The Soul Thirsts

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How many times have I seen and read the ancient text of Psalm 42?

 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?”

This week alone I have come upon this verse at least half a dozen times, once in a book by A.W. Tozer, another in a morning devotional, once in a Sunday morning sermon and several times from radio bible teachers.

This sudden repeated occurrence of such verses in such a short time has made me take heed… has made me evaluate… has made me meditate… has made me ponder…    

God knows all my days.  He knows what will be included in those days? He knows what my eyes will see and my what my ears will hear.  He knows the thoughts and intents of my heart.   God… does He not cause all things to work together to bring something to my attention?

“As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.”

Pants… What does it actually mean in the Hebrew?  It means to desire, long for, to cry out for (Joel 1:20).  The root of pants is "to flee" or be "untamed".  

What are some of the physical effects of one who pants?  What do their muscles do?  Where do their eyes search?  What is the beat of their heart like?  What are the thoughts within their head?In what sense are they untamed?  Are they untamed to the world or God?  To whom do they cry out and long for?  Why do they pant and what has caused them to pant? 

Do they pant because of a lifestyle of  “self” such as self-sufficiency, self-governing, self-pity, and self-centeredness? Do they pant because of the emptiness in their own life?  Do they pant because they are afraid and weary?  Do they pant because of heartbreak? Do they pant because they thirst and hunger for justice? (Matt 5:6) Do they pant because they have found themselves at the dry wick of complacency? Do they pant because they are hounded, intimidated, manipulated, hunted?   Do they pant because they feel as if something is trying to dampen, cheapen, gray and cool the coals of their faith?

“Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.”  Psalm 143:7

Do they pant because of sin?

Do they pant because no matter where they look in this uncertain world, they find nothing in which their soul can rest? 

Have they become distracted or side tracked? Have they put their eyes on people and the opinions of people more then on God? 

Have they found their faith has turned into some kind of religion of rote, rule, routine and law?

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:10

Have they forgotten to REVERE and FEAR God and in doing so have fallen into the muddy worldly ruts of  “This is the how things are to be done.”?  I say where is the Spirit and Truth in that?  

I say where is the “dynamis” that Paul spoke of:

“For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.”

Think about it....  going about things in a routine religious manner... is that open to our God who is unorthodox and is unorthodox in ways?  He says there is a narrow door to which we can enter heaven and that is through His SON, Jesus Christ.   This is God who is ONE God but three people in one- He is Father, Son- Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  This is God who spits in the dirt and puts it on a blind man's eyes and cures his blindness and raises the dead with by just the words of His mouth.     

He works beyond our own reasoning does He not?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.…" Proverbs 3:5-6

Acknowledging Him had very little to do with leaning on our own understanding.  In fact when we lean on our own understanding, I find we shut Him off.

Do they pant and thirst because they have tasted the Lord is good?

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever” Psalm 136:1

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.” Psalm 34:7-8

Do they pant because He knocked on the door of their heart and they opened it to find a new revelation of GOD?
  

“Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name! Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits— Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!”

Psalm 103:1-5

Souring!  Souring because God is fulfilling the thirst in their soul.

To they pant because they are stubborn in their ways?

"Son of man, listen to what I say to you.  Do not join them in being a rebel.  Open your mouth, and eat what I give you." Ezekiel 2:8

Does the soul pant in a world that is not it’s home? Does it pant to know God more intimately?   Does it pant to live in the purposes God had intended and ordained - for they have heard personally the words of the Lord in their soul, things such as:

“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me”?

 As a Christian there are many experiences that cause us to pant for the Lord.  Even though these thirsts differ and greatly, I have found one hunger and thirst always necessary as we live here in these earthly bodies.   That is a hunger and thirst for the Lord.  He is the love we can’t do without. 
  

"Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.”

-Augustine of Hippo

“For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth.  The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” -A. W. Tozer

He made us for Himself and it’s in Him our soul is satisfied.

“For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”  Psalm 107:9

 (Read this Psalm sometime.  It’s beautiful.)