To Thirst For the Living God

"My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" -- King David

"There is in true grace an infinite circle: a man by thirsting receives, and receiving thirsts for more." -- Thomas Shepard

"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." -- King David

"I thirst for thirstiness; I weep for tears." -- Thomas Gataker

"I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land." -- King David

"The Samaritan woman at the well found the Lord thirsting, and by him thirsting, she was filled. She first found him thirsting in order that he might drink from her faith. And when he was on the cross, he said, "I thirst," although they did not give him that for which he was thirsting. For he was thirsting for them." -- Augustine

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." -- Isaiah

"We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee stil:
We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill." -- Bernard of Clairvaux

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." -- The Lord Jesus

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still." -- A.W. Tozer

"But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." -- The Lord Jesus

"With meat and drink indeed I'm blest,
Yet feed on hunger, drink on thirst.
My hunger brings a plenteous store,
My plenty makes me hunger more." -- Ralph Erskine

Thirsting For Thirstiness

An untitled poem by Thomas Gataker found among his papers after his death:

I thirst for thirstiness; I weep for tears;
Well-pleased I am to be displeased thus;
The only thing I fear is want of fears,
Suspecting I am not suspicious.
I cannot choose but live, because I die;
And when I am not dead, how glad am I!
Yet, when I am thus glad for sense of pain,
And careful am, lest I should careless be,
Then do I grieve for being glad again,
And fear lest carelessness take care from me.
Amidst these restless thoughts this rest I find,
For those that rest not here, there's rest behind.

Wise Saying

The name of the "good," "holy and reverend man" escapes me (if anyone knows, please post the info), but the saying is worthy of remembrance.

Thomas Gataker, The Christian on Watch, p. 32:

If we could have that continually before the eyes of our soul which a good man had before his eyes ever in his study, "Sin not (be thou ever so secret) for God seeth thee: the good angels stand by thee: the devil is ready to accuse thee: thine own conscience to give in evidence against thee: and hell fire to torment thee:" it would not need so much mastering to keep us waking and watchful, as usually it does.

William Gearing, The Sacred Diary, p. 120:

It is said of a holy and reverend man, that he had this written before his eyes in his study: -- "Sin not thou, though ever so secret: God sees thee, and the angels stand by thee; the devil is ready to accuse thee; thine own conscience to give evidence against thee, and hell fire to torment thee. Be thou in the fear of God all the day long," Prov. xxiii. 17.