How thirsty are you? (Psalms 17, 35, 54, and 63)

A few weeks ago we took a group of students on our annual high school summer retreat.  This year we went to the Smoky Mountains and went on some really beautiful mountain hikes.  It was pretty hot outside, and the students were worn out: they wanted something refreshing to drink, they wanted water.  Water is an absolute necessity of life, and when we're physically exhausted, it's the very thing that we crave.  Just like we crave water, David said he craved God.  Just as David thirsted for water, he thirsted for God.  What David knew is something that we often forget: that God is our sustenance.  When we're weary and tired, God renews us, refills us, and replenishes us.  The problem isn't that God's not capable of the doing those things: the problem is that we don't go to him for them.  We "renew" ourselves by watching television or going to a movie.  We "refill" with anything we can find in front of us, but far too often we forget to turn to our Heavenly Father.  Where do you go when you're thirsty?  David went to his Heavenly Father, and we should go to our Heavenly Father, too.