Have you ever been thirsty, I mean scorched Earth thirsty? So thirsty that your mouth became parched and dry, and you felt if you did not have something to drink soon, you might not make it. Survivalists tell you always to remember the “rules of 3.” three minutes without air, three hours to survive without shelter in a very harsh environment, three weeks without food, and three days without water.

65% of the human body is indeed water. Suffice to say that water is essential to the human race. Water flows through the blood, carrying oxygen and nutrients to cells and flushing wastes out of our bodies. It helps cushion our joints and soft tissues. Without it, we cannot survive; we would not be able to digest or absorb our food.

Water is vital to all living things; in fact, nothing can survive without it.

The question is, have you ever been thirsty? Immediately we all may say yes. I know I have. I remember one such instance working in the oilfields of West Texas on a scorching hot summer day that seemed to be particularly difficult. What I did not realize that little by little, my refusal to stop what I was doing and hydrate myself was resulting in me getting a heat stroke. I was becoming dehydrated because I was not drinking enough water. I learned my lesson; never again have I allowed myself to get to that point.

The question is still the same: “Have you ever been thirsty?”

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. (Psa.42:1-4)

In vivid word pictures, the Psalmist provides for us an unforgettable image of thirst. “As a deer pants for the flowing streams.” It could be it was during the heat of the day; maybe it was drought. He provides a picture of a suffering animal, strength all but gone, walking about as it is in prayer for life-saving water. The “real” question is: “Have you ever been that thirsty for God?”

The writer of the 42^nd Psalm does not stop there; he goes on bringing us to the heart of the matter. With an emphatic “thud,” we hear, “are you thirsting after the spiritual water, or are you still dwelling on the physical needs?” Screaming from the top of my lungs when I am at my weakest when I have not sipped from the cup of mercy our Creator has provided, I cry, “MY SOUL THIRST FOR YOU OH GOD, FOR YOU THE ONE AND ONLY LIVING GOD!” Does it? When I journey away from God, do I recognize my desperate need for that spiritual river from His all-encompassing protective arms? I want to think about two phrases in this beautiful Psalm (verses 1-4).

First, do you yearn for God? The Psalmist’s depression seems to stem from the fact that he cannot worship God the way he once did. A deep desire and craving completely overtake him; he is thirsty for God. When I am convinced that I can do it on my own, I see the thirst build when I tell myself I am in control.  Remember Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Jesus begins what we know as the Sermon on the Mount with “beatitudes.” The fourth one specifically lets us know that there is no soul of man, no matter how intelligent, how rich, how poor, how lonely, or indifferent, that he may not step suddenly into this life and begin to drink of the river that quenches that deep thirsting. Jesus lived this life before He described it. He opened the door for us and pleaded that we drink from the cup that we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

In this world today, there is more hunger and thirst for pleasing the physical and emotional needs than that of earnestly desiring the spiritual river that flows from the throne room of God. You do not have to look any further than your city, town, or suburb. You see it on every corner with flashing neon lights that speak only to the pleasure of oneself. It may be the bar down the street; it may be at the workplace where getting ahead is the motto of the day. Satan is thrilled; he is elated that we are distracted that we seek the river of impurity over purity. He plans to derail us from our journey to heaven. So, I ask it another way; “Does my soul thirst for God, for the living God, does my innermost being crave God?”

Second, where is your God? Maybe this is better asked; “who is your God?” The Psalmist exclaims in verse 3 that they (the world) ask him all day long, “where is your God?” Meaning, “if you’re God cares for you so much, why has He allowed you to be destitute of drink? Why hasn’t He come to your rescue, giving you the need spiritual water?”

I suppose that those who believe in and trust in the only living God are asked this in various ways and forms. It may be when you have lost a loved one, where is God then, where is the comfort of the All-Mighty?

We all have those times where those around us question our loyalty to God. When horrible events occur, people are quick to blame God, declare that God is unloving, uncaring, and only want to see harm come to His people.

We are not immune to hardships in life. Later in the same Psalm verse 9, the Psalmist asks: “Why have you forgotten me?” His question means, “Why does God not remove my difficulties from me?”

Jesus never promised us complete tranquility, just the opposite.

“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,   and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” (Matt.10:21-22a) Later in the same chapter, Jesus says this: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the Earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt.10:34-39) There you have it if you want to drink from the life-giving stream from above freely, deny yourself. Refuse to give in to Satan’s lies; he is the most terrific liar that has ever lived and will live. Refuse to be a part of his already defeated plan. Satan cannot win; Satan will not win. Our Lord and Savior hanged on a cross; Was placed in a tomb, and on that third day rose from the grip of death; He defeated the prince of evil for the last time. Satan can have no hold you other than what you allow. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.