The Desert

I love the desert.

There is no way to describe why I love the desert, except for these words written by David when he was hiding in this barren wasteland from Saul.

O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You.
My Soul thirsts for You.
My Body longs for You…
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1

The Desert of Judah is a stunning thing to behold. It’s canyons, cliffs, and high places make it an awesome place. David knew this place well. The Judah Desert is right in the backyard of both Bethlehem and Jerusalem. In the biblical story, it’s the land of the shepherd. So David as a boy who is put in charge of his dad’s sheep probably knew every nook and cranny of that place. It’ would have been a place where he would have been all alone for days, even week’s caring for his dad’s sheep. It would have been the place where he would learn how to defend himself against the lion and the bear. But even more, this would be the place where David would become a man after God’s own heart.

The desert.

This dry, barren wasteland was sometimes referred to as the Tehom, the watery deep, leading into the abyss (Dead Sea).

Yet, it is here where I sense God like no other place.

I think it’s because God loves this place, too. Yes, people can look at it, and say that is the abyss, because on its appearance it is a wasteland. It is hot and intensely barren. It is quite the contrary to our “Disneyland” way of life.

However, in Jeremiah 2, God reminds a “back-sliding” people – Do you remember our honeymoon in the desert? Do you remember when we were lovers and first getting to know each other? What happened to us? (Yes, this is my paraphrase). God is asking these questions through the prophet Jeremiah, a man who grew up in Anathoth, a suburb just outside Jerusalem overlooking the Judah Desert. Then it’s through Jeremiah, a man familiar with the desert, through whom God answers His question. What went wrong – You dug cisterns for yourself that are broken and hold no water. In doing so, you have forsaken Me, the Spring of Living Water.

To me, what is so amazing about the desert, while it is utterly barren in terms of “worldliness, here, in this place, the presence of God just gushes.

Is it coincidence then that out of the Judah Desert flows this beautiful spring? In biblical times (and even today) the place of this spring is called En Gedi, which means the Spring of the deer. In fact, we read at the end of 1 Samuel 23 and the beginning of 24 that this is one of the places David hides from Saul. When you come to this place after driving through the hot desert climate, you can’t imagine how excited David must have been to come to this spring (he wasn’t driving). Is this what David came upon that caused his heart to write Psalm 63? I can’t help but think so.

Do you hear what David is saying – in this dry and weary place where there is no water… yes, I am thirsty… yes, I am hungry. But as much as I would love a glass of water or a hearty meal… my soul and my entire being, in this place, thirst and hunger for the living God. God I want you. My heart and my soul want to feast on You.

The desert.

The desert, like that spring, gushes with God.

I love the desert.
I thank God that I get this time in the Desert.

“As the deer pants for the streams of water so my soul longs for Thee.”

the spring of living water

the “deer”

The kids made the whole hike…through 2 wadis!