How strong is your desire to know God? Can you affirm with the Psalmist his words, “I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for Thy commandments”?
Take a moment and picture the words we’ve been given below…
Ps 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
Ps 63:1 (A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.) O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Just a quick observation of the above verse. The Psalmist understands that nothing available to him on the earth will suffice his need. Only God has the means to refresh him. Trying to find fulfillment in the world is like stringing yourself along with crumbs, temporary satisfaction until you find the next morsel. God alone can fill His children’s needs and keep them completely quenched.
Ps 84:2 My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Ps 119:20 My soul is crushed with longing after Thine ordinances at all times.
One of the commentaries I read used the word zeal to describe the affection David had for God’s commands. To be zealous for something is to have a feeling of strong eagerness towards it; excessive fervor, prompt willingness. May we be accused and found guilty of our excessive love for God!
Consider. Do you drink to your fill in God’s word, does it encompass every area of your life as you meditate on it and apply it, or do you just sample and taste here and there when things heat up or become difficult or encouragement is needed? Do you starve yourself between Sunday services and scheduled Bible studies? Are you reading the word like a glutton and pondering it’s meaning on Sunday and then perhaps Wednesday and maybe Thursday but not really throughout the week?
Many of us have that one favorite food that is difficult to pass up. For some, it may be a salty potato chip or buttery popcorn, for others it may be a form of chocolate, or perhaps peanuts – you know, the ballpark peanuts in the shell. If you eat just one, you desire more. It invokes a craving that can’t be satisfied. Hopefully you use restraint and limit yourself to a reasonable serving.
With God’s word there is no suggested portion size. Go ahead and feast on His truth. Let Him grow your appetite to know Him. Be a glutton! A glutton is someone devoted to excess eating and drinking. As you taste what Your Heavenly Father has for you, your desire will grow for more. It’s true! Spurgeon says, “When the word really enters the soul, it creates a strong desire for more holiness”.
In God alone His children find true and lasting Fulfillment and contentment.
Ps 81:10 "I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
Visit the word panted again. WordWeb defines its meaning as, 1. to breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted, 2. to utter while panting, as if out of breath, and 3. to desire strongly or persistently.
I picture gasping for air like when you’re in a higher altitude and walking around. You feel like you simply cannot get enough. Or diving to the bottom of a deep pool and straining for breath as you resurface – you can barely suck enough air into your lungs when you reach the surface. If you have asthma, you know the feeling quite well. It’s this type of need David is speaking of in Psalm 119:131.
What do you desire most in your life right now? I can remember being a single Mom with three very young children. This was not in my plan but it was in God’s. I wanted so badly to meet someone. I missed the companionship of a husband and I was often overwhelmed with raising three children by myself. My desire was for a man to come into our lives and ‘save’ us. As a new believer, my desire was sorely misplaced. Thankfully, because of God’s grace in my life and others, an older, wiser woman gently set me on the better path of desiring God first and foremost. I will never be able to thank Cindy enough for challenging me to concentrate on God by striving to emulate the hearts of the godly women He put forth in His word. Her reasoning was so insightful: she said, “It is that kind of woman, a woman who has devoted her heart and desires to know God more than anything else, that will attract a godly man”. Recalling this conversation literally brings tears of joy and gratitude to my eyes. I learned to long for God’s commandments more than anything else in life. You know what’s cool about this? God answered my prayer to know Him and He has continued to grow my desire for Him ever since. What a loving, gracious, amazing God we have!
God’s commandments mentioned in the verse we are looking at are His laws, His ordinances, His precepts. His written word given to us through the saints who were following Him thousands of years ago. I bet they panted to know and understand God as they were instructed to pen His words.
Ps 119:20 My soul is crushed with longing after Thine ordinances at all times.
Joh 7:37 Now on the last day, the great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
Joh 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
