THIRSTING AFTER GOD

Psalm 42
THIRSTING AFTER GOD
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (v.1)

I remember a hike we had on Pulau Ubin, one of the islands off Singapore. We had tried to cut across from one end of the island to the other. We trekked through secondary jungle, walked chest-deep across river mouths, and waded through mangrove swamps. But none of these obstacles left as lasting an impression in my mind as the intense thirst I felt at the end of the day. Our water bottles had run dry, and we could not trust the muddy river water. When we finally arrived on the mainland again, the cry, "Water, water" was on everyone's parched lips.

The need for water overrides all other needs. When our body is dehydrated, our mind thinks of nothing else except water. So the deer pants for streams of water. Some commentators picture the animal fleeing from hunters. Finding a stream to slake its thirst becomes even more important than finding an escape route to save its life.

However, it seems that the scenario is more likely to be the one described in Joel 1:20: "Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures." The prolonged drought aggravated by brush fire drives animals to the extreme of thirst, and the desperate search for water.

Thus the psalmist finds adversity driving him to God. Wicked men mocked him, "Where is your God?" (v.3), and his anguish increased with the memories of good times in the past (v.4). Those who mourn are also those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt 5:4,6). So the psalmist sorrow over his state and yearn for God to vindicate.

Prosperity lulls us into the things of the world; adversity generates a thirst for the things of God. Our soul yearns for God as our thirsty throats long for water, for nothing else satisfies.

Are we too satisfied by the world to thirst for God?