Intimacy with the Almighty

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

May 27, 2025

Intimacy with the Almighty

As the deer longs for streams of water,

    so I long for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1 

I believe the Psalms invite us to a more personal and intimate perspective in our approach to God. This perspective can lead us to affirm with Saint Augustine that we have a God-shaped vacuum within, and we will not be at peace until we allow God to fill the vacuum. Psalm 42 reminds me that God created me with the need to be loved, accepted, and valued, and only God can fulfill these needs.

Through his intimacy with his Father, Jesus heard and saw things his followers never did. He saw more than a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus saw the man with 20/20 vision. Jesus saw more than his friend Lazarus lying dead in a tomb. He saw his friend alive and well. He saw this because that is what his Father saw. Longing for God is our request for the same intimacy with our Father that Jesus has. And God delights in our longing.

Cheryl and I have a friend leaving in a week for missionary service in Thailand. We asked how long she will be gone. She replied, “I don’t know. I feel like Abraham or Moses. I’ll just keep serving until God tells me to do something else. “As the deer longs for streams of water,” our friend is longing for God.

My Takeaway: I think of the well-known praise and worship song, As the Deer. (Marty Nystrom) when I read Psalm 42. These lyrics invite intimacy with God as we long to stay in the grace for today.

As the deer panteth for the water
    So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
    And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
    To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
    And I long to worship You

As the Deer

Marty Nystrom

Yes and Amen!

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.