordinary work (Isaiah 28:21, NASB).

Who would dream of pouring out this water?  Men sacrificed for him for that water!  They risked their lives!  Shall all that be counted as of no value?

Such does it seem to me.  But David pours it out.  On the ground.  However, not as a meaningless act, not an act of disregard.  He pours it out to the Lord!  It is an act of honor to the men who lovingly risked all just to meet his cry of desire, uttered in a moment.

It is an act of worship, and Spirit obedience before the Lord.  He shocked all who looked on!  He moved in realms of faith and understanding outside the view of even the top three mighty men, of David’s 30 mighty men, the valiant of the valiant.  He moved in an alternate world, even according to his gifts and his calling.

Waiting for God alone.  Waiting in silence.  Waiting for His “salvation.”  Pouring our water, water gained with great risk, because of esteem for David, greater than their very lives and well-being.  Being an enigma to his most trusted and valuable servants and warriors, those of his worldly hope.  Moving in God understanding that none else could see.

Waiting in silence.  Waiting for God alone.  Perceiving Him from the soul.  A man after God’s own heart.  Seeing the unseen.  As his mighty men were before him, so was David’s heart before God.  He waited for Him alone.  He moved in Him alone.
 
David looked for God’s unusual task, his strange task.  He waited for God’s work, His extraordinary work, His alien work (Isaiah 28:21, NASB).  He waited for God alone.  In silence.  Accepting nothing less than soul communication, that place where the Spirit plumbs the depths of a man, even the depths of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11, ESV).

It is for God I wait, my soul does wait.  For this perception my soul does pause.  For this way alone my heart holds back my foot.

And He comes.  I see.  I move ahead, on that invisible path stretched out before me in the world in which I must traverse to finish my days.  That He might finish His unusual task in me, His extraordinary work through me.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.