Reading the words of 1 Samuel 10:26 moved me to pray for a new touch from God. “And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.”

What a wonderful thing to be touched in the heart by God. There is nothing unusual about the Hebrew word here (naga'). It is simply “touch” in the ordinary sense. God touched their hearts.

The touch of God in the heart is an awesome thing. It is awesome because the heart is so precious to us—so deep and intimate and personal. When the heart is touched we are deeply touched. When the heart is touched the core of our being is touched. When the heart is touched someone has gotten through all the layers to the center. We have been known. We have been seen. We have been pierced.

The touch of God is an awesome thing because God is God. Just think of what is being said here! God touched them. Not a wife. Not a child. Not a parent. Not a counselor. But God. The One with infinite power in the universe. The One with infinite authority and infinite wisdom and infinite love and infinite goodness and infinite purity and infinite justice. That One touched their heart. How does the circumference of Jupiter touch the edge of a molecule? Let alone penetrate to its nucleus?

The touch of God is awesome because it is a touch. It is a real connection. That it involves the heart is awesome. That it involves God is awesome. And that it involves an actual touch is awesome. The valiant men were not just spoken to. They were not just swayed by a divine influence. They were not just seen and known. God, with infinite condescension, touched their heart. God was that close. And they were not consumed.

I love that touch. I want it more and more. For myself and for all of you. I pray that God would touch me anew for his glory. I pray that he would touch us all. O for the touch of God! If it comes with fire, so be it. If it comes with water so be it. If it comes with wind, let it come, O God. If it comes with thunder and lightning, let us bow before it.

O Lord, come. Come that close. Burn and soak and blow and crash. Or still and small, come. Come all the way. Touch.

Touched and longing,

Pastor John