Deep Calls Unto Deep

Psalm 42:7-8 (NKJV)

⁷ Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;

All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

⁸ The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,

And in the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.

This phase “Deep calls unto Deep” has always puzzled me as to what is it’s true meaning.  I am aware that God wants to demonstrate His love in us through His Son Jesus in ways we have yet to know or experience.  This is a work which God Himself must accomplish in us, not by our attempting to become more knowledgeable or spiritual, that won’t do it.  Only by being in Christ, and Christ in us.  

But what are the deep things of God?

1 John 2:6 (NKJV)

⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Jesus is truly calling us to the depths of His love, to walk as He walked and to love as He loved. 

David caught a glimpse of this when he wrote this:

Psalm 51:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

David saw that the desire of God was the revelation of Himself on the inside (the inward parts) that we (in our day) might manifest the nature (or character) of Christ.

Matthew 20:25-28 (NKJV)

²⁵ But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. ²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus is setting the context for true spiritual depth and authority. The emptying of oneself out to become ‘a slave’ so that we might serve and edify all, that the divine nature might come forth.  Brokenness (or selflessness) is a requirement for anyone desiring the deep things of God.

Now, why would we even want to do this?  It’s so uncomfortable.  What would drive us to become as a lowly slave as Jesus was?  Only one thing!  David found out what that one thing was!

Psalm 63:1-4 (NKJV)

¹ 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.

⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

David desired to see God’s power and glory manifested in the sanctuary, we can now see God’s glory manifested in our bodies which is now God’s sanctuary under the new covenant.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV)

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Charles Spurgeon gave this talk about Deep calling unto Deep back in April 11, 1869 which is about Jesus' love for us being the primary reason we came to Christ in the first place, and the ultimate reason for our existance which is to know Christ::

“He loved you without beginning; before years, and centuries, and millenniums began to be counted, your name was on His heart. Eternal thoughts of Love have been in God’s bosom towards you! He has loved you without a pause—there was never a minute in which He did not love you! Your name, once engraved upon His hands, has never been erased, nor has He ever blotted it out of the Book of Life. Since you have been in this world, He has loved you most patiently. You have often provoked Him; you have rebelled against Him times without number, yet He has never stopped the outflow of His heart towards you, and blessed be His name, He never will! You are His, and you always shall be His. Jesus says, “Because I live, you shall live also.” God’s Love to you is without boundary; He could not love you more, for He loves you like a God—and He never will love you less. All His heart belongs to you. “As the Father has loved Me,” says Jesus, “even so have I loved you.”
Contemplate for a moment what you have received as the result of this Love. You have received, first of all, the gift of the only-begotten Son. He left the Throne of honor for the Cross of shame; the brightness of Glory for the darkness of the tomb. Oh, the depths of the Love which is revealed in Calvary! You will never, never be able to fathom the depth of the love of God towards you in the gift of His dear Son to be your Redeemer! Think, now—the Holy Spirit brought Jesus Christ to you, and what were you then? It is a shame to speak of some of the things which you then loved, but you are washed, you are cleansed, and sanctified; oh, that blessed bath filled with blood! Oh, the depth of Love there is in the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His Grace!”

Delivered on the Lord's Day Morning, April 11, 1869, By C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan                           Tabernacle, Newington UK.

God is calling many to go past the status quo of our daily lives so that we can know the depths of Jesus’ love, much further than we have previously experienced.  My Grandmother used to call this “…the deep places of God”.  She told me about these intimate places that only God could take you to.  She also told me to ‘press in’ when you pray and pursue the deeper life.  These are places that we grow in the presence of Christ.  As I stated in my previous blog posts about being ‘in Christ’, it is His presence (or the indwelling Christ) working in us, this is where the presence of God is manifested mightily in us to reveal more of Jesus in our character.  This is the place where we grow deeper in our personal relationship with Jesus and He knows us personally and intimately.  This is the witness of Christ in us.

The evidence of this is the virtue of a transformed life. 

"I ran to the Deep Place where nobody goes, and found Him waiting there.

“Where have you been?” He asked me.

“I’ve been in the shallow place where everyone lives,” I replied. I knew He knew. He just wanted me to admit I’d been too busy being busy.

“I’m running out…” I began.

“Of course,” He said. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

He sat down on the steps of my soul and smiled at me. Angels sang; a shaft of light chased away the shadows and brightened my daily day. I smiled back.

“I’m such a fool…”

“Shhh,” He said, putting His finger on my lips.

He touched my hurried heart. Startled, I took a deep breath and skidded to a near stop. My spirit nestled into nearness in the Deep Place where nobody goes.

My soul spoke, then: He answered with words beyond music. Where on Earth had I been?"  --Jill Briscoe (From her book 'the Deep Place where nobody goes')

Haggai 2:6-7 (NKJV)

⁶ “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷ and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.

Why would we want to commit ourselves to this deeper life as a slave of Christ?  Because of our desire for His glory which He wants to reveal and manifest within us.  This is what is described to be the ‘Desire of All Nations', this is Christ, and Christ in us is the hope of glory!

Some of the books I’ve read which have detailed this deeper life so eloquently:

‘Hinds Feet on High Places’  by  Hannah Hurnard, and

‘The Deep Place where nobody goes’  by Jill Briscoe

                ↓ Click Here to listen to the song

All Who Are Thirsty

(Brenton Brown, Glenn Robertson)

All who are thirsty

All who are weak

Come to the fountain

Dip your heart in the stream of life

Let the pain and the sorrow

Be washed away

In the waves of His mercy

As deep cries out to deep

(We sing)

Come Lord Jesus come (x3)

Holy Spirit come (x3)

As deep cries out to deep (x2)

Copyright © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire). All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only