Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul; he viewed it not merely as the sweetest of all luxuries, but as an absolute necessity, like water to a stag. Like the parched traveler in the wilderness, whose skin bottle is empty, and who finds the wells dry, he must drink or die — he must have his God or faint. His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. . Give him his God and he is as content as the poor deer which at length slakes its thirst and is perfectly happy; but deny him his Lord, and his heart heaves, his bosom palpitates, his whole frame is convulsed, like one who gasps for breath, or pants with long running. Dear friend, dost thou know what this is, by personally having felt the same? It is a sweet bitterness. The next best thing to living in the light of the Lord’s love is to be unhappy till we have it, and to pant hourly after it — hourly, did I say? Thirst is a perpetual appetite, and not to be forgotten, and even thus continually is the heart’s longing after God. When it is as natural for us to long for God as for an animal to thirst, it is well with our souls, however painful our feelings .Charles Haddon Spurgeon
About This Quote
In this quote, John Bunyan describes the struggle of the Christian soul to be in constant communion with God. He doesn't mention the presence of God as a physical experience, but rather as a sensation in the soul. The Christian can have a physical relationship with God by being baptized, but that is not the same thing as having a spiritual relationship with Him. Being "in communion" is a much better way for describing it. You may not feel thirsty, but you know without drinking from the fountain your body will begin to die.
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