There are seasons in life when words come easily, and there are seasons when they don’t. Seasons when faith feels steady and close, and others when, like the psalmist in Psalm 42, all I can do is acknowledge the thirst.
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”
I’ve always loved the honesty of Psalm 42. It doesn’t rush to a happy ending or pretend everything is okay. The writer is thirsty. Grieving. Questioning. Tears have become daily bread, and the waves of life feel relentless, crashing one after another.
I’ve had seasons like that.
Not seasons where I stopped believing, but seasons where I desperately needed God to meet me in the middle of uncertainty, disappointment, exhaustion, or waiting. In those times, music has often carried me when I didn’t have the strength to carry myself. A song can become a prayer when you don’t have the words. It can remind you of what’s true when your emotions are telling a different story.
For this season, that song has been from Porter’s Gate.
There’s something about the way they put scripture, longing, and hope into melody that resonates deeply with Psalm 42. The psalm paints a picture of overwhelming waters, deep calling to deep, waves breaking over a weary soul. Yet underneath the sorrow is a persistent hope: a refusal to let despair have the final word.
That’s what good worship music does for me. It doesn’t ignore the ache. It sits in it. It acknowledges the thirst while gently pointing toward the Living Water.
I don’t know what season you’re in today. Maybe you’re standing beside still waters, or maybe you’re trying to keep your head above the raging waterfalls described in Psalm 42. Either way, I’m grateful for the reminder that God is not absent in our longing. Sometimes the thirst itself becomes the invitation to seek Him more deeply.
And sometimes He meets us through a song.
