My son James has developed a real love of wildlife over the last few months; especially for deer. He is pictured here with his sister Kaitlin just before he was able to feed a couple of slightly tamer wild red deer. To be honest I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen deer in the wild prior to 2020!! But now we seem to see them frequently and James is always ready to educate us on them! Why am I telling you this? Well I sensed that God may have something to communicate to me about deer in the Bible. It makes an interesting study! One of the most well known passage of scriptures mentioning deer is Psalm 42:1
” As the deer pants for the water brooks so pants my soul for You, O God.”
This Psalm is really full of anguish. The Psalmist talks of his tears being his food day and night. He encourages himself to hope in the Lord despite his current circumstances. But what is significant about deer panting for water?! What I discovered impacted me greatly.
Deer often go to the water to die. When they have been wounded through hunting, the loss of blood makes them thirsty. The water helps alleviate their thirst and soothe the pain. The deer often pants for water when it is dying . The Psalmist is effectually saying that he is despairing of life- he knows that the only comfort for His soul comes from the Lord. In our Christian walks we are to reckon ourselves dead to the world and alive to Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he dies daily. We don’t have to be despairing of life to be longing after the Lord, we just have to be dead to our flesh. When we realise there is no good thing in us, that we are mortally wounded by sin, how refreshing and life giving are the living waters Jesus gives us.
Jesus said to Martha: ” I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live”.
I hope this blesses you today. I’d love to hear your thoughts 💜