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Though David was using the Judean wilderness to describe his desire for God as one who thirsts in a land where there is no water, isn’t this really a description of the spiritual reality of our world! As beautiful as this planet is to me, there was a time when I could not see behind the scenes that painted an entirely different picture, one of corruption. The earth had been severely damaged by the fall of man in the Garden, everything animate and inanimate were impacted by the powerful and unexplainable dynamics of sin.
Change, decay, and death followed that cataclysmic failure of Adam’s disobedience. By God’s decree the ripple effect extended beyond this planet to the very end of the endless expanse of Creation (cf. Gen 3:17-18; Rom 8:20-22), meaning there is nothing untouched by sin in all of Creation. Upon receiving Christ through faith as my personal Savior, my eyes were opened (cf. 2 Cor 4:4) to this stark spiritual reality of the world around me; my world view had been changed forever.
Heaven and earth as we know it will eventually come to an end (Mt 24:35; Rev 21:1). But in the meantime our planet, with nearly 7 billion souls living on less than 29% of its surface, still remains spiritually “a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Can you sense the urgency of the Great Commission to reach this dying world for Christ (Mt 28:18-20)?
Heaven and earth as we know it will eventually come to an end (Mt 24:35; Rev 21:1). But in the meantime our planet, with nearly 7 billion souls living on less than 29% of its surface, still remains spiritually “a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Can you sense the urgency of the Great Commission to reach this dying world for Christ (Mt 28:18-20)?
When Jesus went to Capernaum, a group of people followed Him there. But they were only following Him for the freebies (Jn 6:26). Jesus began teaching some very difficult doctrine, and it was not well received in Capernaum. In fact many of His disciples turned away from following Him that day (Jn 6:66). Then Jesus asked the twelve if they would go away, too (Jn 6:67), and Peter in a most splendid and sterling moment remarked, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words to eternal life” (Jn 6:68). Jesus is the only spiritual oasis in this waterless world that can quench a man's spiritual thirst!
What Peter exclaimed in that sublime moment, King David had already grasped a thousand years earlier – “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips” (Psa 63:5). With all the pressures surrounding a king in temporary exile in the wilderness of Judah, David's soul did not thirst and long for his throne, his possessions, or even leaving that arid wasteland to return to Jerusalem. Nothing could bring peace and joy to his soul but God, and in Him and Him alone did he seek in spite of people, places, or things.
No, it is impossible that circumstances could ever satisfy a man's soul. Only a man after God’s own heart could say, “O God, You are my God” (Psa 63:1) and have his soul satisfied regardless of the situation he finds himself. Is this not unlike Paul's profound statement on contentment, "For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content (Php 4:11, ESV).
Jesus told the woman at Jacob’s well, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again” (Jn 4:13). Now here comes the good part, “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (Jn 4:14a), everything else is but “a dry and thirsty land where there is no water,” no living water, that is.
And so Jesus told the Sycharian woman, “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn 4:14b). When we receive Christ, He gives those believing in Him the Holy Spirit of God and out of that heart will flow rivers of living water (cf. Jn 7:38-39). Such a heart will be a perpetual source of spiritual satisfaction and a river of blessing flowing from the inner life to others. In a dry and thirsty world where there is no water, we who believe are to be a Jesus’ well, an oasis for the thirsty soul; everywhere we go.
“If any one thirsts, let him come to Me and drink [receive Christ],” Jesus cried out (Jn 7:37). There is no other spiritual source that can satisfy the soul; all others wells leave a person with a false sense of satisfaction, but he or she will thirst again from an empty heart.
As sojourners in Christ, we cannot afford to lose sight of how David saw the world looking out over the austere wilderness of Judah. Only those who thirst for God’s presence and blessing in their lives can see the world the way it really is – a dry and thirsty place where there is no water. God placed us where we are to be a spiritual oasis, a Jesus well, for the thirsty. How deep is your Jesus well? <><
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