I Hunger and Thirst

I hunger and I thirst,
Jesu, my manna be;
Ye living waters, burst
Out of the rock for me.

Thou bruised and broken Bread,
My life-long wants supply;
As living souls are fed,
O feed me, or I die.

Thou true life-giving Vine,
Let me Thy sweetness prove;
Renew my life with Thine,
Refresh my soul with love.

Rough paths my feet have trod
Since first their course began;
Feed me, Thou Bread of God;
Help me, Thou Son of Man.

For still the desert lies
My thirsting soul before;
O living waters, rise
Within me evermore.

John Samuel Bewley Monsell 1866

The desert road, through the centre of New Zealand’s North Island, is desolate but beautifully so; dominated by views of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe.  I’ve often wondered what it must have been like for the first Maori settlers and then the Europeans as they traversed this sizeable chunk of land: more than a days journey on foot (and not covered by the convenience of State Highway 1.

Travelling through the desert is often a source of reflection in the biblical story.  God led Abram through deserts and showed him the land that would belong to his descendants.  Moses lived in the desert some 80 years in total, the latter 40 leading a rebellious people back and forth to the edge of the land that had been promised to the people of God’s promise: he would eventually die in the desert, only looking at the promised land from afar.

Jesus too led people into the desert – they came in their thousands to hear him preach and teach, to bring the sick who needed healed and the demon possessed who needed freedom.  Jesus spoke in parables which were hard to understand but His words brought hope.  He spoke of Himself as Bread and Water and Light and Life.  He said that He was the true mana from heaven, that His life would establish a New Covenant (new promise) between God and the People of Promise.

Monsell in this hymn expresses what we each know – that faith in Christ does not lead to a life which is free of struggle, suffering, hardship and eventually death.  When those things come they do not come because we do not have faith but rather they come into the life of those who live by faith.  Sometimes it can feel like we are living in a desert – it might be short lived, a transition point, or a much longer period of life.

When rough times come Monsell’s hymn expresses the beauty of Christ in the ‘deserted’ and ‘barren’ places of life.  I particularly like the all sufficiency of Jesus expressed in the penultimate verse.  That Jesus is both the Bread of God (the food which sustains us to the end) and the Son of Man (who knows us because He is one of us) is no small comfort when we hunger and thirst, not only for sustaining truth but also for life saving company on the dangerous roads of life.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:36-40