“When the soul hath a view by faith (which nothing else can give it) of the goodness of God as manifested in Christ—that is, of the essential excellencies of his nature as exerting themselves in him—it reacheth after him with its most earnest embraces, and is restless until it comes unto perfect fruition. It sees in God the fountain of life, and would drink of the “river of his pleasures,” Ps. 36:8, 9—that in his “presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore,” Ps. 16:11. It longs and pants to drink of that fountain—to bathe itself in that river of pleasures; and wherein it comes short of present enjoyment, it lives in hopes that when we “awake, it shall be satisfied with his likeness,” Ps. 17:15. There is nothing grievous unto a soul filled with this love, but what keeps it from the full enjoyment of these excellencies of God”

John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 153–154.

John Owen argues that when the soul gets a glimpse of the goodness of God revealed in Christ, it becomes restless. It stretches out to him “with its most earnest embraces,” longing to be filled with his joy and presence. The soul sees in God “the fountain of life,” and nothing can satisfy it but God himself.

Have you ever felt that kind of hunger? Not a physical hunger, but a spiritual thirst that nothing else seems to quench? That moment when your heart aches not for more comfort, success, or pleasure—but simply for more of God? David felt it: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1–2). He didn’t want merely God’s help—he wanted God himself.

This is what Owen means. Once you see God’s beauty as it is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, you begin to desire him above all else. You may still enjoy the good things of life, but nothing else will do for your soul. As Augustine confessed, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions I.1).

Owen builds on this by pointing us to the Psalms: “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Ps 36:8–9). God is not just the giver of life—he is life. He is not merely useful; he is beautiful. Calvin captures this when he says, “It is only when we are fully persuaded that our life depends on God, and that he is the fountain of all good, that we shall seek him with a sincere heart” (Commentary on Psalm 36).

When we love God, we don’t love an idea. We love a living God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. This God has drawn near to us in Christ. Herman Bavinck puts it plainly: “God and God alone is man’s highest good.” He goes on to say that “all earthly blessings are but rays of the divine goodness.” They point to him, but they are not him.

This is why, when our hearts are awakened, we begin to seek God more earnestly. The distractions of the world start to lose their charm. We want to know him more deeply, to enjoy his presence more fully, and to see his glory more clearly. And where we fall short of this now, we live in hope. “When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness” (Ps 17:15).

Owen says the soul “lives in hopes.” This Scriptural idea is seen when Paul says we are “groaning inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). We wait not only to be with God, but to be transformed into the likeness of Christ (cf. 1 John 3:2). That will be the final satisfaction of our thirst.

But today, even now, we can drink from the fountain of Heaven when we open the Word and see the glory of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). We drink from the Heavenly fountain when we pray and the Spirit helps us cry out, “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). We drink from that Heavenly fountain when we worship with God’s people and taste the goodness of the Lord (Ps 34:8). Our acts of worship are streams that come from the fountain.

And still, we wait. We long. We stretch out our hands like David, who said, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me” (Ps 63:8).