Devotion: My soul longs for you, O God

“As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” ~ Psalms 42:1-2a (NRSV)

This is one of the more well-known psalms. These beginning words have been used in many musical arrangements and illustrated by countless artists.

While the serenity of the scene with the tranquil deer drinking from the gently flowing stream draws us into the psalm, the rest of it takes us in a different direction. It is not on the gentle forest creature that the psalmist wants us to focus, but rather what is essential for our life.

The deer longs for the stream because water is essential for life. With that need and that thirst, the psalmist says their soul longs for God. It is a deep longing, a life-ordeath need. Without God, the psalmist would not be able to sustain his life. God is even more essential for life than water.

The psalm continues describing the psalmist’s life. He remembers the good times, but now only sees that his enemies are oppressing him. It is in the midst of these challenging circumstances that the psalmist declares his need, his desire for God—the living God. God is the source of life. It is in God that we can be renewed, restored, refreshed even in the most difficult of situations.

The question for us is this: for what does your soul long? What is the deep desire of your being? Are you as thirsty for God as you are for water? Do you long to be in the presence of God with the same desire that you long for other things?

Despite what we are told by the world around us, God is the true source of life, the living water.

As we move into Holy Week, my prayer is that God stirs in each of us an unquenchable longing to know and to love God all our days!