"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, O God."
- Psalm 42:1
The great missionary evangelist of the early 1700's, Jonathan Edwards, once said, "Spiritual good is of a satisfying nature; and for that very reason, the soul that tastes and knows its nature will thirst after it; and a fullness of it, that it may be satisfied. And the more he experiences, and the more he knows this excellent, unparalleled, exquisite, and satisfying sweetness, the more earnestly he will hunger and thirst for more..."
This truth goes beyond the ordinary. It is the essence of building a place of intimacy with God. The most outstanding characteristic to any true ministry is how well it maintains a deep, abiding hunger and taste for the nearest of the presence of God. It must stand alone, above and beyond everything else. The Psalmist David cried out and said, "But it is good for me to draw near to God" (Psalm 73:28). James also tells us, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8). Just like the deer pants for water, the soul must pant for the nearness of God.
One of the biggest roadblocks to building a place of intimacy with our heavenly Father comes from the daily restraints of duty and sacrifice. A minister can often find himself so busily engaged in the activities of ministry that it preoccupies his time and attention. One very important rule that must be observed is never exchange the preparation of the heart for preparation for ministry. So many pastors only spend time preparing a message, when they need to be preparing their heart, and there is nothing more needful in preparing the heart than panting after God's heart.
Being hungry and thirsty for God's nearness must be constant. Charles Spurgeon made this observation: "When a man pants after God, it is a secret life within which makes him do it: He would not long after God by nature. No man thirsts for God while he is left in his carnal [i.e., unconverted] state. The unrenewed man pants after anything sooner than he does God." He went on to say, "It proves a renewed nature when you long after God; it is a work of grace in your soul, and you may be thankful for it." It is in this first statement that I think really holds the key to everything..."When a man pants after God, it is a secret life within which makes him do it."
In our text we read: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Drop down a few verses and you find this statement: "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Psalm 42:7). Suddenly, we have gone from the quiet resting place of a flowing brook to the noise of the waterspouts. If you'll notice from the image, a waterspout is a funnel-shaped cloud that hovers over water. It's usually non-tornadic due to the very low wind velocity, but it has been known to be violent at times. The Hebrew word for "waterspout" is TSINNUWR, and it actually means a water conduit.
What a beautiful expression of intimacy with God! When you drink of the waters of life you construct a water conduit where the clouds of heaven hover over you and stir up the winds of the Holy Spirit. By panting for his nearness suddenly things begin to build inwardly toward a spiritual encounter. Your hunger pipes down a divine, heavenly influence that penetrates deep within your soul. It is what pulls you into a place of intimate communion, being fed and nourished by the sweet, holy presence of God.
No wonder Solomon said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Pro. 4:23). Or, as one translation reads, "...for out of it are the wellsprings of life." As you begin to build a place of intimacy with God then the very life of God will begin to erupt. Isn't this what Jesus taught us? "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink....out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37, 38). Your spiritual hunger and thirst will cause rivers to erupt inside you. That is where ministry is born - out of the overflow. Instead of just wanting to be stirred, your whole life lives with a constant stirring. The deeper your encounters, the more intense the appetite -- until nothing will mean more to you than staying true to that secret life you hold in your heart.
I challenge you to begin building a place of intimacy where the clouds of heaven can hover over your life, and where the waves and billows of his presence can become a conduit that refreshes your life daily, and where you live in a perpetual overflow.
