Water, Water, Everywhere…

January 26, 2011 at 9:31 am | Posted in Mark, Selected Psalms, Uncategorized | 10 Comments
Tags: hart, John 7, living water, Mark 9, Matthew 5, panting deer, Psalm 42, thirsty, water, water in the Bible

We are blessed to live in a society where some of the very basic necessities of life are relatively easy to obtain. Water is a good example. Although bottled water can be expensive at the store, and finding a water bill in the mailbox is probably not anyone’s idea of a treat, there are very few places where you will be turned down for a cup of water if you are truly thirsty.

In fact, the Lord Jesus reminded His disciples of the blessing that comes with giving water – in His name – to those who are thirsty.

For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Mark 9:41

Imagine, for a moment, that water was not so easy to obtain. Imagine that the number-one ingredient for sustaining biological life was removed from your reach. In Psalm 42, David compares a desperate desire for drinking water to a longing for God.

[To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.] As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

Psalm 42:1

The “hart” in this verse is a deer which has been hunted and chased. His panting, or longing, is for a cool drink of water, to keep him alive.

David experienced this feeling when he was banned from Jordan, hunted and chased by his enemies. Rather than water, however, David longed for the presence of God. Notice the play on words: The “hart” (deer) pants for water, just as David’s “heart” is dry and thirsty.

Wonderfully, though, David found that he could experience God’s presence in the wilderness, as well as in the courts of public worship. If that which we take for granted, and depend upon for life, is suddenly taken away, we appreciate it all the more when we realize that there is One Who can provide it anytime, anywhere. The panting heart is a heart that is truly blessed.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Matthew 5:6

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

John 7:37-38