July 19, 2021 | by: Gregg Hunter | 0 comments
Posted in: Psalm 42
A year and a half ago, I moved from south Texas to just outside Baltimore, Maryland. In south Texas, nearly every restaurant serves some variety of what’s called “Tex-Mex.” You can walk into any run-down building with an “open” sign and be pretty much guaranteed a seat at a table that rocks back and forth on one unstable leg. On the table will be a large bowl full of chips and salsa, and a couple of laminated menus with bright pictures of various entrees. It really doesn’t matter what you order because it all tastes the same—and its delicious!
Over the past few months, I’ve been craving some Tex-Mex. You just can’t find anything like it in Baltimore! The only local option is some big chain restaurant like Chipotle. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and my absence from south Texas has made me long for Tex-Mex. I’m craving Tex-Mex. I want it so bad I can almost taste it!
That is the kind of desire that David feels for God in Psalm 42.
Please read Psalm 42:1-4.
A deer cannot live without water. A deer may be able to go a long time without getting a drink of water, but it needs the water to survive. A clever deer can get a quick drink from a small creek or a deep puddle, but this kind of drink will only leave the deer wanting more water. What the deer truly longs for are “flowing streams” of water: the kind that are always fresh, and will fully satisfy its thirst. In the same way that a deer pants for these flowing streams, David’s soul is panting for God.
Why is David so desperately desiring God? According to verse 3, he has gone through some great tragedy that has caused him incredible sorrow. His enemies are attacking him and teasing that God must have abandoned him. But David remembers the wonderful feeling of being in the presence of God; he remembers worshipping the Lord with other believers.
This is important to note: you cannot miss something that you have not already experienced. A deer can pant for flowing streams, while never having seen flowing streams. But it will only pant for flowing streams if it already knows the taste of water! A deer will never pant for Gatorade because it’s never experienced Gatorade.
In the same way, a non-believer cannot pant for God. They cannot know the overwhelming joy that we experience when we are in God’s presence. They cannot long for this joy the same way that we can. It seems incredible to us when someone rejects the Gospel, because we know the unmatchable joy that is being rejected. But they have never tasted; they have never seen how good God is. So, they cannot pant for God the way that we do.
How sad a life that the unbeliever lives! To never know God, and to never even desire to know God is a miserable situation!
When people recommend Chipotle to satisfy my craving for Mexican food, I think, “If only they would go to Texas and taste the wonderful Tex-Mex! Then they would understand my longing!” But Marylanders just can’t relate to the desire for good Tex-Mex.
And non-believers just can’t relate to our desire for God. Their only hope is for God to change their hearts. Once they have been changed by the Living Water, their soul too will thrist for God.
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