Following a deer trail in the woods will often take you to a body of water. If you are by a lake or a stream and there is a wooded area all around, you are likely to spot a trail, a narrow area where the overgrowth has been trampled down. This likely opens up into a clearing at the edge of a lake. This is usually due to deer traffic, moving over the same area every night in search of water.
For the short period of time I lived in the north woods of Wisconsin, deer were a symbol to me of God's loving care. Deer would appear out of nowhere as Asa (my golden retriever) and I would be walking along the road. Often, a number of them would be crossing a few feet ahead of us. We would stop and stare and sometimes they would do the same. The sight always made me smile. And when I would see them in my own yard, grazing, I felt blessed.
Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
David used a deer's thirst for fresh water as an analogy or a parallel for his feelings for God. David recognized that God was the only thing that would quench his thirst. He drank often from the well or stream of Living Water. Fleeing from his enemies and running across a desert caused David to thirst often and deeply. We too have similar thirst when we are in a spiritual drought, or when we are stuck in a dry region of our life. God longs to fill us, to satisfy us as He satisfies all living creatures.
Psalm 42, 43 and 44
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