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thirsty for the presence of God

Psalm 63:1-2 (JDV)

Psalm 63:1 God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
Psalm 63:2 So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.

thirsty for the presence of God

Three years ago, when Penny and I were hiking the Appalachian Trail, we had a night when we had no drinkable water. The next day we came off the mountain and into a city.  The first place we stopped at, I drank so much! I could not get enough. I remember that day when I read David’s experience here.

He is in the Judean desert, and he describes it as “a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.” But David sings about gazing not on a stream, lake or river, but on God’s sanctuary. He is thirsty for the presence of God.

Jesus went into this desert immediately after his baptism, and stayed there for 40 days. He too became physically hungry and thirsty. But he was also focusing on his thirst for God. When the devil came to tempt him, he rejected the temptation because he was not going to be distracted from his focus on worshiping and serving God.

Lord, we thirst for your presence.