Thirst for the things of God

Greetings:
We all know that there are some mornings when we spring out of bed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and say, "Good morning, God."
Then, there are other mornings when we only manage to pry open our eyelids, sit dejectedly on the side of the bed and say, "Good God, it's morning."
These are the mornings that are in view in Psalm 42. The answer to each blue mood is, "Hope thou in God;" i.e., wait for God. He is working out his purposes and if we hang on we will praise him.
In Psalm 42, we learn about longing for God from the deer’s thirst for water.
In the Living Bible, Psalm 42:1-7 reads:
“As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him? Day and night I weep for his help, and all the while my enemies taunt me. “Where is this God of yours?” they scoff. Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help. Yet I am standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness to this lovely land where the Jordan River flows and where Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar stand. All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.”
Just as a deer needs the streams of waters for survival and pants for those refreshing waters, so also our souls should long for God.
Testing our thirst is one of the best test we can perform on our hearts to determine our true love for God.
Do we thirst to study God’s revealed word?
Do we thirst to worship the Lord?
Do we thirst to talk about spiritual things?
Do we thirst to study the word with other brothers and sisters in our Christian family?
Do we have the thirst that causes us to ask, “When can I go and meet with God?”
Psalm 42 continues the same inquiring message in verses 8 -11
“Yet day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me, and through the night I sing his songs and pray to God who gives me life. “O God my Rock,” I cry, “why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies?”  Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, “Where is that God of yours?” But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!”
As we go about our activities and business today, we can ask ourselves, have we really developed a thirst for the things of God?

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