As the hart pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. – Psalm 42: 1-2

This psalmist is in distress. He is assailed on every side by enemies who attack and scoff at him. They say to him daily: “Where is your God?” It wouldn’t be so bad if the psalmist did not have the same question. He, too, wonders where his God was in the days of exilic oppression and in a day when the wicked seems to prosper while the righteous are in pain. He himself cries out in Psalm 42: 1-2:

As the hart pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

These words indicate which kind of thirst this psalmist has. It is a thirst for God. Then, furthermore and perhaps most importantly, they pin point where this thirst comes from. It comes from the soul. This is not a casual curiosity about the Creator. This is no philosophical flirting with his heavenly Father. This is no temptation to temporarily allow his tongue to taste eternity. This is a thirst for God which can only be satisfied by God.

When we love God with all of our soul, we thirst to…

1). Be with God and enjoy His presence.
2). Hear from God and have His voice soothe us as it directs us.
3). Commune with God and become one with Him.
4). Know God such that we understand Him well enough to please Him.

The same Jesus who commanded that we love God with all of our soul has some good news for this psalmist: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” – Matthew 5: 6