Mexican Tap Water and other Thirst Quenchers

Psalm 63:1-11
O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.

I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.

But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God.
All who trust in him will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.

Luke 4:1-2
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

I wonder, as Jesus walked through the Judean wilderness, was He praying this Psalm? It is coincidence that this specific Psalm was paired with this passage from the gospels in the One Year Bible reading for March 20th, but I believe there is something wonderful about the pairing.

“My soul thirsts for You in a dry and weary land.”

I don’t know if anyone else has ever felt thirsty, but I know that I have. I remember being on vacation in Mexico and suspecting that if I drank the tap water I would become sick. One night, late in the evening, I became thirsty. Looking around, I discovered that Rachael and I had finished off the last of the bottled water, and that there wasn’t anything to drink but the questionable tap water. I tried boiling the water in a pan I found under the stove, but the pan was greasy and made the water taste metallic and even more questionable. I probably agonized for an hour trying to figure out what I could drink before finally going to bed, hoping I could make it till morning came and we could buy more bottled water.

I’ll be honest, that night I was not thinking about how much I wanted to know God better.

And yet this story, and this Psalm, declare that in the desert David (and Jesus) was aching more for the presence of God than for food or water. What type of relationship must a person have to be that focused on the One who can bring true life?

For me, today’s reading was a reminder of the passion for God that I desire to have. I’ll readily admit that I’m not there yet. Even when all my other needs are met, my heart still wanders from my true love. But God is gracious, and He is growing in me a desire and passion for Him.

O God, You are my God. I earnestly search for You.