A Passion for God
Psalm 42:1-2
1. As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.
2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
A recent poll was taken among pastors across then nation. The question was asked, “What do you consider to be your church’s greatest threat?”
The number one answer was, “lost passion for God.”
Another question was asked, “What do you consider to be your church’s greatest weakness?”
The number one answer was, “Lack of zeal or commitment among members.”
The number two answer was, “Lack of burden for lost souls.”
Now, already you can discern that this message is not the popular “make me feel good” message.
It is a message designed to arouse us to have a greater passion for God.
The word passion has several different definitions that share the same qualities, yet we get something different and distinctive from each word.
The word passion means; intense emotion such as love or joy.
Enthusiasm for something
Hunger, thirst, craving
Delight, fervency, obsession
Do we have an intense emotion of love for God?
Are we enthusiastic about serving God?
Do we hunger and thirst for God?
Do we delight to be in His presence?
Do we have fervency and even an obsession to please Him in all we do?
These are challenging questions! Questions that demand an explanation if we are guilty of deficiency in these areas!
Let’s face it! Christians ought to have a passion for God!
We do not know for a certainty who wrote this psalm, but whoever it was had an intense hunger and thirst for God.
He wrote, “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God!”
The writer here compares his thirst for God with a deer that is thirsty for a stream of water.
The fields may have been dry and barren with the deer wandering for hours or days trying to find a little nourishment.
Or, the meaning here could be of a deer being chased by the hunters; being tired, exhausted, and worn he longs for the streams of water.
Either way the writer had an intense desire to be in the presence of God.
It’s always comforting to be in the presence of God! And it is also distressing to be away from His presence.
Sometimes we as Christians stray away from the “Living fountain” and we become parched and dry.
The things of this world cannot quench the thirst of the soul.
Once we have tasted of the things of God and have had the pleasure of being in His presence, nothing else will satisfy our soul.
Isaiah 41:17 “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue failed for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”
If you are dry this morning; if you feel parched in your soul; run to the fountain!
Mt 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Maybe you have fallen prey to the attacks of Satan and he is continually on your trail.
He won’t let up! He is fervently tracking your every step and you have become exhausted and weary.
Don’t give up! Don’t let the devil take advantage of you!
2Co 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Begin to thirst after the “water brooks”! Keep on running until you come into the presence of God!
Oh church! Let us thirst for God! Let us hunger for the presence of God!
Don’t lose your passion for God! When you lose your passion for God you lose the benefits of that close relationship with Him.
Passion for God brings a passionate relationship! For God has a desire to have fellowship with you.
Now, I ask the question, “Do you have a passion for God?”
Some people have a passion for sports. Some have a passion for fishing! Others have a passion for cars, etc.
They love to be at the ballgame! They can’t wait to get out on the lake! They are excited about riding that Harley Davidson!
And, it’s okay to be excited about those things to an extent.
But what about our passion for God! Where does He fit in?
And what about our hunger and thirst for Him; to be in His presence; to come before Him with thanksgiving and praise!
Ps 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
Oh my friend! In a world of such turmoil and perplexity; in these perilous times; when our lives are filled with stress, anxiety and fear; let us thirst after God; to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
There isn’t a better place to be; when you are stressed, filled with anxiety, and your soul feels empty, and life seems meaningless; yes, there is no better place to be than in the presence of God, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple!
When you have a passion for God you will have a desire to worship Him, to bow down before Him, to come into His presence, to hunger and thirst after righteousness so you can be pleasing in His sight.
Where is our passion to come in His presence?
Where is our enthusiasm in our worship and praise?
Where is our delight in hearing the Word of God?
Where is our fervency for doing something for God?
Where is our hunger for the things of God?
Such challenging questions that demand our response!
Have the things of this world assumed more status, more significance, and more value to us than the things of God?
How can we sit in our pew each Sunday morning and not become passionate about God?
How can we hear the Word of God preached, hear the songs of praise and worship, and not become aroused in our spirit?
It is God who allowed you to be in this worship service today!
It was God who reached down and picked you up out of the miry clay of sin!
It was God who gave you life and gave it to you more abundantly!
It was God who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light!
It was God who has accepted you, redeemed you, justified you, and saved you!
How can we not have a passion for God?
Church, let us renew our passion for God!
As I briefly mentioned, when we place more importance and emphasis upon the “things” of this world than we do the “things” of God we lose our passion for God!
Matthew 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
When our lives are dedicated to worldly things and desires we lose our passion for God!
We are living in the world when materialism is being glorified and overrated and we find ourselves trying to “fit in” to this lifestyle; so we work hard, spend more hours at work; then we have to have our leisure time, and that takes up our extra time; I ask this morning, Where does God fit in?
Where is our passion for God?
“Oh, but Pastor we come to church on Sundays, that is if we don’t have someplace to go. We give money in the offering, not exactly 10%, but we give! We send our kids to Sunday school; what else do you expect us to do?”
It’s not what the pastor expects you to do, but it’s what does God require of you?
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
Oh my friend, this is not a message of rebuke. This isn’t a message to scold you are make you feel guilty; it is a message of love! We’ve lost our passion for God, and we need to get it back!
In closing, let us consider the words of our text again.
1. As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.
2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
Oh that we would become thirsty for God! That we would become hungry!
Oh that we might come before His presence and cry out to God; “Lord, give me more of you! Lord, help me to draw closer to you! Lord, help me to come into your presence that I may feel your glory in my soul!
In Isaiah chapter six we find where ole Isaiah had an encounter with God. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord high and lifted up and His train filled the temple.”
If Isaiah had never had a passion for God, he sure did from this point on!
Church, Its time we have a passion for God!
