Food for ThoughtPsalm 42:2 My Soul Thirsts
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Psalm 42:2

New International Version (NIV)

2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

When one is thirsty nothing satisfies that thirst like cool, clean, refreshing water.  It’s like a person who hasn’t had water for days and suddenly is able to drink as much as they want. They gulp it down with urgency as if they are gasping for air. 

This is what this verse is about; a soul’s thirst that is quenched only by the one who created it.  Only God can go to the depth of our being and bring restoration.  He is the place our all-consuming desire for more is met with who He is.  It is the driving force that caused the psalmist to moan with great longing.  He saw His barrenness and knew the only one able to quench this insatiable thirst was God Himself.  It is in His presence where we feel completely whole and at home. The world demands much from us and the only way to live in the peace and solace God offers is to inundate ourselves in Him.   The world offers nothing for the thirsty soul.   We limit what we absorb from Him and fill our emptiness with things that are temporary and external. This is a weak effort to stop the aching void.  

When we acknowledge that we are in desperate need of God He is willing and able to come into our loneliness and draw us into Himself.  Only in Him will we find the peace we yearn for. 

The psalmist asked the question “where can I go and meet with God?”  He was desperate for his maker and all he wanted was to be with God. No one and nothing else could get in the way of his passionate search for the love of His life.  He sought God with his face to the wind. A soul that runs after God is a soul that will be satisfied.   David knew drawing near to God meant that the deepest part of Him would be nourished and fulfilled.  God was his everything as He should be ours.   

It is our responsibility to pursue God with all we are and in total submission. It doesn’t mean we won’t have struggles; in fact we will have more as we deny our flesh and seek God.

We must knowledge our desperate need for Him and Him alone.

Challenge: acknowledge your deep need for God and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.

God bless

Marni

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lamb-rightThe purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.