Psalms 42:1-5
We must capture that type of spiritual thirst! We must thirst and long for God and for spiritual living!
THIS MORNING, WE WILL TRY TO GAIN SOME INSIGHT INTO SPIRUTUAL THIRST…SPIRITUAL LIVING BY EXAMINING JESUS’ STATEMENT IN (JOHN 7:37).
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
Americans are a people who love to celebrate holidays. I do not think anyone would argue that the three major holidays we celebrate throughout the year would be Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July.
The Jewish people also love to celebrate holidays. They call their holidays "feasts." There were three great annual national "feasts" in the Jewish religious calendar. The first was the Feast of the Passover; the second was known as the Feast of Pentecost; and the third was known as the Feast of Tabernacles.
Now we know from v.2 that Jesus was speaking here during the Feast of Tabernacles. This was a high, happy, holy day in the life of the Jew. The Feast of Tabernacles was like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one.
During that feast the High Priest would go to the Pool of Siloam, take a golden pitcher, dip it into that pool, and carry it back to the temple. There he would pour that water out on the altar of sacrifice.
At that moment the Levites would blow the trumpets, and the great crowd would cry out, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). There would be leaping, and dancing, and shouting, and singing, and great hallelujahs would fill the air.
It was right at this climax of this great holiday that the Lord Jesus stood up in that crowd, and with that royal voice, cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." (v.37b)
You see, Jesus realized that these people were drinking from the river of ritual…that after this day was over they would go back to the same old fears, the same old faults, the same old failures, the same old frustrations.
What was wrong with that crowd in that day is what is wrong with many people today. They were drawing water from the wrong well.
To often, we try to quench our thirst in all the wrong places. We drink from the worldly well instead from the well of life, which is found in Christ.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GAIN A SPIRITUAL THIRST, THEN LISTEN TO WHAT JESUS SAYS IN (JOHN 7:37).
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
I. TO GAIN A SPIRITUAL THIRST, WE MUST DESIRE GOD’S WATER.
Notice the condition that Jesus lays down. "If anyone thirsts," (v.37) Now I thank God for that word "anyone." Jesus plainly said if anyone wants God…a relationship with God, he could have it. If anyone wants spiritual living, he can obtain it. If anyone seeks God he can find Him.
But notice that this is specifically addressed only to those who are thirsty.
The problem with many people is, they are just not thirsty for God and spiritual living.
You see, before we can really have a close relationship with God, we’ve got to thirst for God. I mean we’ve got to thirst like the Psalmist who said…
Psalm 42:1-5
What about when you’re dry on the inside? What happens then? Are you even aware of it when your soul is thirsty?
As the deer pants
Psalm 42 is written, is an arid environment. Most of the year there is very little rain, and most streams are nothing but gullies. Stories around water are prominent throughout Israel’s history. One of their formative experiences was 40 years in a wilderness. At one stage people were so dry that Moses prayed to the Lord, and he provided water out of a rock – an event celebrated every year during the Feast of Tabernacles.
Generations earlier, Patriarch Jacob dug a well which is still present today, in the West Bank city of Nablus. Generations later, Jesus’ own teaching reminded his people of how blessed it is to give even a cup of water to the thirsty.
Psalm 42 speaks about thirst. But it’s not physical thirst which is in view. It’s a deeper thirst. A dryness of soul. A withering thirst of one’s entire being.
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1–2, NIV)
This man is thirsting for God. How come?
In the OT times, the only place people could meet with God was in the temple in Jerusalem. The problem was that the psalmist was nowhere near Jerusalem. Something has happened, and he’s acutely aware that he’s a long way from God’s presence.
How do you know when you’re dry on the inside?
Apparently, when you’re dying of thirst: you lose your taste, your tongue swells, you become disoriented, you have a terrible headache, you lose strength.
What about spiritual thirst? Sometimes, it seems, we end up in a wilderness of soul. Spiritually dehydrated. God seems remote, far away; there’s no taste for God, no sense of his presence, faith seems weak; no desire to read; no heart for prayer; the things of God seem abstract and foreign; your soul feels dry and withered. Faith, love for Jesus, desire to praise, love for the church just seem to have evaporated in the dry heat of life’s harsh realities.
The interesting thing about spiritual thirst is that it tends to come when conditions are adverse. Trouble, trial, pressure, stress, tension. Spiritual dryness can creep in. Dryness of soul can invade slowly and imperceptibly – and all of a sudden you realise “I am so thirsty inside…” How does this happen?
Part of the problem is our lives are so busy. Diaries are chock full, work demands are high, spouse is doing this, kids are doing that, we’re bombarded by stimuli like email, the internet, iPhone, the iPad, who knows what else. And you know, we don’t sense the dryness of our soul. We are so busy with life’s demands that we scarcely notice how thirsty we are. In relation to the baptism vows we make about our children, we must think carefully about the lifestyle we lead, the sheer busyness we accept, and ask if that is the best way to lead our children to spiritual health.
Me? Thirsty?
So, when was the last time you took stock of your heart? Listened to your soul? Are you thirsty? Thirsty inside? Has your taste for God waned? Jaded with worship? Your spiritual life dull, grey, and you’re wondering where the sweetness of grace has gone?
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.” (Psalm 42:2–4)
Sometimes these feelings come because we’re living in disobedience to God. Thirst, then, would be hardly surprising. But sometimes we just kind of end up in the wilderness.
Earlier this week I was thinking: maybe we’re all feeling that a bit, maybe we’re feeling a bit depleted? A few people move, church changes, and we feel a bit down about that.
Isn’t that a kind of thirst? For the way it used to be? Maybe so.
It’s bit of a surprising term. Not that God deserts us, for he doesn’t ever forsake his people. But sometimes he allows us not to feel his presence – like the jaded Footprints writer – who wondered where God was in his toughest and hardest times. Sometimes God allows us to get thirsty. Perhaps at those times he’s changing things to alert us to something: that we haven’t quite been trusting him as we should. Might that be part of our thirst? Worth considering, isn’t it?
Maybe God is allowing us to feel that emptiness, to sense that thirst, so we realise we can’t put our hope in people, or things, or experience, and that we can only trust him. Only when we are with God, when we trust God alone, the living God, will our thirst be quenched with his living water.
Living water
So, how do we do that? The Psalmist knew if he pulled more away from God his deep thirst would only get worse. Even if he didn’t know how God would help him, even if he didn’t know all the answers, or he couldn’t resolve his problems, he knew it was good to be near God: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5)
Centuries later, at Jacobs Well, a woman came along, and she was thirsty. Sure, she was thirsty for water, but she was more thirsty for God – though like most, she didn’t know it. She wanted water from the well. Jesus said what she really needed was living water, water that was like life itself. Life. which like water, would become part of her and enliven her entire being. Jesus said he would give this life, so freely, so abundantly, that not only would her inner thirst be slaked, but his grace and life and love would overflow from her into others, powerfully, satisfyingly, eternally.
You: Thirsty? Dried out?
Jesus is calling you to drink deep from his life. You don’t have to go to some Temple, like the psalmist, or to Jacobs Well, like the woman from Samaria. Jesus, the Son of God has come to us, and he has come full of grace and truth! His death on the cross and his rising again is the cure for your inner thirst. Through his death, Jesus forgives all your wrongs. Jesus cleanses all your sins. Jesus has borne all your guilt and punishment. His death and rising has conquered your inner darkness so comprehensively, so powerfully that his living water will flow into you, and you will never be the same.
“… “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”” (John 7:37–38)
Jesus is your water of life. Don’t push back. Don’t walk away. You have to drink. Step up, and drink deep.
Here’s a few things to do to drink deep his water of life:
• Acknowledge your thirst: Lord, I am so thirsty: I don’t know how I got here, but I am so dry, and I am asking you to pour your water of life into me. Jesus, I trust you. I know you can do this. I know my failing and acknowledge my sin and my need. I don’t deserve your grace: but I know your water of life is what I need. Please, Jesus, quench the thirst of my soul! • Drink! That is, accept and believe in Jesus! If you’ve already done this, or you’re already there, just do it again, say it again! I believe you, Jesus! My water! My life! Pour your water into me, break my spiritual drought, moisten my withered heart with your loving grace • Trust! Follow the Psalmist’s example! Despite all his thirst, despite his agony and the taunting of his foes (Ps 42:10), he still said, “I will yet trust you! I put my hope in you, my Saviour and my God!” So you can say: Don’t let me trust in your things or your people – no matter how good! Lord, I need you! You, in me; you, one with me; you, like water in my soul’s belly. I trust your life, your grace, your forgiveness through Jesus, your faithfulness • Finally (and related to the above): Reconnect. Don’t wait to feel great to start praying. Don’t wait to feel healthy to get into worship with God’s people. Don’t wait to feel better to read your bible. Think about it: how will God speak to you and pour his life into you if you’re not listening? If you’re dehydrated, you don’t wait till you’re no longer thirsty to drink, right? You start drinking before you feel better. So, if you’re spiritually dry, turn around, repent, reconnect with God! Don’t wait until you feel spiritually healthy: do it now!
There’s a wonderful section in the letter to the Hebrews. We don’t really know who wrote this book, but we can see easily enough that the people addressed in the book were going soft on their faith in Jesus. They were in danger of given up. They were thirsty. Look at the advice they receive: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:19–25)
The confidence to reconnect is grounded squarely in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He has opened the way. He is our great priest. He has cleansed us and purified us. On that basis, because of him, we can hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful.
Are you thirsty? Then acknowledge, drink, trust, and reconnect.
• Just open his word and ask him to speak you, to quench your thirst, to pour his Spirit water into you, to refresh you. • Go deeper into prayer, into worship, into community – your Home Group. • Let others pray for you. Let them be a channel of God’s grace, let them share God’s love.
God wants you deep in his living water. Come to Jesus, drink deep, and have him pour his living water into your life.
Fill up your spiritual tank this morning, and walk out of here as a brand new…regenerated…Christian.
II. TO GAIN A SPIRITUAL THIRST, WE MUST DRAW FROM GOD’S WELL.
1. Once a person is hungry for God, Jesus said, "Let him come to Me."
If we want to experience the presence of God in our souls, we must come to Jesus. If we want to know the person of God in our hearts, we must come to Jesus. If we want to receive the power of God in our lives, we must come to Jesus.
I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only true source of satisfaction we will ever find in this life.
I wish I could call to this platform the wisest and the richest man who ever lived, named Solomon. I wish he could give us his personal testimony.
He tried drinking from the polluted wells of this world, trying to find satisfaction, and he tried it all.
Listen to his diary in (Eccl. 2).
First he tried wildness. "I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" (vs. 1-2). He became the playboy, the party-boy. It was all play and no work. But that didn’t satisfy him. He tried wine. "I tried cheering myself with wine, and the embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives" (v. 3). But he found out, like the alcoholic, wine doesn’t work.
Then he tried wealth. "I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man" (vs. 7-8). But he found out, as the Bible says, "the eyes of man are never satisfied."
Then he tried women. "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. " (vs. 10). He became the Hugh Heffner of his day. We know that he had an eye for the ladies because he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. But along with that came 700 mothers-in-law, so we know that didn’t work.
Finally, he tried wisdom. "Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness." But he found out the more that he learned, the less that he knew, and what he did know showed him that everything is futile and foolish without God.
In the last chapter of his diary, he wrote these words:
§ "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecc. 12:13).
Solomon finally found the true source and secret of satisfaction…God…a relationship with God.
It makes no difference whether you are lost or you are saved, you need to have spiritual passion.
To gain a spiritual passion, you must come to Jesus.
But Ryan I have sinned “ Come”
You don’t know what I have done “Let whoever”
My Past, “ Come “
You see, some people think that the way to Jesus is holiness. They believe that service, plus sacrifice, equals holiness.
If they can just do enough for God, and give enough to God, then God will be happy with them and give them the kind of power and joy and zeal that they need.
But friends, that is exactly backwards.
The way to Jesus is not holiness.
The way to holiness is Jesus.
You see, service and sacrifice are important, but they are not the roots of the Spirit-filled life. They are but the fruit of the Spirit-filled life. The root of all of it is Jesus. If you would like to gain a spiritual thirst, you must not only desire it, but also you must come to Jesus to obtain it.
III. TO GAIN A SPIRITUAL THIRST, WE MUST MAKE A DECISION.
Now I want you to imagine that you have been in a desert for several days. You’ve gone totally without water. You are almost delirious. Your lips are parched; your skin is cracked from the heat of that broiling, boiling sun. All of a sudden, you come upon a river.
Now I want to ask you a silly question. What would you do? You know what you would do. You would drink…quench your thirst.
That is exactly what Jesus tells us to do. "Let him come to Me and drink." It is right here that so many Christians miss it. They come to the bank of the river, they see the water, they watch the waves lap up on the shore. They even see the reflection of their face on the surface, but they don’t drink.
You see, God will lead you to the trough, but He won’t make you drink. If you want to be filled, you must drink.
He was about to turn away when somebody pointed out to him a little sign on the bottom of the fountain that simply said, "Stoop, and drink." Well when he stooped over he discovered that an electric eye detected his presence and the water automatically came flowing out.
You see, when we come to Jesus, He will provide us with living water…a spiritual satisfaction…a spiritual contentment that we cannot find anywhere.
CONCLUSION:
If you are tired of living without a spiritual passion or zeal for God…if you are tired of just going through the motions…knowing deep down inside you are spiritually dying or dead, the Lord invites you this morning to come to Him for spiritual renewal.
His Words are simple…"if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
Isaiah 55 “Come all you who are thirsty come to the waters”
Isaiah gives the promise in 58:11 “ The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun- scorched land. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fails.
Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty for God? Are you thirsty for a victorious life?
Then friends, just come to Jesus and drink, and He will fill you until you overflow and become a river of living water that will bless others as well.
His invitation has one requirement
Come whoever is thirsty!!!