This is one of the most incredible verses in all of Scripture.
David is living in the wilderness. He is dwelling there to hide from King Saul, who desires to take his life and eliminate a competitor to the throne. If Saul catches up to him, he is toast. He is hiding in the desert, where food and water are scarce.
David knows his thirst and his desire for safety are physical needs. Even in challenging circumstances, he is able to recognize and put to voice the reality that there is a deeper need within all of us. A need for God. It is from that deeper need that all other solutions flow.
In a “parched land where there is no water”, David falls to his knees in anguish. And he cries out for his thirst to be quenched. Not to be safe from Saul or given water to drink. His thirst is for The Lord. He longs for the presence of God.
Jesus is the Living Water. Our enemies may catch up to us. But our soul truly belongs to God.
David was a flawed man. He had some terrible failures. But God called him a man after his own heart. That is incredibly encouraging.
David provides an example we can follow. We are flawed too. But, like David, we can also live life above the circumstances. Like David, we can use physical wants as a reminder of our spiritual needs. Our physical thirst reminds us to seek the true longing of our souls – to have our spiritual thirst quenched by Living Water. The difficulties of life can become for us an opportunity to gain the true riches of life.
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
– Psalm 63:1