Dry and Weary Land February 24, 2016

Psalm 42:1-8     For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
    so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
    When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
    while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
    “Where is this God of yours?”

4 My heart is breaking
    as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
    leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
    amid the sound of a great celebration!

5 Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and 6 my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged,
    but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
    from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
    as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 63:1 (NRSV)     The psalmist wrote, “I seek you, [my God], my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

when we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Water of Life, our faith can flourish and we can receive strength from him. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Remaining connected to God’s living water requires work. Disciplines such as spending time with God in prayer, studying the Bible, and learning how to listen for God’s voice are all part of growing in our relationship with Christ. When we seek God every day, our thirst will be quenched by Living Water.

Thought for today: How am I seeking God?