Ep. 108 | A Thirsty Soul
Speaker: Lee Aman
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Available on all podcasting platforms -
Summary
Lee shares about a soul that thirsts for God. What does that mean? And, how does a thirsty soul drive us to our God and savior?
Scriptures Explored: Psalm 46:10, Ezekiel 14:11, Psalm 62, Psalm 63
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Music created by Chad Hoffman
Artwork created by Anthony Kuenzi
Speaker’s Bio
Lee Aman came from South Korea and grew up in Silverton, Oregon. The three best words that describe Lee would be spontaneous, energetic, and busy. He loves sharing God’s Word with people because "that is why I am here. To know God and make him known, to share His love and truth to those who hunger for it."
Transcript
Intro:
Hey there, welcome to Pickled Parables. This podcast is presented by Parable Ministries as a Bible teaching resource. Thank you for joining us. Pickled Parables is a podcast about taking in and living out the Bible. Here we will study, contemplate, and testify to the Bible's incredible teachings and how it leads us to live better lives. To stay up to date with all things parable, follow us on Instagram at parable underscore ministries and visit our website at parableministries.com. We hope today's message finds you well.
Message:
Hey guys, my name is Lee Aman, and it's so good to be back with you here on Pickled Parables.
I will admit it has been a while since I've last spoken on here, but I'm very excited to just share with you some things that God has put on my heart recently.
And so the goal for today is really just to share with you some scripture and Psalms and to point us back to what really just truly matters.
And I know I say this a lot, but it is one of my firm beliefs that the single greatest pandemic that is sweeping our world is distraction or maybe busyness, meaning that there is so much to do in our culture.
I mean, think about what your typical day looks like.
For many of us, our quiet times come in the morning before work.
That's how we like to start off our day because the rest of the day is so busy with life, things that we have to do.
For others of us, maybe we aren't morning people.
And so our quiet times consist of more evenings or afternoons, maybe after work.
Whatever the case is, we typically like to have some time set aside for the Lord.
Now, if we're being honest with ourselves, that probably doesn't happen every single day for our entire lives, right?
As much as we would want this to.
Or maybe it took a while to get into that routine or some sort of rhythm perhaps.
And I'll be honest with you, if you're like me and you find yourself at times to be a yes man or to be someone who loves activities and to stay busy like all the time, finding this quiet time can be incredibly challenging.
It often takes discipline and even that can be challenging.
We may not always want to do it all the time or it can be difficult to sift through daily activities and distractions throughout the day.
I don't really know if this is true, but sometimes I feel like I have ADHD or something because it can often be hard for me to just let my mind rest.
Often there are so many things buzzing around in there that sitting still and finding rest is incredibly difficult.
However, I think it's so necessary in our spiritual growth to find times of rest in Jesus.
Psalm 46 10 says to be still and know that I am God.
And I've always known this verse to be true and yet I still struggle to make this a reality in my life.
And I've heard this saying before that if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy.
What's one of the best ways to keep us from running to God?
Well, it's by making us run towards other things, not bad things all the time, just maybe other things.
Maybe it's your career.
Maybe it's something that you want to do with your life.
Maybe you deeply desire to get an amazing college degree or for four years of your life, you are just consumed with all that surrounds college.
I know I was often more invested in Varsity House than in my faith.
And that was a great community with great Christian friends and wholesome relationships, but it still wasn't what my soul needed for food.
Or maybe for you, it's simply family and family life.
Has it consumed more of your life or even your thought life than Jesus?
And I won't go super deep into this, but I have recently been reading through Ezekiel during my often infrequent Bible times.
Within the first chapters of Ezekiel, it seems as though God is pouring out his future wrath on the Israelites, constantly telling Ezekiel to prophesy on their coming judgment and Jerusalem's destruction.
Now granted, they were committing abominations in his sight, but I began to feel kind of just slightly depressed and began to question, okay, where's the hope, right?
When is God going to change his mind or when is Israel going to get it all together?
But Israel had been living in sin and many of the elders had many idols.
In Ezekiel 14, it says that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God.
Now, I realize that there is barely any context here and I would definitely encourage you to go and read the first part of Ezekiel, but I mentioned this to point out that idols, distractions and sin all lead away from God and that what God was trying to do for the Israelites here is to bring them back to himself.
God desired and he desires relationship with us.
He deeply loves and wants communion with all of us, not just parts of us.
And what we have to realize is that God is always trying to call us back to him, to bring us back from our distractions, from our idols, because he knows that is what's best for us, right?
That our greatest good is found in abiding in Christ, in Yahweh, in the creator of the universe.
And God's desire here for the Israelites is for them to no more go astray, to not live in sin, so that they may know that Yahweh was their God and that they are his people, meant to be set apart, meant for his plan of salvation.
And so I say all that to help emphasize that we live in a world full of idols, full of distractions and full of things that can numb us to the glory and the power of God.
It's been happening since the beginning of time.
And I believe we need constant reminders of what is important, what should be preeminent in our lives and not just significant.
Is Jesus the first thing that you think about every morning and the last thing on your mind before you go to bed?
Do you meditate on the word of God?
Does your soul thirst for more of God?
For me, that has been one of the largest questions in driving forces in my prayer life.
Does my soul just thirst for God?
And what does that even mean?
What does that look like?
Do I ache for God when I just can't get enough of Him?
Or do I go throughout the day waiting in anticipation for more of Him?
And please understand, this is by no means meant to be a guilt trip or to make you feel bad about the things that are important in your life, but it's really to help remind myself, to remind us, that even what is truly the most important thing and what truly will satisfy our deepest longings and desires is Jesus.
Psalm 62 and 63 have been a huge reminder for me of who God is or who He should be in my life.
And the language used here translated for us in our English language is just very, very cut and dry.
Meaning it's very clear on who God is and should be and what we should do in order for Him to be preeminent or the very first thing in our lives or having the most priority.
And so look at what David says in Psalm 62.
He says, for God alone, my soul waits in silence.
From Him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him?
Like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.
For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence.
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in Him at all times, oh people, pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us.
Those of low estate are but a breath.
Those of high estate are a delusion.
And the balances they go up, they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no trust in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery.
If riches increase, set not your hearts on them.
Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you were rendered to a man according to his work.
And Psalm 63 says, oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirst for you.
My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory, because your steadfast love is better than life.
My lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live.
In your name, I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.
When I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night.
For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you.
Your right hand upholds me.
In the past, oh, I don't know, month or so, there was a time when Jesse Turkington would frequently visit our farmhouse on Sunday afternoons.
And these visits, they would usually consist of dedicated times to play call of duty zombies together, or maybe to watch a movie.
And for many weeks, we would go through each of the different maps and play for hours at times.
And between Johnny, Eric, Jesse, and I, we had many of our roles figured out towards the end.
And it would be this fun time filled with great company.
And I remember going throughout the week anticipating these days.
Like I would get to Sunday and be like, when's Jesse coming over?
It became something that I just looked forward to with excitement.
And as I was thinking and preparing for this message, I couldn't help but think about Psalm 63, where it says, oh God, you are my God.
Earnestly, I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My flesh faints for you.
And I asked myself the question, does my soul thirst for God in this way?
Like, do I wait in anticipation to see what God has to say?
Or to put it another way, do I look forward to spending time with him?
Sometimes I would view my time spent with Jesus as a chore or something I know I needed, but didn't always want to do.
And I would begin to ask myself like, why?
Because the to-do list of the day would constantly just flood my mind.
And so making time to sit quietly with the Lord seems counterproductive almost.
But I knew that each time I would never regret it.
And it would always be what was best, what my soul needed.
But nevertheless, I still struggled with this notion of waiting in silence, that God alone is who my soul should wait for.
And that is something that I still struggle with to this day.
But that's also why I believe that it's vital to our faith and to our own mental health even, to take times to just be still and to know that Yahweh is our God, that he's our creator.
In verse one of chapter 62, David writes, For God alone, my soul waits in silence.
From him comes my salvation.
And I think that our world says that it has a lot to offer in terms of salvation, right?
It claims to have all these good things that will get us to where we need to go.
It tells us to put our hope in money, in careers, in friends, in technology, or even the future.
It says that those things will make us better, that it will save us from ourselves.
And while in and of themselves, these material things are not evil, they're not bad, looking to them for our salvation will cost us our very lives.
David clearly tells us that in God alone comes our salvation and our hope.
In fact, he almost word for word repeats himself in verse five.
David writes this in a very melodic or rhythmic tone, almost like within a song.
And you could almost think of his repetition in these verses as much like a chorus.
He wants us to pay attention and to take note that God alone is our rock and salvation.
He is our fortress.
But it can be so easy to put our trust in the world.
And the things that we can see and things that we can touch and feel, it's more difficult often to put our trust in something that we can't see or something that we can't hear directly from.
And we can often take our lives into our own hands and plan our own day or seem to want to plan our own destiny as well.
And especially today, our society becomes increasingly good at trying to fill our heads with lies that we control our own destinies, that our lives are our own and should be treated as such.
When in reality, we come to understand that we must put our hope and faith in Christ alone.
And that our lives are not our own, but that we were bought and set free to serve Christ for the rest of our lives.
And that is a very good thing.
Verse eight explains that we have to trust in God at all times to pour out our heart before Him, for He is our refuge.
It doesn't say only in our quiet times, nor does it say only in the mornings or evenings.
It also doesn't say that we should only trust in God when things are going well.
No, it says trust in Him at all times, oh people.
Not just when things are going good, when things are going our way, but even in the hardest times in our life.
But that often only happens if we practice and discipline ourselves.
If we take times to get to truly know God and His character, it makes times of suffering and doubt easier because we know the heart and character of God and His promises.
David wrote this Psalm at a time where there was oppression by the powerful and the wealthy.
And this was sung to foster confidence in God's care over His people.
And the temptation was to despair or to seek power and security in things other than God alone.
And it can be so easy to see the world as going into chaos, as failing.
And while all of creation does groan, I think it's very important to realize, like verse 11 says, that power belongs to God and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
I often can get discouraged and sometimes feel hopeless at the state of our world or the state of our government.
And what I have to realize is that all power and all authority has been given to Jesus, that he alone can save and that he does have a plan, and that with Jesus comes steadfast love.
And I think that this is why I love Psalm 63 so much.
Because it begins with great self-reflection, at least for me.
My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
And David paints this vivid picture for us.
It almost seems dramatic in a way as he describes his fainting flesh and a desert wasteland.
It's like, really, does your soul thirst that much?
Should we really be feeling this way about God?
And it's like, yes, we totally should thirst and hunger for God, like parched lips with no water.
Like, I don't know, just imagine you were thrown in like the Sahara Desert.
Just bear with me here for a second.
You were thrown into the Sahara Desert by helicopter and you were just dropped there, right?
And then the pilot, he took off and said, see ya, and you had no source of food or water.
And I don't think it would take very long to become desperate for food or for water, to become parched and so famished to the point of fainting and probably even death.
And I think that David, he wants us to understand that this is what our hearts should be like in seeking and searching for God's word, for more of himself to just earnestly seek God.
It means that it takes work.
It means it doesn't always happen overnight and it means it takes effort.
Sometimes it even takes a starving stomach or a parched mouth to realize how much we need food and water.
I don't know how many of you can relate to this, but I kind of equate this to a difficult hike maybe.
In order to reach my destination, I have to hike often in rough terrain or conditions, but the end result is always worth it.
And sometimes along the way, I get incredibly hungry and thirsty and I have to stop to drink or eat.
Sometimes I get so desperate for water, I can't stop thinking about it or so hungry that it's all I can think about.
And what if, and hear me out, what if we were so desperate for God and so hungry for His word that it was all we could think about.
It was all that we could fill our minds with every single day.
What if we began to earnestly seek His word and God's character, so much so that we become lost without it?
What if we lived every single day as if we could never get enough of scripture?
Now, doesn't that seem a little bit foreign to some of us?
At least to me, sometimes, right?
It's like, how do I get there?
How do we get to that?
How do I learn how to thirst for Christ in this way?
And I think the easy answer is simply just a Christ saturated life.
How do we know we need water or food?
Well, we've tasted it before.
Our bodies ache for it.
How do we crave ice cream?
Well, we've had to try it first, right?
Why is it that sometimes I desire chocolate milk over water?
Well, because it's so rich and so tasty and because I've had it before.
Verse two says, so I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
You see, we have to saturate ourselves with God and His word to know how much we need it.
We must look upon Jesus, upon God and His throne, and just simply behold His power and glory in order to thirst and hunger for it, taste and see that the Lord is good.
With the help and the reminder of the Holy Spirit, we can earnestly seek God and truly witness, behold and marvel at His glory and all of His splendor.
That is how we come to know and understand that His steadfast love is better than life.
And so our lips will praise you.
If we're constantly surrounded by our distractions, if we live a constantly busy life filled with tight schedules, anxiety, we never know the steadfast love of God.
We begin to thirst for maybe even the wrong things.
I mean, to put it on the extreme side, think of addictions, drug addictions.
How do they work?
Well, it starts with saturation or exposure to the drug, to the wrong thing.
That then leads to wanting more and more and more.
Addictions all act in a similar way.
And overexposure or constant covetousness produces a deep longing or desire that can only be satisfied by that very thing.
But I mean, you can't really be exposed too long to Jesus, right?
He's maybe kind of the exception.
But my point is that the more we saturate our lives with God and His word, the more we begin to desire it.
The more we begin to know His love and to know what is good.
And the less we begin to desire the world and its distractions and its pleasures.
Knowing Jesus is like being satisfied as with fat and rich food.
It's like becoming full.
After a great dinner with good food, it's incredibly satisfying.
We feel accomplished and filled to the brim with tacos or with steak.
We have to learn and discipline ourselves to filter out the world's distractions and idols, to earnestly seek God, not just casually seek Him.
If we don't, we run the risk of wasting our lives and falling for things that in the end will not save or satisfy and will not lead to a rich and full life.
Not with money or the riches of the world, but with rich and full to the brim of the joy and peace of Christ.
With simply the knowledge and wisdom that comes from knowing Jesus.
When someone understands that they are fully known and fully loved by the creator of the universe, it really changes how you live.
It changes how you view yourself.
And that only comes with knowing God and His word.
And so my hope for myself and for all of you is that day by day, we saturate ourselves with more and more of God's word, more and more of just Himself, whether through prayer, through worship and through His word, to the point where we begin to need it to survive, to hunger, to thirst for it, to get to the point where we desperately just can't live without it every single day for the rest of our lives.
And that often takes help from others, from good godly people in our lives.
It takes self-discipline.
And I think most of all, it takes prayer and trust and full reliance and full dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Because soon as we start to depend or rely on any part of ourselves, it takes Jesus out of the factor and the equation really just becomes unsolvable.
Outro:
Thank you for listening to Pickled Parables. If you enjoyed this message, please rate us, subscribe, and share with your friends. If you're interested in more things like this, check out our secondary podcast called My Dusky Bible. To stay up to date with all things Parable, follow us on Instagram at parable underscore ministries, and visit our website at parableministries.com. Parable is a volunteer organization, and we would deeply appreciate your prayers. Thank you for joining us today. We'll catch you later.
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