May 17

The Soul's Thirst For God

O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. — Ps 63:1 BSB

The soul’s longing for God only becomes apparent when earthly joys and lesser delights are placed in their proper perspective. If you do not feel this soul-thirst, it is likely because your heart is trying to satisfy itself with the world, digging wells that hold no water. The Samaritan woman at the well said she came to draw water because she had no other choice, but once Jesus satisfied her soul-thirst by opening a spring within her, she left her waterpot behind. Many of us are so preoccupied with business, pleasure, money, and trivial matters that we have no time or care for God.

“My soul shall be satisfied” (Psalm 63:5). It takes very little of this world to satisfy the soul—just as Jesus told Martha that only one thing was truly necessary. Yet, paradoxically, it takes much, for nothing less than God will suffice. To desire God is to have Him. To thirst for the water of life is to drink of it. Thus, our Lord said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Let us not long for things and people that are absent. Even in poverty, deprivation, or loneliness, all things and all people are ours because we have God. Why not declare, right here and now: “I have God, and therefore I have all that is good in everyone and everything!” Why should a fish lament when it has the whole ocean to swim in?

“My soul follows hard after You” (Psalm 63:8). Sometimes God seems to withdraw from us, like a mother letting go of her baby learning to walk, encouraging the child to follow her outstretched hands. Didn’t Christ withdraw from the Canaanite woman, prompting her to follow after Him (Matthew 15:21-28)? So, too, we are called to “follow on to know the Lord.”

Can we truly say, as the psalmist does in the first verse, “O God, You are my God”? God is ours, but we must seek Him. Like an emigrant claiming land, we must open up the treasures buried within our inheritance. Just as the diamonds of Cape Town were first discovered by a child playing with a white stone, so must we search for the boundless riches hidden in God.

Prayer

O God, we are filled with infinite desire. Open Your hand and satisfy our longings. Draw near to us as we call upon You. Hear our prayer and save us. Amen.