![Psalm 143:4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is [Or desolate] appalled within me. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.](https://systemsofmerritt.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nasb8i.jpg "Daily Psalm NASB")
There have been a few times in my life where I’ve been really thirsty. You know how it feels – throat parched, tongue thick, mouth feels like cotton. Fortunately in our modern world, water is usually nearby at a fountain or faucet.
I’ve seen movies and read books about people who have suffered from severe dehydration and thirst. Perhaps the person is lost in the desert, like the one pictured on the left. There’s nothing but barren rock and scrub brush. No streams, no ponds, no springs, no water anywhere.
I think the Psalmist captures the feelings of a thirsty wanderer in Psalm 143. The spirit is overwhelmed with the thought of finding water. All thoughts are consumed with the search. The mind drifts back to times when the glass was full, thirst was quenched, water was flowing in abundance. Then there is the mirage, the pool of water just ahead of us. We stretch out our hands and stumble toward the illusion.
Can I thirst for God, like the body thirst for water? Does it consume me, does it move me to long for Him and meditate on his blessings in my life?
Dear Lord, let me thirst for you and long for you in all I do. Help me to find the water of life in your scriptures and in the preaching of the gospel, in prayer, in worship, and in service to your people. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 143 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes NASB iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
