A Longing of the Heart

 

“ My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord…”

—Psalm 21:2

Every person is born with a deep longing in his or her heart. Many decisions we make, from early childhood all the way through to old age, are motivated by this longing in our hearts.

If you take a look back at your life, you will see how this longing has motivated you to try to fill a void—a hole in your heart. But, only one thing can fill that void.

When someone asks me, “What is the reason for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I am tempted to answer using Pastor Rick Warren’s summary: “Our sins forgiven, a reason for livin’, a home in heaven.”

I have come to realize that while His role as “The Rescuer of our souls” is vitally important, the Lord Jesus is also the only One who can satisfy the longing in our hearts—filling this hole in our hearts that we inherited at birth.

Speaking of God, the Psalmist testified with these words found in Psalm 21:2-4:

You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, for ever and ever.

Only the true Love that comes from God can satisfy the longing of our hearts. And that Love is Jesus. Encountering the living Lord Jesus Christ is the most startling event we will ever experience.

Even those of us who believe that God chose the ones who would belong to Him before the foundation of the world also realize that each of those ones He has chosen had some moment in their lives where the Holy Spirit revealed to them the depth of their sin, their need of a Savior, and the marvelous gift that God has given them is His Son, the Lover of their souls.

So, an extremely important component of the gospel of Jesus is that He, and He alone, can fulfill the longing of our souls.

Again, the Psalmist puts my poor thoughts into elegant words in Psalm 84:2, 4:

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

When someone asks you why you have become a follower of Jesus—a Christian or a “Christ’s-one”—most certainly explain how you came to understand you are a sinner in need of a Savior.

But please, also be certain to tell them what you know in the very core of your being: that there is a hole in your heart—a longing of the heart—that only God’s precious Son can fill.

Clara T. Williams wrote these stunningly accurate words in the hymn “Satisfied”:

All my life long I had panted
for a draught from some cool spring,
that I hoped would quench the burning
of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings;
Through His blood I now am saved.

With all this evidence, is it any wonder that we follow Jesus?

 

Here’s a particularly beautiful rendition of Clara Williams’ hymn from the late tenor soloist, Donald Doig that I hope you will enjoy:

 

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