February 2025

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?" (Psalm 42:1-2 NIV)

This is one of the most well-known of all the 150 Psalms that we have recorded in the Old Testament.  People memorize it, recite it, they even write songs about it…”As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after thee.  You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.”  However, just because it is well-known and much recited doesn’t mean that we have truly taken the time to hear what it says and the implications of its meaning.  So, I want to take a few moments with you to contemplate these verses of this beautiful Psalm.

Most every modern translation of the Bible that we have translates verse 1 the exact same way that the NIV has translated it above.  They all say that the deer “pants” for water and the author’s soul “pants” for God.  However, if you look at the original Hebrew that the Psalm was written in, you actually see that the hymn version that I quoted above is a bit more of a literal translation.  The Hebrew word has a more literal meaning of “longs for” rather than “pants.”  The author of the Psalm is saying that his soul longs for God.

And this meaning becomes evident in verse 2 when the author is insistent, almost unable to contain himself, as he begs to know when he will be able to meet with God; when he will be able to see God face-to-face.  The imagery that we get in these two short verses is one of a man who deeply loves God, who yearns for him, and desperately desires to see His face.  And, I can’t help but wonder how many of us that have read this Psalm and/or sung the hymn inspired by it, truly long for God.  Sure, many of those reading this know God, I would even wager that most have a desire to know God in deeper and more meaningful ways; but, how many of us truly long for God.

Not to sound too cliche here, but Webster’s Dictionary defines “longing” as “a strong desire especially for something unattainable : craving.”  And vocabulary.com takes it one step further than that and says that “longing” is “a strong feeling of need or desire for someone or something.”  So, when the author of this Psalm says that his soul “longs after” God, he is saying that he has a deep-seated need to encounter God.  This author knows that he is nothing without God, he knows that he cannot even survive without God, and he is looking ahead with uncontrollable anticipation for the day that he will finally see God face-to-face.  You see, his longing is not simply to know God in the spiritual sense here on earth, but to be with Him.  It is a desire to know God on a personal, intimate level.

Can you say that you feel the same way about God?  I know that I can’t, at least not always.  Sure, I go through periods of longing for God, but there are also plenty of times where I am content to live my life on my terms and be satisfied to keep God on the sidelines as a spectator.  There are too many times that I would rather try to determine the course of my own life rather than submit to God and His Will for my life.  In these times, God may be convenient to have around, but I act like He isn’t necessary.  I don’t long for Him and His Will to have authority over my life.  I don’t seek after HIm the way that a thirsty deer would seek out cool water to drink; I don’t acknowledge how much of a necessity He is in my life.

And, I can’t help but imagine that I am not alone in this sort of mentality; the idea that we can leave God locked away in a box until it is convenient to let Him out.  We don’t long for God, we don’t yearn for Him in our lives, we don’t have a desire to encounter Him in real and personal ways.  And, my friends, that is just plain wrong.  We should long for Him, we should yearn for His Will to be done in our lives, we should desire to encounter Him personally.  We should be so desperate for Him, so desperate for His Will to be done, that we cannot contain ourselves as we pant after Him.  

If we adopted this posture of longing for God, I think we would all be amazed at how much of an impact that it would have in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  If we truly longed for God in all that we do, we would be ever more equipped to serve Him in the world; to be a beacon of light and hope in a world of darkness and brokenness.  If we truly yearned after God and God alone rather than the fleeting things of this world, I think we would be stunned out how the troubles, trials, and difficulties of this world melt away into minor and insignificant bumps in the road.  If we truly desired to encounter Him personally, I think we would be in awe of how much more deeply and profoundly we came to know Him.  If we were truly desperate for His Will to be done in the world, I think we would be shocked at how He is able to use us as instruments to accomplish it.

Too many believers in America in the 21st century are satisfied with shallow, surface-level faith.  They don’t long for God; they are not desperate for Him.  And, more than anything else, I believe that is why the church today is in crisis-mode as we watch our numbers dwindle and dwindle; it’s because people are not encountering Christ in the church.  And the reason that people are not encountering Christ in the church is because the church is filled with Christians who don’t truly long for God, who are content with shallow faith.

Since Valentine’s Day is in February, this month is the month of love; it is the month of longing.  For those in a relationship, it is a month where we acknowledge how much we love, and long for, our significant other; for those not in a relationship, it oftentimes reminds them how much they long to be in a meaningful relationship.  I think the Church of Jesus Christ in America would do well this February to make a concerted effort to begin to truly long for God, to yearn for Him.  And I truly believe, if this sense of longing for God becomes prevalent in the church, God can and will use that devotion to fill our sanctuaries to overflowing.

So, I ask each one of you, are you content with shallow faith or will you truly begin to long for God?

May the blessings of the Father and the peace of the Son be with you,

Pastor Keith