"As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after You..." (Psalm 42:1)
I used to hear this verse and have this picture of a deer peacefully drinking from a still lake at sunset.
But the picture is far from peaceful. A deer usually only pants when it has been running for a long time, pursued by hunters (usually with dogs). It heads for the water, deep into a river or a stream (the deeper the better) so that its scent can be hidden. It runs at top speed and will exhaust itself trying to get to the water - for only there can its life have a chance of being preserved. It will only quench its growing thirst from the water itself, after it is safe from its attackers.
The Psalmist had this mental image in mind when he wrote those words. He knew that only in God could he have a hope of having a real life. This is a picture of desperation - of intense desire, of knowing that God was his only source of safety.
I wonder - in this western culture of affluence and instant gratification - if we can grasp the concept that our only chance to truly live is in the knowledge and the awareness of the presence of God?
I used to hear this verse and have this picture of a deer peacefully drinking from a still lake at sunset.
But the picture is far from peaceful. A deer usually only pants when it has been running for a long time, pursued by hunters (usually with dogs). It heads for the water, deep into a river or a stream (the deeper the better) so that its scent can be hidden. It runs at top speed and will exhaust itself trying to get to the water - for only there can its life have a chance of being preserved. It will only quench its growing thirst from the water itself, after it is safe from its attackers.
The Psalmist had this mental image in mind when he wrote those words. He knew that only in God could he have a hope of having a real life. This is a picture of desperation - of intense desire, of knowing that God was his only source of safety.
I wonder - in this western culture of affluence and instant gratification - if we can grasp the concept that our only chance to truly live is in the knowledge and the awareness of the presence of God?
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