Psalm 42:1–2: As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Experiencing Jesus in the Psalms
The psalmist compared his yearning for the living God to the longing of a deer for water. The animal’s need for water to sustain its life forms a fitting simile for a soul’s need of the living God, the Source of spiritual life. 1
Living the Transformed Life
I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Psalm 143:6
- My soul thirst for God when I have taken in too much of the world.
- My soul thirst for God when I have tried to serve him in my strength, and not in His.
- My soul thirsts for God when I have failed to honor Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
May my thirst for Him become so much greater than my thirst for the “shiny things.” – TWEET IT
Praise and Prayer
Thank You, Father, for providing a stream in the desert, just when I needed it the most. Dear Jesus, please forgive me for failing to come to Your streams of living water.
1. Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 825). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.