Scripture Reference: Psalm 42
The Desire of the Psalmist
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast” (Psalm 42:1-4).
His basic desire, first of all, was to have a heart for God. Within his heart there was a consuming passion to have spiritual intimacy with God, to feel Him, to sense His presence in an intimate way. I am convinced every individual has that same desire and longing. The person separated from the grace of God, who has not received eternal life, may not be aware there is an emptiness in his life that only God can fill. Those of us who have been saved through the experience of conviction, repentance, and faith, know that what we really need in our lives is the Lord. The writer’s desire was to once again be able to worship in the house of the Lord, sensing close to his heart the presence of the Lord.
The question for many of us is, does God hear us? Does God really intervene in our lives? Can God honestly make a difference? Remember that Jesus invites:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).
As the classic hymn says, “O yes, He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief.” Absolutely.
Every person who hungers and thirsts after God’s kingdom will gather the bounty of God’s response. Billions have cried, thirsting for Him, and He has met their needs, and He will continue to do it for us today. Also, the psalmist’s desire was not only for the presence of God but also for the house of God. In verse 4 he remembered a vast procession winding its way to the house of God. There were jubilant songs of praise to God going to and in the house of worship. In Psalm 43 there is a similar situation:
“Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God . . . and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God” (Psalm 43:3-4).
God intends for us to have a place where we worship together. The entire history of human relationship with God refers to sacred places where people commune with God. Sometimes it was in the isolation of a Jacob at Bethel, but it still involved a sacred place. When you have a longing for God, you will also pine for His house, for the fellowship of other believers. Remember His house is not the one built with human hands (see Acts 7:48-50; Hebrews 9:24).
Love for God that does not result in a corresponding love for His house and His people is unnatural. God has commanded us to gather together. The born-again believer is inextricably joined to his spiritual brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We are many members, but we are “all one” and we, the body, need to be united (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27). In spite of the psalmist’s discouragement, he had a burning desire for God and His place of worship.
We cannot minimize corporate worship. When we meet together we draw strength from one another. First there is a desire. This man recognized he had a deep desire for the things of God.
Then, continuing on this psalm speaks about the despair of the psalmist.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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