They say it’s possible to live for three weeks without food but only three days without water, so we should drink a lot more than we do. Some years ago, friends took Lorraine and I to an abbey in Hampshire, UK, where from the ground a spring of clear water rose up from under the ground in a free-flowing stream.
The memory of that spring is a continual reminder to me of Christ’s promise that out of the innermost being of believers would flow “rivers of living [running] water” — the Spirit of God streaming out through all those who would believe in the Lord Jesus (John 7:37).
In Psalm 42:7 David uses the phrase “deep calls to deep”: the deep spiritual desire in him to the fathomless ‘depths’ of God. Out of the endless flow of a thundering waterfall God was speaking to David’s deep need to be where he could celebrate God’s presence among His people. He is far from the praise and worship he had known in the Temple at Jerusalem. His enemies mock and taunt him over the apparent absence of his God, to the point that his former elation was in danger of descending into depression.
So, David speaks to his soul: he interrogates himself by asking why he is downcast and then encourages himself to trust in God. A wise preacher once said that the problem too many people had was that they listened to themselves instead of talking to themselves.
When the apostles were released after being warned not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they returned to the company of like minded (Ac believers and sang a psalm. Not just any psalm but the Second Psalm – one that rejoices in the face of opposition. Then they asked the Lord to enable them to speak boldly, and to stretch forth his hand to heal so that signs and wonders would be done in the name of His Son Jesus.
“And after they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 4:18-21) These believers had been present when Jesus poured out the Spirit of God on the Day of Pentecost and so were already filled. This time they were refilled!
In Ephesians 5:18, 19, the apostle Paul warns, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.” The sense of the Greek word translated “filled” is “be being filled continually”. The ceaseless rise and endless flow of that clean, clear spring of water at that abbey in Hampshire springs quickly to mind.
The next word, “speaking” (to yourselves), is “laleo” in NT Greek. It refers not to constructive speech but to chatter, much in the way that a little girl talks to her doll. She chatters to it, and then chatters back in a doll’s voice. This is like “laleo” — speaking to ourselves spontaneously. How? “In psalms (“psalmos”), hymns (“hymnos”) and spiritual songs (“odes”); singing and making melody…”
In NT Greek, “making melody” is one word: “psallo”, which refers to the twanging of a stringed instrument (then a harp; nowadays more often a guitar). Doing this “in your heart to the Lord” means that you are your own musician! The best music is played in your own heart, as pleasant thoughts of God’s love and grace pluck at your heartstrings!
How long has it been since your heart stopped singing? There’s nothing wrong with songs being led by the praise and worship group in church – it’s just that if someone else is singing for you, your heart is not always in it. God wants you to make your own music! When you come to church with your heart singing, it’s so much easier to enter into congregational praise and worship! The “deep things” of God call to your deep needs – just as that deep spring in England called to me.
Your needs are deeper than you know, but God’s supply is much deeper! Paul was astonished at the “depth” of God’s wisdom and knowledge in relation to His faithfulness to Israel – a faithfulness that was (and still is) expressed in His mercy (Romans 11:33).
It’s sad that we only discover the depth of our compassion when a bushfire rages through a township and consumes everything in its path; or when a city is flooded and people are swept away to their deaths. That depth of feeling is always there, deep within us – it’s just that it can take a tragedy for it to become a fast-flowing stream of compassion that causes us to put our hands deep into our pockets and give generously from the heart.
The unutterable yearning of the Spirit of God in us expresses God’s heart toward us, and through us toward others (Romans 8:26). I will never forget holding an abandoned baby in my arms in an Asian slum. The experience would wet the driest cheeks. Involuntary intercession happens when the depth of someone else’s need opens up depths of love in us that we didn’t know existed. When “deep calls to deep” how can the heart not respond?