Looking To God

Psalm‬ ‭42:1-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬ says, "As a deer pants for flowing streams, 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 say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival."

There is so much to discover in a passage like this. David lays out a heart of desperation for us to see and contemplate. I want us to focus on David's shift in the middle of this passage. While his throat is thirsty and his belly empty, he fixes his attention on the throne room of God. Instead of asking God for a meal or a drink, he asks God, "when can I go be with you?"

David's encounter with God and his ongoing relationship drew his attention away from his physical needs toward reconnecting with God. Sweeter than the memory of food was the memory of worship. When I wake up in the morning, I fantasize about drinking a cup of coffee or making myself some breakfast. In times of hunger, I scramble to find a fast-food restaurant. The message, of course, is not about denying food but about where we turn in desperation.

I don't want us to over-glamorize David as anything unique or out of reach because he had as much going for him as we do. We may have the advantage because the Holy Spirit is living and working inside of you right now. Encounters with the spirit of God are the norm for those who seek him. David lived a life of worship and sacrifice, and that alone was enough to pull his heart toward the Lord in times of need.

Perhaps the lesson here is that we should give up our desire for good and drink to desire God. Maybe the real lesson is that as we seek and encounter God, that desire begins to overcome all other desires until it becomes our one desire. I don't think it is very fruitful to face ourselves into creation. That removes God's part of the relationship where he comes and works in our lives, and we respond to him with an open heart.

I want this image of worship to inspire what a life with Jesus ought to be like every day. Our hunger for him can become so deep and rich that even in the face of desert-like need, our attention gets fixed on God's presence. Slowly, our intimacy and connection to God build deeper roots so that we respond by looking to him in our time of need.

It doesn't happen overnight. We have to have memories to look back on for a heart shift to be possible. We need history with God. So we slow up every day and learn to be open to him every moment until we become like David—people after God's heart.

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