PRÉCIS ON THIRSTING AFTER GOD IN A DRY AND WEARY LAND

SCRIPTURE. [A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.] “O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.” – PSALM 63:1, AMPC

KEY TERM: “THIRSTS.” ‘Tsame’ [צָמֵא]: “To suffer thirst [from lack of fluids]; a painful sensation of the throat or fauces, occasioned by the want of drink; the bodily condition (as of hydration) that induces the sensation of intense desire for relief; ‘a vehement want and eager desire after anything’ [in this case, for the nearness and fellowship of God].”

QUOTATION. “Many say that this Agenda of theirs [the New Atheists] is wholly their own fault, especially for the leaders but to our own dismay, one cannot simply point the finger so unilaterally. You see, their avarice is not just their own, it is born of ‘hunger unsatisfied.’ If they act like Uncle Screwtape, it is because of the bland tasteless spiritual foods that corporate and illiterate religion has fed the masses for so long” ― L.B. Ó CEALLAIGH, The Bifrost and The Ark: Examining the Cult and Religion of New Atheism, 2018; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘O God, thou art my God’ – The words here rendered God are not the same in the original. The first one – אלהים ‘Elohiym’ – is in the plural number, and is the word which is usually employed to designate God Genesis 1:1; the second – אל ‘Êl’ – is a word which is very often applied to God with the idea of strength – a strong, a Mighty One; and there is probably this underlying idea here, that God was the source of his strength, or that in speaking of God as his God, he was conscious of referring to him as Almighty. It was the Divine attribute of Power on which his mind mainly rested when he spoke of him as his God. He did not appeal to him merely as God, with no reference to a particular attribute; but he had particularly in his eye ‘His Power’ or his ability to deliver and save him …

‘Early will I seek thee’ – The word used here has reference to the ‘Early Dawn,’ or the morning; and the noun which is derived from the verb, means the Aurora – the dawn, the morning. The proper idea, therefore, would be that of seeking God in the morning, or the early dawn; that is, as the first thing in the day … The meaning here is, that ‘he would seek God as the first thing in the day;’ first in his plans and purposes; first in all things. He would seek God before other things came in to distract and divert his attention; he would seek God when he formed his plans for the day, and before other influences came in, to control and direct him.

‘The Favor of God’ was the supreme desire of his heart, and that desire would be indicated by his making him the earliest – the first – object of his search. His first thoughts – his best thoughts – therefore, he resolved should be given to God. A desire to seek God as the first object in life – in youth – in each returning day – at the beginning of each year, season, month, week – in all our plans and enterprises – is one of the most certain evidences of true piety; and religion flourishes most in the soul, and flourishes only in the soul, when we make God the First Object of our affections and desires.

‘My soul thirsteth for thee’ – ‘My flesh longeth for thee’ – All my passions and desires – my whole nature. The two words – ‘soul’ and ‘flesh,’ are designed to embrace the entire man, and to express the idea that he longed supremely for God; that all his desires, whether springing directly from the soul, or the needs of the body, rose to God as the only Source from which they could be gratified.

‘In a dry and thirsty land’ – That is: As one longs for water in a parched desert, so my soul longs for God. The word ‘thirsty’ is in the margin, as in Hebrew, ‘weary.’ The idea is that of a land where, from its parched nature – its barrenness – its rocks – its heat – its desolation – one would be faint and weary on a journey. Where no water is – No running streams; no gushing fountains; nothing to allay the thirst.” – ALBERT BARNES, Notes on the Old and New Testament, 1834, 1884; edited

DK. During the 40 plus years of my Trek with Jesus, I have spent most of it seeking the Lord early in the day, but frankly, not “thirsting” for God or for that communion. It was more a duty, an obligation, something expected of me since that was what I was often taught from the Pulpit.

It was not until my life hit a Wall in 2016, that my morning time little “devotionals” increasingly became intensely necessary ‘loving labor with the Master.’ Very  much like a woman in birth pangs, I began to truly, fervently, and incrasingly desire that treasured Time with Him to regather my strength, confess my agonies and new frights and confusions to Him, and to finally worship Him in Spirit and Truth as He commands (cf. Exodus 20:3; John 4:24).

Which is to say: God more fully became my Be-all and End-all, once and for all! And nothing was more important to me than Him, though it took me nearly 40 years to get to that intimate point. So must it become for all of us, beloved, for the tumultuous Days of Trouble that loom just down the road. Whereby He becomes for us nothing less than our life-giving ‘Stream in the Desert, the Road in the Wilderness.’