As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams, LBW 452
1 As pants the hart for cooling streams
When heated in the chase,
So longs my soul,
O God, for you
And your refreshing grace.
2 For you, my God, the living God,
My thirsty spirit pines;
Oh, when shall I behold your face,
O Majesty divine?
3 One trouble calls another on
And gathers overhead,
Falls splashing down, till round my soul
A rising sea is spread.
4 Why restless, why cast down, my soul?
Hope still, and you shall sing
The praise of him who is your God,
Your health's eternal spring.
5 For now I trust in God for strength,
I trust him to employ
His love for me and change my sighs
To thankful hymns of joy.
Devotion
As pants the hart for cooling streams when heated in the chase
So longs my soul my, O God, for you and your refreshing grace.
For you, my God, the living God, my thirsty spirit pines;
Oh, when shall I behold your face, O Majesty divine?
Why restless, why cast down, my soul? Hope still, and you shall sing
The praise of him who is your God, your health's eternal spring. (verses 1, 2 & 4)
This hymn, based on Psalm 42, has long been a favorite of mine. It may seem like a peculiar choice, but I used this hymn as a lullaby for my children when they were infants. It is one of the songs I sang to the rhythm of the rocking chair during the long night watches when they were restless or fitful. It is a song I have sung silently to myself when I have been troubled, lonely or frightened.
The words of this hymn speak both to the longing for God's presence, embedded in the human soul and to the trustworthiness of God's faithfulness. It acknowledges our need for God and God's faithful response to our deepest need.
Prayer
Living God, our souls long for your refreshing presence. Yet we often we confuse our wants with our needs and try to fill the longing or our souls with things that will never satisfy. Forgive our misguided attempts to satisfy ourselves. Fill us instead with your presence. Amen.