"i THIRST"
'The Thirst
Factor'
Look Up: Psalm
42; Psalm 43; Psalm 84; Matthew 5:6,10
Sermon preached by Dr. Wayne
Poplin, Senior Pastor of
Carmel Baptist Church, Matthews, NC
INTRODUCTION:
When I read the
intriguing statement by the psalmist:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for
you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I
go and meet with God [Psalm 42:1-2]?
I
asked myself if that last part were descriptive of me. Does my soul thirst
for God like the deer thirsts for steams of water? That question set off
all kinds of questions and issues in me. Do I thirst for God? Why
are there times when I am not consciously thirsting for God? Why are there
times when the thirsting is more intense? Am I more than a deer in my
relationship with God? Today I want to talk about this thirst factor
in our lives with this end in mind: We can have as much of God as we
intensely want. James 4:8 says,
Come near to God and He will come near to you [James 4:8].
Intimacy
and closeness are available. But they are the products of thirst.
What about the thirst factor in our lives?
Today I move on from talking about the deep thirst that every person has
in his life. That is the need for God and a relationship with God.
It is a thirst that only God can quench [e.g. the Samaritan woman]. But
there is a thirst beyond salvation—a continuing thirst for the living God, for
fellowship with the living God. How thirsty are we for the One with Whom
they have entered a relationship?
Just like the deer thirsts for water, do I thirst for God? Am I as thirsty
as this thirsty animal?
Yes—I thirst for God when I have a need.
I.
NEED
The deer
thirsts for the water out of need. The deer is either being chased
[pursued as prey] or is struggling in a drought situation. Yes, I thirst
“As”—“as in the manner of the deer.” Needs make me thirsty for
God. That’s when I am just like the deer. This is what Psalm 42
and 43 are about. In these Psalms there is a thirst for God to act.
The Psalmist’s soul thirsts for God, but the thirst is tied up with needs in
his life.
Psalm
42:3—my tears have been my food
Psalm
43:1a—vindicate me.
Psalm
43:1b—rescue me.
Psalm
43:3—give me wisdom and direction.
I have
thirsted for Him in my tears. I have thirsted for Him when I wanted Him to
defend me and validate my stand. I have thirsted when I needed His
deliverance. I have thirsted for Him when I needed direction and needed
help in deciding what to do.
These
things can make us desperate and make us cry out for Him. Lord, I need
you. These are certainly legitimate thirsts. Need drives
the deer to the water. Need drives the believer to God. And He
gives us water in the wilderness and He strengthens and renews [Ps. 84:5-7].
There is also a need that moves past these very personal needs to Kingdom
purposes. But like the deer, it is still a need that makes me thirsty for
God. This is the need that produces the thirst spoken of in the
Beatitudes. Recognizing that we are impotent to be like Him in this
world apart from His strength, we cry out in thirst in our need to live for Him
and be like Him. Notice what Jesus said:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will
be filled [Matthew 5:6].
What is this
righteousness I am to thirst for? Is it legal righteousness [a right
relationship with God]? No. The answer seems to be found right here
in this set of verses between verse 6 and verse 10.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven [Matthew
In verse 6 there
is a thirsting for righteousness that results in filling. In verse 10
there is persecution for the righteousness with which one was filled. What
is this righteousness? The answer appears in the intervening verses.
“Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers.” Lord
I want to show mercy. I want to be pure in this world. I want to be
pure in my heart so I can be pure in my motives and my actions. I want to
be a peacemaker and a reconciler. I can’t do this without you. I
thirst for your power and enablement. There is a thirst to be like Him in
the world. We want to be delivered. We want to be vindicated.
We hurt in our tears. But we have a thirst to be like Jesus through it.
That is the thirst of Matthew 5.
But here is a difference between us and the deer. The deer in his need
pants for the streams of water. The deer goes in one direction—toward
what it needs. But in our need, we can be driven to the living God or away
from Him. In our confusion, in our doubts, in our questioning we can
become angry at God, bitter at God and move away from what we need. You
may be there right now. You are thirsty. You are in a wasteland.
You are in the desert. You are passing through the
II.
TRUTH
As I meditated on Psalm 42:1-2, I recognized another
difference between me and the deer. The deer pants for streams of water
because of need. And so my soul thirsts for God in my need. But I
realized that, unlike the deer, there should be a thirst in my life for God even
in the absence of need. It is a recognized thirst because of truth.
If a person flies for an extended period of time at a high
altitude where the humidity is like 5-15%, he will dehydrate if he does not
drink water. In that situation, he may not realize his need. He may
not feel the need. But if he does not accept this truth and drink water,
he will pay the price with dehydration.
There are times when you and I are flying high. Things
seem to be going okay. Tears are not our food. We do not need to be
vindicated or delivered. We are not passing through the desert. We
think that we are alright. That is when we need to know the truth about
flying high. We are not self-sufficient. We are not okay. We
may not feel needy, but we are. We are always in need of Him. We are
not camels that can go for long periods of time without water and check in with
God at the oasis. We are like the deer—in constant need of Him. Let truth send you to the well. Let truth send you to God. Let
truth send you to the Word and to prayer even when a immediate need is not
pressing in. If you don’t feel thirsty right now, you are thirsty.
Don’t keep going without drinking from the well. We are drier than we
know.
There is another difference between us and the deer. As
the deer pants for the streams of water out of a pressing need, my soul can
thirst for God simply because I love Him and want to be with Him. This
thirst has got to please the Father the most. Not just a thirst because we
have a need. But a thirst that arises out of love and a desire for
nearness.
This was the hardest area of thirst for me to deal with.
I understand thirsting for Him when I need Him. That’s just like the
deer. I can even understand my need of Him when I don’t sense the need.
But, unlike the deer, do I thirst for my streams of water simply because I love
Him and want to be with Him? Accessing that thirst takes me to an
uncomfortable place of spiritual soul-searching and honesty. I thirst for
Him not because of what I want Him to do for me. I thirst for Him not
because I need His help. I thirst for Him because I love Him and His
fellowship.
That is more than spending time in prayer, because prayer can
be a gimme game. It is more than reading the Bible and having daily
devotions. That can be a checked-off exercise. This is a thirst out
of love and a desire for fellowship. Do I thirst for that? I want my
soul to thirst “for Him.” I want to experience joy in His presence
[Ps.
The Psalmist said that desire for His presence brings us to
His house. Thirst brings us to a place to meet Him [Ps. 84:1-2]. We
long not for His house but for the God whose house it is. We are here to
meet the living God. Thirst is a desire for intimacy. Lovers envy
anything that is near the one loved. The psalmist envies the sparrows
that build their nests in the temple [Ps. 84:3-4]. He longs to be as close
to God as these birds.
The Psalmist said that a thirst for His presence is revealed
in a contrast.
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere
[Ps. 84:10].
Time in His presence is better than any other time [shopping,
golfing, vacationing, --any of your other favorite things and places].
Is that true for us? Are we like the deer and unlike
the deer? Do we have a thirst for God? What would we be like and
what would the church be like if our thirst for Him was caused not only by need,
but truth and love?