IMTS Global

MEMORIAL - On a Personal Note: As the Deer Panteth...

Psalm 42:1-2 provides as clear a word picture, in the form of a simile from nature, as perhaps anywhere in the scriptures. Listen not only to the words of the psalmist, but hear, no feel his heart as he cries out to the Lord:

Ps 42:1-2
1	As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God.
2	My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? (NAS)

This heavy and illustrative dirge portrays a deer, wandering in the midst of a drought, desperately searching for water. Can you see the dry and parched lips quivering for the most essential of life-giving elements - water. Hear the breath, heavy and then shallow reluctant to further dry lips already chapped and cracked from the blistering sun. Every step prompted by an inner call searching for relief, and yet every step requiring more energy. Got the picture, resemble anyone you know, perhaps yourself.

At our deepest core we all desire intimacy of the deepest nature. We want, no, need to be loved. We need to be held, comforted and nurtured, and yes forgiven. Our thirst is seemingly unquenchable. But what is it that we seek? What is the stream that we bow are heads to, the "fountain" that we desire to drink from? Isaiah cried out regarding his people's thirst when he wrote:

Isa 5:13
13	Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst. (NAS)

Jeremiah sorrowfully depicted the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army, and their resulting "thirst" when he cried out:

Lam 4:4
4	The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst; the little ones ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. (NAS)

In Jesus's discourse with the Samaritan woman He astutely pointed out what exactly is the "thirst" in each of us. More importantly He communicated the solution to our thirst:

John 4:13-14
13	Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again;
14	but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (NAS)

What a promise, what a provision, what a provider! God incarnate, tenderly, in a non-accusatory manner, reaching out to a dry and thirsty soul (perhaps the driest in that region). No speeches, no dissertations, just water, eternal soul-quenching water. You know the kind I am portraying. Recall that old fashion, cold, stainless steel pitcher, with ice clanging against the sides, condensation running down the outer walls. A thirst that cannot be described. A mouth as parched as our poor deer. And then, that first gulp. Savoring every refreshing moment, the uncontrollable urge to gulp, swallow and consume more than a belly could possibly hold. We have all been there. We have all experienced similar moments.

But the psalmist was not talking about the physical, nor was our Savior. Both knew that our physical bodies would thirst again. Both knew that providing satiation to the flesh would be ongoing. But both also knew that "there is a fountain". The difference, Jesus was, and is that fountain.

The irony. We search, wander, and cry out for intimacy, while the Savior's arms are left disparagingly empty. Unfaltering, never changing, His provision, and passion for us remain steadfast. We serve an Almighty God, the creator of the universe, who ironically loves us beyond that which we could ever imagine. In fact, it is declared of His affection for us:

Exod 34:14
13	for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God--

Paul reiterates this point when he declared to the believers at Corinth:

2 Cor 11:2
2	For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. (NAS)

Jealous for our affection? Jealous for our attention? Jealous for our thirst? Yes, believe it our not, our God is jealous over you and I.

Like the deer, our souls need desperately to "pant" after the Savior. We need to stop the search, open our lips and drink with gusto. Let those precious, life giving words echo in your mind:

Phil 2:13
14	for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (NAS) "...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;"

I don't know about you, but I need that kind of refreshment. My lips are dry, and beginning to crack. I'll see you at the watering hole!

Coram Deo,

Jeff Ellis, Elder of Administration and Education