"God in the Dark"
- David Porter
- Dec 13, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 4
Sample, A short devotional on Psalm 42 for the weak and weary traveler
Day 1: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, o God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? 1-2
To thirst for God is a gift. But how great is that thirst when we are in a spiritual drought! We have used every distraction known to man to preoccupy our minds with meaningless activities, while our thirsty souls can only be satisfied by God. We have sinned and given shame and guilt permission to shroud us in darkness. We have neglected His presence and ushered our souls into a desert of loneliness. We have simply gone through the motions at church, bible study, fellowship, and worship while leaving our hearts at home. Our aching thirst could be remedied if only we would come to the river and draw up a drink from the water of life. We beguile ourselves into characterizing Jesus unfairly and inaccurately. Our sin makes us timid. Our neglect of Him makes us procrastinate our return to Him. Our half-hearted behavior makes us question our love for Him. Yet all the same we hear the voice of our heart crying out, “My soul thirsts for God, the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”. And Jesus, with His tender voice, says, “come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
As one who found no satisfaction in anything else, David desperately thirsted after God. To have physical thirst is an awful thing. A dry mouth, a mind running on survival instincts, and a bodily desire to have the pallet quenched. But to thirst for God is a holy, insatiable wanting to be near the presence of the One you love. Are you familiar with this longing? Has your soul cried out within you for a drink of the living water of His word, or the sweet fellowship of His communion? “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God”. Deer live in the wilderness and are often stalked by predators. Day by day they exist on high alert in fatiguing conditions, spread thin and weary from their journey. A stream of water would satisfy them greatly as a place of rejuvenation and repose. In some ways we are like the deer. We must be sober and vigilant for the enemy of our souls prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8). We must avoid passivity for sin crouches at the door and desires to have us (Gen. 4:7). All the while our thirsting souls long for God…for His fellowship, His assuring truth, His comforting presence. Why does it feel so hard? Why does it often seem out of reach, even when we know He is always nearby? It is no mystery that God will use darkness and isolation to stir up a greater awareness in our hearts and minds of our need for Him. Oftentimes He will do this until we cry, “O, God, You are my God; I shall seek you earnestly; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1).
Today let us acknowledge our thirst for the living God. He is alive, and is acquainted with our grief. Let the yearning in our souls lead us to the rock who is higher than us. In the questions, sadness, regrets, loneliness, and waiting, let us look to Him to satisfy our thirst. He alone is willing and able! “Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God” (Is. 50:10).
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