Thirsting for God

At the core of the human soul is its spiritual thirst for its Creator, our living God. From the moment of conception, through birth and the long and mysterious journey of our walk in this world is the constant and unabating thirst for God.

This deep and profound thirst manifests itself in many ways, both sublime and broken. Sublime because we are created in His image, with unbelievable potential for joy both now and in our ultimate forever-life with Him, yet broken because we are living in a dark, sinful and fallen world.

In Psalm 42:1-2, the psalmist leads off by echoing the sublimity of this adored Psalm: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” In this single image, we find God’s description of the deepest yearning of the human heart.

In verse 1, we find the comparison of our spiritual thirst with the physical thirst of the deer. As the deer is panting in its thirst for “water brooks” or “streams,” we are constantly thirsting for a vibrant, quenching source of water that can only be relieved through the ultimate source of life—God, our Creator and Savior.

As we look close at the language, we discover that the “panting will continue until it is satisfied, so too does his spiritual fulfillment seem to have dried up.”[i]

Captured in the poetic parallelism of the Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament, we find God’s road back to Him, for when life pounds us through our sin or simply a dire situation that overtakes us in this human journey, we must respond to His offer of living water.

As the Samaritan woman of John 4, or the Psalmist of Psalm 42, God’s offer of spiritual, eternal, living water is the ultimate source of healing for the spiritual thirst of the human soul.

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[i] Ross, Allen P., A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 2. Grand Rapids, MI., Kregel Academic, p. 24.

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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:

"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”

If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grande Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).

Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.

Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or Facebook page or this web page.

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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastor Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.

Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).

Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com. Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.

Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.

©2024 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.