The song bearing the name, “Step by Step,” is based loosely on Psalm 63 (with some other possible Scripture references as well.) It begins with these words:
“O God, you are my God, and I will ever praise You.
I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways,
And step by step You’ll lead me.
And I will follow You all of my days.”
Consider now the first verse of Psalm 63:
O God, You are my God, Early I will seek You, My soul thirsts for You, In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.
Psalm 63 is said to be a Psalm of David at a time when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Perhaps, this would have been when David was forced into the wilderness after the treason of his son, Absalom (2 Samuel 15-19). It was, no doubt, a time of great stress and trial for the king, but in the opening verse of this Psalm there are three observations that might help us in our times of struggle and stress.
1. Seek God Personally – “O God, You are my God”
David didn’t just recognize there is a God – He recognized that the only true and living God was His God! Do you? God isn’t just with us when things are going well, nor is He only with us in certain places or times in our lives. God is not the God of others and overlooking me – God is MY God! David made the choice for God to be His God. Have you made that choice? Remember when Thomas didn’t believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and made it clear that he needed to see for himself the prints of the nails in His hands and feet? Do you then remember what he said as soon as the evidence was presented? He words were, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28) Paul said, “First, I thank MY God through Jesus Christ for you all…” (Romans 1:8). God and His salvation are available to all men (Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9), but for God to be your God, you must choose to obey Him. What a wonderful picture of a man in the wilderness understanding that though things might have appeared bleak, “O God, You are my God!” When God is your God, all circumstances of life can be faced with confidence.
2. Seek God Early – “Early will I seek You”
This can certainly be a reference to life. Seek God early in your life (Ecclesiastes 12:1.) It is never too early in life to know that Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. However, this seems to be more a reference to having an eager desire to better know and serve God. When your bed is comfortable and soft, we might be tempted to sleep in. When life is going well and things not too difficult, we might lose some of the urge to seek God. However, when we might be in the wilderness of life and things look tough and bleak, it is easier to awake to seek God. He who truly longs for God will long for Him now! Truly we must be those who are groping for Him to find Him, though He is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27).
3. Seek God Above All – “My soul thirsts for You”
In the wilderness, David was not thirsting for water – he was thirsting for God. Do you know that when you are thirsty it takes over every part of your body? It is hard to get anything else done until that thirst is satisfied. It controls your thoughts and behavior. David reminds us that in our wilderness we need to be thirsting for God. We must be those who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness and only then can we be filled (Matthew 5:6). Jesus is the living water and if we will drink of Him, we will never thirst again (John 4:6-14). Most definitely, there will be times we find ourselves in the wilderness. Step by step, God continues to be with us and has promised to help us. The question is before each one: Is God, Your God? Are you diligently seeking Him? Are you truly seeking Him above all? David found himself reaching out to and praising a great God, even in the wilderness. May we be about doing the same!
-Adam Orr
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