Hunger

Hunger – verb.  have a strong desire or craving for.

Psalm 51:8-12 KJVS
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. [9] Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. [10] Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. [11] Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. [12] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Sins, transgressions and iniquities separate us from God. When God answers our prayer and actions of repentance, turning from them and returning to Him, the answer is this,

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 

This “clean heart & right spirit” will have a natural hunger for God and His Presence. The word “Create” in the verse implies God doing something miraculous.

Create – H1254 – Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Definition
to create, shape, form. (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject)

David felt the separation from God caused by his rebellion “transgression.” David longed, “hungered” to feel God’s presence again. In another place David expressed his hunger for communion with God,

Psalm 63:1-3  O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.

You can’t long or “hunger” for something you never experienced, tasted. Except a person is born again by God’s Spirit, a Creative Miracle of God, he isn’t “Born Again.” It’s easy to “act” religious and never have known God’s Presence. Many find peace of mind through a hobby or activity, for some religion does it. It’s a false peace or tranquility of mind and heart because it can easily be lost and is only available while performing the ritual. On the contrary, God’s Presence is infinite. There is now place that can be hidden from it.

Psalm 139:7-10 KJVS
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? [8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. [9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; [10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

All the religion you can muster will never come close to experiencing God’s Presence. Once you do, no sin will have the power to quell the hunger to dwell again under the shadow of the Almighty God. God’s Holy Spirit working in you won’t allow that hunger to be forgotten.

Under The Shadow Of The Almighty
By Mary B. M. Duncan

“Under the shadow of the Almighty.” This is an expression which implies great nearness. We must walk very close to a companion, if we would have his shadow fall on us. Can we imagine any expression more perfect in describing the constant presence of God with His chosen ones, than this—they shall “abide under His shadow”?    In Solomon’s beautiful allegory, the Church in a time of special communion with Christ, says of Him—”I sat down under his shadow with great delight” (Song of Solomon 2:3)—”sat down,” desiring not to leave it, but to abide there for ever. And it is he who chooses to dwell in the secret place of the most High, who shall “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”    There is a condition and a promise attached to it. The condition is that we “dwell in the secret place,”—the promise, that if we do so we “shall abide under the shadow.” It is of importance to view it thus. When we remember the blessing is a promised blessing, we are led to feel it is a gift, a thing therefore to be prayed for in faith, as well as sought for by God’s appointed means.    Ah, the hopes that this awakens! My wandering, wavering, unstable heart that of itself cannot keep to one course two days together, is to seek its perseverance from God, and not in its own strength. He will hold it to him if it be but seeking for steadfastness. It is not we who cling to Him. It is He who keeps near to us.    From The Treasury of David.

Jesus Is The Aleph & The Tav, The Alpha & The Omega, The First & The Last
א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω א ת Jesus Α Ω

P.S. I wrote this post yesterday Aug. 1, 2020. Today is Sunday the 2nd and I just finished listening to a sermon preached by a great pastor I listen to weekly for at least a few years now. Pastor Charles Lawson’s sermon today touched on the subject of this post, having a hunger for God’s Word and the Lord Jesus Christ. He clearly brings out the point that an evidence of being a “Born Again with God’s Spirit” Christian is to have a deep rooted hunger for communion with God daily.