As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

  - Psalm 42.1, 2

My soul is like a land without water.
My bowels burned as if with fire.
May my heart burn with the fire of Your love and fear,
Your love and holy fear which knows not how to yield.

  - The Prayers of Moucan, Irish, 8th-9th century[1]

In this week’s ViewPoint series I argue that one overarching passion should consume all who have made the Kingdom turn.

This is the passion to know the Lord Jesus and to enjoy His presence. This, after all, is the substance of eternal life (Jn. 17.3). We have been called to the Kingdom and glory of God, friends, and if we have truly heeded that calling, knowing the Lord and His presence will be our constant, consuming desire.

I wonder if we can pray the words of the psalmist sincerely? Do we long for the presence of God with a burning thirst that can only be quenched by His living water? Do we seek opportunities, throughout the day, just to grab a few moments with Him?

Or are our best affections wasted on fleeting things?

For many of us, our souls are like deserts, gasping to be irrigated by the waters of reviving grace; yet we are scarcely aware of the drought conditions that obtain there. If only our hearts were like that of the psalmist, “When, Lord? When can I get a few moments alone with You?”

Moucan knew whereof we speak. His soul was parched and burning. He prayed that his heart – the seat of all our affections, the “wellspring of all being”, as Edwards put it – would burn with fire from and for the Lord. He longed to love and fear the Lord so much that his soul would not know how to yield to sin, but only to the good and perfect will of God.

If only that were our great desire and longing as well!

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you…?” our gracious God demands to know. “[T]o fear the LORDYour God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him...” (Deut. 10.12). If only we understood that what God wants from us above all else is that we fear and love Him, our souls on fire with longing to be in His presence, hungry to commune with Him, slaked and satisfied only by looking into the face of Jesus and beholding the glory of God there (2 Cor. 4.6).

We waste our most sincere affections on matters of merely temporal significance, while love for the eternal God grows dry and dusty, and our souls wither. Our souls thirst for the early and latter rains of God’s refreshing presence, yet we have become sadly accustomed to the drought that parches our minds, hearts, and consciences. We sip from the river of life, when God calls us to plunge in and become immersed in and carried along by it.

Moucan’s prayer would be a good one to memorize, both to begin each day and to offer up to the Lord throughout the day:

May my heart burn with the fire of Your love and fear,
Your love and holy fear which knows not how to yield.

Let us press on, friends, to know, love, and serve our risen and reigning King.

Psalm 42.1-3 (Nettleton: “Come, Thou Fount”)
As the deer pants for fresh water let my soul, Lord, pant for You!
Let my soul thirst as it ought to for the Savior, ever true!
Tears by day have been my portion, tears by night have been my food,
While my foes add to my sorrow, saying, “Where now is your God?”

Lord, give and grant and impart to me Your holy grace, and Your Holy Spirit, to protect me and preserve me from all my sins, and to kindle in me all righteousness. Adapted from Litany of Jesus II[2]

Get your spiritual life in order!
OK, ready for an earnest and sincere look at your spiritual life? The course, Introduction to Spiritual Theology, investigates what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus in every area of your life. The focus of this course at The Ailbe Seminary is to help you find your place on the path of revival, renewal, and awakening, and to equip you to make steady progress in knowing, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. You can take this course online at your own pace, just by registering at The Ailbe Seminary today.

If you have not yet begun praying for revival – in yourself, your church, and our world – I want to encourage you to do so, beginning today. Our book, Restore Us!, provides all the rationale, guidance, and instruction you need to incorporate prayer for revival in your walk with and work for the Lord. Order several copies today by clicking here, and enlist some friends to join with you regularly to seek the Lord for revival.

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The blessing of our Lord be upon you today.

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.