Longing for God

Psalm 42

“As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” Psalm 42:1-2

The author of this Psalm wrote that he longed for God, like a deer who thirsts for a flowing stream. Why would he long so much for God? Because God is his help (v. 5).

What about us? Do we ‘pant’ and ‘thirst’ for God? It has almost been two months since we came under lockdown. I have not heard or seen anyone thirsting for God the way the Psalmist thirsted. Though we do not have much of a choice in our lockdown, I strongly doubt our thirst for our God, including myself. Frankly speaking, I do not think we missed church services at all. In fact, we forgot all about it and have become acclimatised, accustomed and have adapted to the time. We have come to think that churches being closed are ‘normal’ sights.

Come to think of it, when we began our lockdown, the first week was indeed a time of retrospection and introspection; a time of fervent prayers and scriptural meditations. Now, we have stopped all that, thinking that this is the new normal.

How I wish we could have corporate worship once again – to praise the Lord together once again, to come together once again, to mingle with the people of God and have fellowship with them once again, to listen to the word of God together once again…

We know that God is everywhere. He is with us at our homes, at our own private coops or secret places. We can still walk with God. But we are missing out on public worship.

Come, let us once again fall down upon the Lord, and beseech Him so we may once again praise Him with all we have.

In that day, let us never take anything for granted again.