Upheld

My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.[1]

Psalm 63:8

This verse has stayed with me for several weeks. I have previously written on Psalm 63 (“My Soul Thirsts For You”), but this time I zeroed in on verse 8. David wrote Psalm 63 while he was in the wilderness with men seeking to destroy his life (vs 9). We have many wildernesses. For me, events in Israel have weighed heavily on my mind and heart the past several weeks, and even as I began to write today, a friend texted me, asking for prayer for two family members with serious health issues requiring immediate treatment. These are just two wildernesses. You have your own.

There is much in Psalm 63 to encourage and comfort us, but I want to look at just one of the truths David conveyed. “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me” (ESV). I want to share a couple other translations as well.

“My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me” (KJV).

“I follow close to You; Your right hand holds on to me” (HCSB).

“My soul clings to You; Your right hand takes hold of me” (NASB).

David paints such a beautiful picture of his relationship with God. Chandler, describing David clinging to God says, “The primary sense of [the Hebrew word is] to glue together; from thence it signifies figuratively to associate, to adhere to, to be united with; and particularly to be firmly united with strong affection.” (Chandler, cited in Spurgeon)[2]

As we face the wildernesses in our lives, we cling to God like glue because we love and trust Him. The enemy likes to whisper lies especially in our wilderness experiences. He tries to sow seeds of doubt. Our own feelings are deceitful and can lead us in the wrong direction. We need to follow hard after God. Even when our circumstances seem to contradict what we know is true, we cling to God. We cling to what we know is true about Him. We cling to His promises. We cling to His Word.

You’ve probably witnessed a frightened child. They cling to their mom or dad with a death grip. They cry as they bury their head on their parent’s shoulder. Why? The child knows their parent is a place of refuge, comfort, love, and help. We too can cling to our heavenly Father, crying out to Him in our wilderness knowing that He is our place of refuge, comfort, love, and help.

Jesus suffered, died in our place for our sins, and rose to life that we might have unity in Him with God. In Christ, we are children of God. Jesus made a way for us to come boldly before the throne of grace in our time of need. We can cling to God because Jesus perfectly clung to the Father in our place and by His Spirit, He enables us to cling to God.

But we don’t want to forget the second part of the verse: “Your right hand upholds me.” Yes, we cling to God like we are glued to Him, but our connection to God does not rest on our own ability or strength. Like the frightened child, we are weak and helpless. We are dependent on God. We need His strength, His ability, to uphold us. David assures us that God does upholds us. There is no maybe about it. Jesus who holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) is upholding us.

Our wildernesses are full of unknowns and even things that may tempt us to fear, but the Creator of the universe, our sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent God is upholding us.

Reflection

1. What wilderness are you experiencing (or have experienced)? What lies are you tempted to believe? In what ways are you tempted to fear?

2. What are concrete ways you can cling to God? (i.e., Scripture to memorize, time in God’s Word, prayer)

3. How does knowing God upholds you encourage, comfort, and strengthen you in your wilderness?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 63:8. [2] Guzik, David. Psalms 41-80 Commentary. E-book ed. Enduring Word Media. 2019.