Psalm 42:1-2 – As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
I have never seen a deer pant. But I have seen my dogs pant. All the time. They say that dogs sweat through their tongues because they have very few sweat glands in the bodies. So when they are hot, the tongues hang out and they sound as if they are gasping for air. (Our puppy, Tuck, is especially cute when he does this, as his tongue always hangs out sideways…)
Basically, for dogs, they expose the part of them that is desperate for relief. They are hot and thirsty and are longing for refreshment to cool them off. So their tongues, their only cooling mechanism, instinctively hang from their mouths, without them even thinking about it.
“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?”
Panting represents a very real need. For dogs, cooling and thirst. For us, God Himself. Many times when my soul “pants” I look for other things to quench the thirst. But I will never be able to find anything that comes close to the drenching, quenching love of God. It soothes, refreshes, hydrates my soul.
Jesus, in fact, called Himself the living, never-ending water – “…whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14
I want a panting heart and soul today. I want my tongue hanging out sideways in my desire for God, knowing that He is my source of all things good and satisfying and life-giving….
