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The shepherds of Israel were desert shepherds. Abraham, Rebecca, Joseph, and David spent most of their lives in the rocky deserts of Israel. To survive in the wilderness, a shepherd and her sheep must have water. Water is life. The desert is also the place where the children of Israel met God. The desert is not a place for pretense; it is not a place where one can hide from God. More than that, the desert is a metaphor for how and where one meets God. |
| “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)
We should not be surprised that one of the central pictures of God in the Bible is water. Much of life is desert, and it is in the desert that one understands the water of God. Near the shores of the Dead Sea, deep in the Judean Wilderness, fresh water gushes out of the desert floor creating an oasis called En Gedi. It was here that David hid from Saul and it is likely one of the places of inspiration for the king-poet, David. The water that brings forth life at En Gedi is a picture of how God meets his children's thirst in the desert.
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| As a shepherd, David understood thirst. He understood physical and spiritual thirst. Even though he was Israel's greatest king, David's life was filled with hardship, betrayal and disappointment. David had the courage to wrestle with God, and to call out to God, and to look to God to satisfy his thirst.
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42) |
| Page 3: Desert Mirage |
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