The Earth Was Burnt - Psalm 42:1
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1).
The earth was burnt.
Lush grass, wet with dew, was nonexistent. The ground was hard. The dirt cracked like thin sticks underfoot. Each shoot of life, where it did exist, quivered on life support. The Upper Hunter, on the edge of the twenties, was laid bare and charred. Ash poured from the sky. Dams lost most, if not all, of their supply. Livestock cried, lying half-dead on the paddocks. The cry of the farmer echoed.
The scorched people in a scorched land cried in thirst. It was a moment where "the deer pants for flowing streams" (Ps. 42:1a). The thirst was not only literal; it took on a spiritual dimension. The physical exhaustion begot spiritual thirst. In the fatigue, there was a turning point. Those lost in the pleasures of prosperity returned in the displeasures of scarcity. In church, prayerfulness, in its volume and regularity, increased.
This is a familiar story: the weak learn to desire God. The droughts of the earth uncover the droughts of our spirit. It is in the cracks of spiritual dryness that genuine longing is born. On the blackened paddocks of the heart, where comfort vanishes, we learn to cry, "My soul pants for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1b). In the angst of life, we remember the Lord is our vital stream.
To see this, consider the deer. It is vulnerable, fleeing from its pursuers. In the terror of attack and the shadow of death, its mouth runs dry. Exhaustion floods its body. The lactic acid increases, burning the muscles. In the escape, stress surges. The deer pants. Its trembling limbs cannot go on without refreshment. Finally, it drinks from the brook. In an instant, the world changes. Strength returns upon the stream.
God is our stream of refreshment. In the trials of life and the spiritual emptiness, we recognise our need for "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Our weakness drives us to come to God, ultimately through Jesus Christ. Like a deer that pants for streams, we cannot thrive without our Lord. It is not our design. My soul pants for you, O God. This is our true means of vitality in life. But how might we pursue God? Here are three suggestions:
First, prioritise the means of grace. The means of grace are the modes by which God comforts and strengthens us. Chiefly, these graces are duel: word and prayer. We pant for God, we look to him, in his holy word. This is the forum of his majesty. This is the river of his glory. This is the source of our prayers. If we read his word with prayerfulness, meditating on its goodness day and night, God will minister to us. His voice will refresh us. God manifests his love for us through his ordinary means of grace. These means are the foundation for every soul, every home, every church, every nation.
Second, treat affliction as a gift. In the crushing trials of life, God weans us from the loves of our present world and refocuses our gaze on the age to come. Let’s be frank: the pains of this world are not enjoyable at first, but if we understand the purpose for which they are sent, contentment can emerge. Paul said, "I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10). If tribulation brings us to God, the affliction becomes a means of joy.
Finally, grieve what God hates. He finds no pleasure in sin. "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear" (Isa. 59:2). You cannot pant after God and pursue sin in the same brushstroke. This is the fruit of dead religion. This is a grounds for divine hiddenness. In our pursuit of vitality, come with remorse, grieving over sin. In that place of grief, divine hiddenness is replaced with living water, refreshment for your soul.