My Soul Pants for God! - Psalm 42

Psalm 42 A Psalm of David with Commentaries by Dennis Edwards.

Psalm 42:1-3 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is your God?

Israel's King David is comparing his desire and need for God to a deer who is panting in its search for a watery brook to drink from. We need God’s presence in our lives. We need His Spirit within us to bring us happiness and to fill that aching void in our heart which He has made for Himself alone to fill.

In Isaiah we find a similar picture.

Isaiah 55:1-3a “Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come buy, and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live.”

We thirst for God, but not realizing it, we go to other fountains that do not quench our thirst. We lust after the things of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; but they do not satisfy our soul. We come up dry and empty.

Jesus tells us to come to Him. Speaking to the woman who had had five husbands, He said, “But whosoever drinks from the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” John 4:14.

“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke He of the (Holy) Spirit, which they that believe should receive),” John 7:37b-39a.

Jesus is claiming that our thirst for happiness and satisfaction of soul will only be found in Him.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah called God, “the fountain of living waters,” Jeremiah 17:13. The Lord through Jeremiah said, “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and have hewed them out cisterns (drinking vessels), broken cisterns, that can hold no water,” Jeremiah 2:13.

All our attempts to satisfy the deepest longings of our soul outside of God fall flat. They do not satisfy. Even the world’s pop idols have sung, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” The world and the things of the world cannot satisfy our need for God, our need for forgiveness of sin, our need for unconditional love and understanding. For that reason, our spirits within us cry out for God.

The fulfilment of our cry is found in Jesus. He tells us, “You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:13. That’s the secret: desperation, and an honest search for God and the things of God. Jesus has promised, “They which hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled,” Matthew 5:6.

Psalm 42:4-5 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.  Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted in me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.

Even though, like David, we may go to a Christian gathering or service; we may go and sing and praise with fellow believers, but in the end, we may still feel empty, lonely, and far from God, battling discouragement and depression. When that happens, we need to continue to fight with extreme praise and thanksgiving, knowing that God has heard our prayer and will answer, if we hold on.

Psalm 42:6-7 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore, will I remember You from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterspouts: all Your waves and Your billows are gone over me.

David is trying to hold onto the victory, that he is claiming by faith. But “the waters are come into his soul. He is sinking in deep mire, where there is no standing: He is come into deep waters, where the floods overflow him. He is weary of his crying: his throat is dried: his eyes fail while He waits for his God.” Psalm 69:1b-3. We may, also, have experienced the same in moments of testing and proving. God’s presence seems to be far from us.

In moments of depression and anxiety we need to remember God’s promise. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither hsall the flame kindle upon you,” Isaiah 43:2.

Psalm 42:8-9 Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.  I will say unto God my rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

David is sure that God’s love will not fail him. He will seek God in the night and praise Him in song. He will continue to fight the good fight of faith and praise and give thanksgiving even if he does not feel God’s presence with him.

Psalm 42:10-11 As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is your God?  Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted (anxious) within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Finally, David reminds himself to not lose his hope in God. He finishes his song with “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Please do not lose hope in God, if you are feeling down and out and with no sunrise on the horizon. God loves you and will work things out as He always has before. Do not lose hope! Call upon Him with all your heart. He is not far from any of us, as the apostle Paul so wisely put it: “God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being,’” Acts 17:27-28 NIV.

Lift up your hands in praise unto Him, the God of all flesh. He loves you and is going to take care of you somehow. Trust Him. Meditate on His promises. His Word will be “a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path,” Psalm 119:105. For “the path of the just is like a shining light that shines more and more until that perfect day,” Proverbs 4:18. Or as Apostle Peter expressed it, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day star arise in your hearts,” 1 Peter 1:19, and your hearts and minds are illuminated by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And remember what C. S. Lewis wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Or as the author of Hebrews has written, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city,” Hebrews 11:16.

That city, New Jerusalem, will one day come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, Revelation 21:2. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things will be passed away,” Revelation 21:4.

Keep desiring and thirsting for God, and He will do His part to prepare a place for you in that heavenly abode, John 14:2. Keep following Jesus’ words and He will manifest Himself to you, “He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him, John 14:21. “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him,” John 14:23.

Hold on. God will answer your prayers and manifest Himself to you. He loves you and is in the process of rescuing you. Do not give up prematurely. Keep on believing the answer is on its way! Hold on!

Originally published February 24, 2025

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The Daily Voice - February 1 - "I am like a pelican of the wilderness."

 

Dennis Edwards

Psalm 102: 6 "I am like a pelican of the wilderness." 

 

Now what does that mean, "A pelican of the wilderness?" 

I remember one day watching a wildlife documentary of Africa somewhere south of the Sahara. It showed how after the heavy spring rainfall a lake would be created. The parent pelicans would come, nest and rear their young along the lakeside. However, over the course of the summer, the lake would slowly start to dry up. The adult pelicans would eventually fly away with the young pelicans old enough to fly. 

The pelicans which were last to be born, and still not so sure about flight would stay by the diminishing lake. Eventually they would starve to death, as the lake turned to desert once again. Verse 5 in the same psalm says: "By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin," Psalm 102:5. 

The author is painting a picture of his desperation for God, like a dying pelican in desperate need of water and in need of rescue, or as a starving man in need of nourishment, so do we look to God for help in the time of great affliction and distress. 

These verses remind me of the first verses in Psalm 42 which say, "As the hart (deer) pants after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?" Psalm 42:1-3. 

Again, we see the author comparing his desire and need for God to a deer who is panting and in his search for a watery brook to drink from. We need God´s presence in our lives. We need His Spirit running through us to bring us happiness and to fill up that aching void in our heart which He has made for Himself alone to fill.

Are you searching for God´s presence in your life? Are you like a dying pelican needing rescue or a deer panting in need of a fresh drink from a cool mountain stream, or a starving man needing food and nourishment? 

The Lord says, "Ye shall seek Me and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart," Jeremiah 29:13. He says, "Call upon Me and I will answer you," Jeremiah 33;3a.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount "They which do hunger and thirst after righteousness...shall be filled," Matthew 5:6. Are you hungering and thirsting after God and His goodness? Later on, in the same sermon Jesus says, "...seek and ye shall find;" Matthew 7:7. 

Are you seeking for Him and His will in your life?

If we go back to Psalm 42, the author keeps repeating how his soul is cast down. He says, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why are thou disquieted in me?" Psalm 42:5. 

Is your soul cast down? Has some personal problem been weighing on you so that you are weighed down with sorrow, or doubt or confusion that you have lost your joy in living? You have lost your direction. You find it hard to get up in the morning. There is a certain dryness in your life.

Though the author of the psalm is feeling that dryness of spirit, he does not stay there. He calls out to God for His mercy and help. He reminds God of His promises unto His children. He says, "...All thy waves and billows are gone over me," Psalm 42:7. Here he sounds like he feels like a drowning man going down for the last time. 

But he continues with, "Yet the Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life," Psalm 42:8. He reminds God of His loving kindness and he keeps God´s word as his song and prayer in the night season.

Finally, he reminds himself to not lose his hope in God. he says, "Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God," Psalm 42:11.

 Please do not lose hope in God if you are feeling down and out and with no sunrise on the horizon. God loves you and will work things out as He always has before. Do not lose hope! Call upon Him with all your heart. He is not far from any of us as Paul has so wisely said.

"That they (all nations) should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being," Acts 17:27-28.

Lift up your hands in praise unto Him. God loves you and is going to take care of you. Meditate on His promises found in His word. Read His word and it shall be "a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path," Psalm 119:105. May God bless and keep you and make you a blessing to others, in Jesus´ name we pray.

First published June 12, 2012.   To go to Psalm 101

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Thirsting for God - Psalm 42

By Dennis Edwards

I was reading Psalm 102 and came across the phrase: “I am like a pelican of the wilderness.”1 It led me to wonder what exactly the psalmist meant.

It brought to my mind a wildlife documentary of Africa that I once watched. The documentary showed how after the heavy spring downfall, a lake would be created in what had been a semi-arid wilderness. The parent pelicans would come, nest, and rear their young along the newly created lake. But over the course of the summer, the lake would slowly start to dry up. The adult pelicans would eventually fly away with the young pelicans that were old enough to fly. However, those pelicans which were last to be born and still not so sure about flight would stay by the diminishing lake. Eventually they would die as the lake turned to desert or wilderness once again.

The author in the psalm may be seen as painting a picture of his desperation for God; like a dying pelican in desperate need of water and rescue, so do we look to God for help in the time of great affliction and distress.

The passage reminds me of another psalm which says, “As the hart [deer] pants after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?”2 We see the author, who most scholars believe was Israel's King David, comparing his desire and need for God to a deer who is panting in its search for a watery brook to drink from. We need God’s presence in our lives. We need His Spirit within us to bring us happiness and to fill that aching void in our heart which He has made for Himself alone to fill.

To the one searching for God’s presence, the Lord says, “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”3Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “They which do hunger and thirst after righteousness … shall be filled.”4

In Psalm 42, the author keeps repeating how his soul is cast down. He says, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why are thou disquieted in me?” 5 Though the author of the psalm is feeling that dryness of spirit, he does not stay there. He calls out to God for His mercy and help. He reminds God of His promises to His children. He says, “All thy waves and billows are gone over me.”6 Here he sounds like he feels like a drowning man going down for the last time. But he continues with, “Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.”7 He reminds God of His loving kindness and he keeps God’s Word as his song and prayer in the night season.

Finally, he reminds himself to not lose his hope in God and finishes his song with “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”8 Please do not lose hope in God if you are feeling down and out and with no sunrise on the horizon. God loves you and will work things out as He always has before. Do not lose hope! Call upon Him with all your heart. He is not far from any of us, as the apostle Paul so wisely put it: “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’”9

Lift up your hands in praise unto Him, the God of all flesh. He loves you and is going to take care of you somehow. Trust Him. Meditate on His promises, and His Word will be “a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path.”10 For “the path of the just is like a shining light that shines more and more until that perfect day.”11 Or as Apostle Peter expressed it, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day star arise in your hearts”12 and your heart and mind are illuminated by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And remember what C. S. Lewis wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Or as the author of Hebrews has written, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city.”13

Keep desiring and thirsting for God, and He'll do His part to prepare a place for you.14

When the long day is over and the journey is done,
I shall rest in that blessed abode.
And the One that I love shall be waiting for me,
when I come to the end of life's road.15

1 Psalm 102:6. Scriptures from the KJV unless otherwise noted.

2 Psalm 42:1–3.
3 Jeremiah 29:13.
4 Matthew 5:6.
5 Psalm 42:5, 11.
6 Psalm 42:7.
7 Psalm 42:8.
8 Psalm 42:11.
9 Acts 17:27–28 NIV.
10 Psalm 119:105.
11 Proverbs 4:18.
12 2 Peter 1:19.
13 Hebrews 11:16.
14 John 14:2: “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
15 From the song “At the End of the Road” by A. H. Ackley.

https://anchor.tfionline.com/post/thirsting-god/

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