Rest awhile
Psalm 42:1, NRSV “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.”
Do I even know how a deer longs for a flowing stream? Do you? Share your story of a longing deer for a stream.
As a deer longs…
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
thedailylily.com 
I have many mental images of a deer and water. One image after being chased by another animal and surviving into safety so tired only water could satisfy the thirst. Another, a calm walk through the woods and coming upon a clear mirror like stream of water and standing and gazing upon its face while drinking in the freedom of refreshing waters.
I have been in both pursuits. And, I like the second image the best. Often, I sit and stare into water which calms my thinking and I think on the unseen things. Faith arises from the depths of many waters and the chasers to harm and the pest that eat away at the soul like envy, strife and unbelief seems to disappear as quickly as the shadow when shade sets in.
A deer so enjoys standing tall and stately in the safety of waters and refreshing its being with life giving sips. So do I! Sips of truth to wash the unbelief, envy and strife into perfect submission of one with Spirit.
This is great imagery to meditate on!
I like your imagery, Sara. It reminds me in a way of this passage in Ps. 23. David surely had a holy imagination….to see these pictures in the spirit.
“”He leads me beside the still waters….He refreshes my soul….for His Name’s sake”” Still waters are best for us sheep. For drinking…and for meditation.
MG, I love the imagery of Psalm 23. One of my first memory scriptures as a child was this Psalm enmeshed in John 3:16.
Almost daily I see the need to place a potion of David’s eyes sight in my eye sockets. A rod and staff of comfort emits anointing meds of peace and hope as my soul begins to thirst for a pure stream of water for myself and a family that just watched a gator in the fantasy land of Florida’s Disney quickly take their 2 year old child. The valley of a shadow of death seems to bear upon the loneliness of watching a love one slip into dementia. Yet, fear has been swallowed in to Aaron’s rod and it will bud at the appropriate time.
Oh, yes the thirsty pant of the deer finding a cool stream so gives imagery to my hearing soul that so longs to hear, “well done my good and faithful servant. “
“Do I even know how a deer longs for a flowing stream? Do you?”
Honestly, I don’t. I sing that song…”as the deer panteth…” but I don’t know how a deer panteth.
I did drive up into a wooded public sanctuary the other day and see two deer standing in the stream below in the woods in two different places in the stream. So, in thinking on your question and scripture, I don’t know if deer always get in streams to drink or if on that day those two deer were so hot and thirsty that they got right with all four legs into the stream to satisfy their thirst.
…”so my soul longs for you, O God.” something to really think on and check up on my soul state.
Haha Debi. I know! I sang that song with you on many occasions in our services, and just figured they did pant. And since David was the anointed of God and wrote his psalms under inspiration of Holy Spirit I guess Holy Spirit would know that scientific fact. Otherwise, I would have no clue, either. But the picture that you described as you traveled into the wooded sanctuary gave me another mental picture….as you described the deer not just drinking from the streams of water but standing right in them. I guess that could be likened to… in one case, drinking from the waters of The Living Fountain, to…in the other case being baptized into them. I guess sometimes just drinking doesn’t quench the thirst for the Living Waters as adequately as being immersed in the Living Waters does.