The Kingdom Attitude (1)
“My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You. In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1
Dry land – The Hebrew word tsiyyah is used only sixteen times. It describes a parched wilderness. That’s exactly the kind of place where David composed this psalm. As he reflected on that arid land, he realized that it was a metaphor of his own soul, parched and thirsty for the Lord. Throughout Scripture, the wilderness is a powerful symbol of God’s presence. Jesus is driven into the wilderness. The children of Israel spend forty years in the wilderness. The Law is given in the wilderness. Why is the wilderness such a poignant expression of God’s abode? It is all about an attitude of thirst.
Every day we are surrounded by a culture that claims to satiate our needs. Unlike most of the world, we wallow in abundance. We waste more than most human beings will ever possess. As a result, this culture pushes us far from the attitude of the Kingdom because in the Kingdom of God we are perennially thirsty. Didn’t Jesus tell us straight out? “Blessed are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness”. But not today. Today I am inundated by thousands of messages that tell me I can be full now. Today I am submerged in a climate of comfort. Today I am prodded to put my focus of the gods of this world: time and money. Everything about my environment pushes me far from the thirsty land, far from the parched ground in my soul.
It often seems that God must drive us into the wilderness before we recognize how really thirsty we are. He reshapes the circumstances of our lives so that our real desiccation rises to consciousness. We discover our thirst. We discover how empty the well really is. Then we cry with David, “Lord, my soul thirsts for You.” Until we experience that kind of thirst, we will never know the sweet taste of living waters.
The attitude of the Kingdom is thirst. No one comes to God full and satisfied. Parched, cracked lips, weary wanderings and an empty heart are the only prerequisites for finding God in the wilderness.
Are you thirsty for Him? You can’t drink of His refreshment until you are.
Hi, I was waiting on the Lord in prayer today for further direction for the book I am writing which is about the various wells of scripture and their symbolic meanings and what we can learn from them. The key point throughout is how we must be thirsty, drink deeply and daily from the well of the Living One…
In prayer I had a picture (in part) which I wrote down. I saw what looked like ‘contact Moenbeab’ but the emphasis was on the word Moen. I looked in my bible programs to see it it was in scripture and eventually found this article which has really blessed me. I would like to add this to my book and reference you if that is ok?
Rob Joy
Sure, it’s OK. Thanks for asking. Not everyone does.