When can I go and meet with God?
When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42:2 - Our thirst for God can only be quenched by His living water
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Psalms 42:2 NIV
There are times in our lives when we have to ask ourselves that question — “When can I go and meet with God?” You probably know the feeling. Perhaps you’re in a really bad season of your life, and you pray that the Lord would come. Maybe it’s a bad situation with another person, or something that is completely beyond your control, and you’d like to just be at peace.
Now, this psalm was written by one or more of the sons of Korah, a group of Levites who were musicians involved with worship in the temple. Korah himself was the leader of a rebellion against Moses in the days of the Exodus; he and 250 other leaders who were involved in the rebellion were promptly judged by God and died. His sons (and their progeny) were so grateful for their survival that they became exemplary worshippers.
In today’s verse, we see a desperate need for God expressed as a thirst. Think of a situation where you’ve been really dried out, and even a sip of water slaked that thirst. In this analogy, the psalmist is expressing that same urgent need for God, which will only be calmed by God’s presence and love.
Charles Spurgeon wrote of the urgency of this thirst:
“Which is more than hungering; hunger you can palliate, but thirst is awful, insatiable, clamorous, deadly.”
and went on to say that it’s not a thirst for religion and all of its rituals, but for God Himself:
“Not merely for the temple and the ordinances, but for fellowship with God himself. None but spiritual men can sympathise with this thirst.”1
The psalmist then asks when he can go and meet with God. The sons of Korah were involved with workings of the temple and tabernacle, and there was a place to meet with God — the “holy of holies”, the inner sanctuary where God’s presence was manifested.
Even when we know that God is everywhere and with us constantly, we can still feel as if He is far away from us and ask when we can meet with Him! 17th century English theologian Thomas Horton noted that this is a question that only those who honor and love the Lord can ask:
“A wicked man can never say in good earnest, ‘When shall I come and appear before God?’ because he shall do so too soon, and before he would, as the devils that said Christ came ‘to torment them before their time.’ Ask a thief and a malefactor whether he would willingly appear before the judge.” (Horton, cited in Spurgeon)
In our human lifetimes, it can seem like an eternity until we truly can meet with God and have our thirst satisfied by His living water. From the eternal timeframe, we’re only out of His direct presence for the blink of an eye.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, I pray that You would develop in me a deeper and more personal thirst for You, with each passing day. It is only as I drink deeply of Your living waters of life, that my soul can be satisfied. Use me, Lord, as a conduit through whom Your refreshment may be poured out to other thirsty souls. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The Treasury of David: Volume 1" (Psalms 1-57) (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1988)