Spirit of the Living God
Reading: Psalm 42
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Collage Credit: Jerry Wheat
Those of us who have grown up in the church have been exposed to a wide variety of music through which to praise God. Some sang the metrical Psalms. Others learned choruses at Christian camps. All of us have favorite hymns. God's praises often come more easily through a musical setting.
Life is empty without God. Those who are looking for meaning will find it only when they find the living God. We create many gods to fill the holes in our lives, but only God can remake us.
Augustine said: "Thou hast made us for thyself, and our unquiet heart knows no rest till it finds rest in thee." This Psalmist has been away from the Temple in Jerusalem, and has missed worship for so long that his soul is thirsty. The only solution for that need is an awareness of the presence of God, even in what feels like a dry and foreign place.
Those who attended church camp in my generation often sang the chorus given below. We were very much aware that only God can work in our lives, remaking us for use in the Kingdom. Our own thirst for a sense of God's presence was particularly acute on the last night of camp or conference as we gathered with new friends to open ourselves to God and to rededicate ourselves to God's service in the world. When we were filled with the Spirit, we were ready to praise God.
For Reflection: Do I need a fresh sense of God's Spirit?
A Prayer Seed:
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me.
Danial Iverson, 1935
