As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
Psalm 42:1
To me this passage strikes right at the heart of what we seek as Christians. Animals, such as deer, thirst, search, and eventually find something to satisfy them. Fortunately for deer, their thirst is in the physical realm, unlike ours which can exist on many levels. As Christians, we are constantly seeking something else to better our relationship with God, whatever it may be. This passage says to me that to want something, to need something important to us is a thirst from deep in our hearts. For this kind of thirst, God is in fact the water we seek to satisfy us, even though we don’t always go to Him first. As we read deeper into Psalm 42, there is more detail about what can be taken as a deep longing for God and His help in distressing situations. Verse three reads: My Tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is Your God?”
God is the water that can give us anything, but we need to remember not to be greedy (to drink the well dry), but quench ourselves little by little, until eventually we thirst no more. After seeking and searching, by the grace of God, we can be at peace with ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can accept that we never have to worry “where is my God,” because we know He has His own place in us and through us.
John Knouse
