THIRST FOR GOD

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God" (Psalm 41:4 NKJV).

In our verse, the Psalmist expresses a great desire for God, and compares his desire to the deer who is very thirsty for water. Thus we want to note a vigorous thirst, a virtuous thirst, and a valuable thirst.

Vigorous thirst - “As the deer pants for the water brooks.” The word translated “pants” carries the idea of having a great longing for something. We could therefore say that the deer had a very vigorous thirst for water. The Psalmist says his thirst for God is like that. He longed greatly for God. A thirst like that would revolutionize our Bible study, prayer life, and church attendance.

Virtuous thirst - “As the deer pants for the water brooks.” The deer in our verse thirsted after water which is a legitimate thirst. There are a lot of folks today who are not thirsting for water, but for things that are forbidden. We need to be careful about the things we are thirsting after. It is so easy in this age of corruption to develop glutted appetites and thirsts for evil things. It’s important that we cultivate a thirst for God. No thirst is more virtuous than a thirst for God.

Valuable thirst - “Water.” The thirst for water is a very valuable thirst. It is a thirst that will bring life instead of death. So it is with the spiritual thirst for God. It is the difference between life and death spiritually. Not thirsting for God in this life means being without God in the next. No thirst is more valuable than a thirst for God.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“He who abandons himself to God will never be abandoned by God!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Displayed publicly

In Rom. 3:25 we read, “Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed” (NASB).

Displayed publicly is the is the Greek word protithēmi (προτίθημι = prot-ith'-em-ahee). It is made up of two words: “pró” which means forth, or before “títhemi” which means to place. Thus the word means to set forth so as to be manifest. Literally, it carries the idea of placing before oneself, to set forth, to set before the eyes, to set forth so as to be looked at and to expose to public view.

In Classical Greek protithēmi has many uses including to propose, to set up, to put forward and to convene. In the Septuagint (LXX), protithēmi was used in reference to the showbread being placed before the Lord (Ex. 29:23). In the New Testament, protithēmi also carries the idea of secular usage of placing before the public for display.

Further, the word is in the middle voice and the aorist tense. The middle voice lays stress upon the personal interest of God in predetermining His eternal purpose. The aorist tense indicates this public display was a definite act in the past. So here in Rom. 3:25, Paul used protithēmi in reference to Jesus being presented by God as a sacrifice to demonstrate His justice.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah’s body would not see corruption (Psalm 16:10)

New Testament Fulfillment – Acts 2:31.

Bible Facts About Jesus

Jesus and Simon

According to Matt. 27:32, Simon was conscripted to help Jesus carry the cross up to Golgotha. This man was from Cyrene, also called Niger in Acts 13:1. This is not in the country known as Niger today. Rather he was from the country of Libya. Simon had two sons who were apparently known to the early church (Mark 15:21).

Bible Quiz

Who watched as Moses floated in the basket down the Nile?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give Me a drink.” The well where Jesus met the woman was known by what name? Jacob’s well (John 4:6-7)

That’s in the Bible

"Thief in the night”

"For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2 NKJV).

“Thief in the night” - The expression “thief in the night” carries the idea of secrecy, or being discreet. And so the depiction of a “thief” speaks of both surprise and loss. A “thief in the night” surprises the victim. The Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth when He is least expected. People will be so in the dark spiritually that they will be surprised by His coming. Furthermore, the idea a “thief” speaks of loss for the victim. The sinner will experience a great loss at the coming of Christ.

Did You Know – Christian History

Thomas Bray was born in 1656 or 1658 in Marton, Shropshire, England. He was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

Bray was trained at Oxford and became an Anglican rector. His life took a dramatic turn when the Bishop of London received a letter from Maryland pleading for religious instruction. Bray was chosen to investigate the religious conditions in the American colony.

Due to complications, Bray was not able to set sail for the American Colonies immediately. He however, used the delay to enlist missionaries to travel with him. He soon realize that the older, more established clergymen were not interested in transplanting to the colonies. Only the young men who were usually poor, were willing to venture forth. And the lack of funds meant that these men could not afford the costly books they desperately needed if they were to continue their studies and respond in an educated manner to critics. To provide the books needed, Bray organized the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). With the help of many contributors, he acquired books and shipped them across the Atlantic.

While in the colony, Bray reorganized the Maryland church, established a better system for examining candidates for the ministry, set in motion a system of parochial schools, and established thirty-nine libraries. In a day when fifty books were considered a sizable private collection, the SPCK put together collections of sixty and more volumes to ship overseas.

Back in England, Bray founded another Society - one for the Propagation of the Gospel. He continued his work with the SPCK. Bray also took a leading role in prison ministries. It was Bray who convinced General Oglethorpe to found the penal colony of Georgia. From 1706 until his death, Bray served as rector of Saint Botolph’s Without in Aldgate, London. Thomas Bray died February 15, 1730 and was buried two days later in the churchyard at St. Botolph’s, London.

A Little Humor

A young doctor examined an old man. “And how do you feel?” the doctor asked. “Not so good,” the old man said sadly. “My left leg is giving me fits, it hurts badly!” “Oh, don’t you think that’s just old age, my friend?” asked the doctor. “No,” said the old man. “My right leg is the same age as the left, and it doesn’t hurt!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Every person faces this choice - Christ or condemnation!”