Desert

“A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” - Psalm 63:1

Having grown up in the southwest, I can relate to this passage. Having spent many a weekend as a child exploring the Mojave Desert, I can really understand.  All my newer friends here in SW Pennsylvania, really cannot.  You haven’t experienced dry till you spend a few days in 2% humidity.  The temperature doesn’t matter much; in the winter the temps are quite pleasant, sometimes even cool. The desert can be stunningly beautiful. But you dry out just breathing.

David here relates his yearning for God in a way that his immediate readers (in the desert middle east) would personally understand – “I thirst….my whole being longs…a dry and parched land…no water.”

We all, even the best of us (and I’m not one of the best), go through desert experiences where God seems as distant as that next cup of water.  Perhaps some of you are in the desert now.  Do you thirst? Among the good things here is that believers and trusters in Christ need not give in to the thirst. We can count on his promise that “he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (visit Deuteronomy 31:6). 

If you are thirsting for God, that is actually good news.  Your thirst will be quenched.  The larger problem is that I have known people who are stuck in the desert and don’t know what they thirst for.  Or they thirst for things that will never, ever, quench. Things that will ultimately leave them with thirsts that are greater. That is heart breaking.  We need to remember that Jesus said, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. (visit John 4:14)

Are you in the desert?  What do you thirst for?