My roommate described this weekend as 24 hours of fun. I couldn’t agree more. We went to the Dead Sea, had a great time floating, and then covered ourselves in Dead Sea mud from head to toe, and then floated some more
.That was definitely all a blast, but my favorite part was the devotional that Abner, one of our profs, gave on the wanderings of David when he fled from Saul. As he read Psalm 56 and 57 (one of which David wrote while camping out near the Dead Sea) and explained the context, we looked up at the stars and the moon shining down on the sea, and the beautiful mountains in the background… I can’t explain it, but the sky just looks bigger in Israel. The stars look brighter, and the moonlight is incredible. I began to understand why David thought the way he did, why he was so fearful for his life, and why he fought so hard for joy. Abner challenged us to examine our hearts, whether we really seek to give glory to God during the trials or just pray for an escape from our problems. David truly sought God’s glory above his own. He cries out passionately for God to be exalted over the heavens.
After a hard-core night of sleeping under the stars along with a hundred sticky flies, we got up and set out to hike up to the Ascent of Ziz, which is the ascent that the Moabites and Ammonites used when they came against Jehoshaphat at Engedi (2 Chron. 20).
Most of the hike was straight uphill, and by the time we got to the first spring, we were already worn out and excited to splash the cold water on our faces and drink water. As we gulped down our water, Abner read to us from Psalm 63. David most likely wrote this psalm envisioning a spring just like the one we were being refreshed by. I could imagine him, worn out and thirsty as he fled from Saul, coming up to a spring and crying out to God: “As thirsty as I am for this water, I thirst for You, God, so much more. As much as I enjoy this refreshing water that You have given me, I enjoy You so much more.” Could I truly say that to God? I long for this to be my prayer! God IS so much more satisfying than anything else. Let us never forget that. We continued our hike up the Nahal David (a ravine leading to Engedi) and enjoyed God’s creation, 
stopping along the way at pools and springs and beautiful waterfalls.
After a hard-core night of sleeping under the stars along with a hundred sticky flies, we got up and set out to hike up to the Ascent of Ziz, which is the ascent that the Moabites and Ammonites used when they came against Jehoshaphat at Engedi (2 Chron. 20).
Most of the hike was straight uphill, and by the time we got to the first spring, we were already worn out and excited to splash the cold water on our faces and drink water. As we gulped down our water, Abner read to us from Psalm 63. David most likely wrote this psalm envisioning a spring just like the one we were being refreshed by. I could imagine him, worn out and thirsty as he fled from Saul, coming up to a spring and crying out to God: “As thirsty as I am for this water, I thirst for You, God, so much more. As much as I enjoy this refreshing water that You have given me, I enjoy You so much more.” Could I truly say that to God? I long for this to be my prayer! God IS so much more satisfying than anything else. Let us never forget that. We continued our hike up the Nahal David (a ravine leading to Engedi) and enjoyed God’s creation, 
stopping along the way at pools and springs and beautiful waterfalls.I was so encouraged as I thought about David’s unshakable joy in the midst of intense trials and years of fleeing, all the while knowing that he had been chosen to be the next king of Israel. Next time you read one of David’s psalms, spend time studying the context and trying to put yourself in David’s shoes. It makes all the difference in the world.
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