Desperate Hunger
Psalm 42
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)
Have you ever been hungry before? I mean really hungry?
I’m talking about that kind of hunger where your stomach aches and causes you a great deal of pain, when your body starts to shake?
Our physical bodies need food in order to survive and carry on living. When we accept Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, our spirits are re-born, are made alive within us. Just as our physical bodies need nourishment to survive, so our spirits need nourishment in order to survive too.
So how do we nourish our spirits? What is spiritual food?
The Bible being The Word of God is one important way we can feed our spirit. By reading and thinking about His words to us, He can speak to us and our relationship with Him will continue to grow and develop.
Jesus describes himself as the ‘bread of life’ (John 6:35) so by continuing to abide in Him, by continuing to hide ourselves within Him, by deepening our relationship with Him, we feed the spirit within us.
This psalm encapsulates the underlying theme and heart-cry that I wanted to express through my ‘A Deeper Longing’ CD. That sense of hunger and expectancy for more of God, more of His spirit and presence in our lives.
But when it comes to desiring God I find it is more than mere hunger. A sense of desperation accompanies it. A knowing that without God, all is lost, all is darkness, all is fruitless.
Prayer
Jesus, You are the bread of life. Whoever believes in You will never be thirsty. How I long for more of You – My soul thirsts for You, Jesus. Only You will satisfy! – Amen