The Sacred Hunger

The Sacred Hunger

David, the Magi, and the Pursuit of the King

January 2, 2026

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

— Psalm 42:1-2

In my reflection yesterday and in my personal journal, I wrote my first few thoughts for 2026. I found myself drawn to King David—his relentless hunger for knowing God, his passionate love for Yahweh, and His ways. David was, above all else, a God-conscious man. His life was not merely touched by the divine; it was utterly invaded and conquered by the Holy One of Israel.

A few observations have crystallized as I translate my personal notes into this digital format. What emerges is a profound connection between two seemingly disparate seekers: the shepherd-king of Israel and the wise men from the East—both united by an unquenchable thirst for the King.

David: The Man Who Demanded God Invade His Heart

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water."

— Psalm 63:1

When other poets loved nature and saw God reflected in its beauty, David loved God and beheld His marvelous works displayed through creation. The distinction is everything. Where Wordsworth and the Romantic poets found the divine within nature itself, David found nature to be but a canvas upon which the glory of its Maker was painted. In my estimation, the English nature poets—however brilliant—are not worthy to tie the sandal straps of Israel's shepherd-poet.

What set David apart was not merely poetic sensibility but a hunger so consuming that it demanded Yahweh invade and conquer his heart. And God certainly did. The Almighty took this young shepherd and transformed him into a mighty man after His own heart—a remarkable designation found nowhere else in Scripture.

"After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'"

— Acts 13:22

The Book of Acts gives loving testimony to Israel's warrior-poet and philosopher-king. We read that David "served God's purpose in his own generation" (Acts 13:36). What a tribute—to fulfill all that was in God's heart during one's appointed time on earth.

David was a shepherd boy, perhaps more self-taught than one who enjoyed the halls of higher learning. Yet his hunger and love for God invited the Holy One to train and teach him. God Himself became David's tutor, preparing him to become the future king, the anointed one who would receive an incredible promise: that the Messiah-King would be born through his lineage to redeem the world. David made an indelible mark upon the heart of God.

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."

— Psalm 27:4

The Magi: Gentile Seekers Who Found the King

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'"

— Matthew 2:1-2

In my Gospel reading in Matthew, I am equally struck by the visit of the Magi—the wise men from the East who saw His star and were compelled by an inexorable hunger to find Him and worship Him. Consider the profound mystery here: these wise men were Gentiles, aliens to the promises of Israel, strangers to the covenant inheritance of faith and learning that God's chosen people had received over millennia.

Yet they saw the star.

With only that singular celestial signal—no Torah, no prophets, no sacred tradition—they set out on an incredible journey into the unknown. They acted in faith and faithfulness upon scanty knowledge and found the Messiah. Where the religious elite of Jerusalem remained comfortably ignorant, these foreign seekers traversed deserts and dangers to bow before a child in Bethlehem.

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

— Matthew 2:10-11

The Magi's journey reveals a stunning truth: hunger for God transcends theological credentials. Their seeking hearts carried them further than the scribes' encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture ever moved them.

The Price of Neglect

A.W. Tozer articulated this truth masterfully in his essay "The Price of Neglect":

"A longing soul with scanty theological knowledge is in a better position to meet God than a self-satisfied soul, however deeply instructed in the Scriptures."

This is the thread that binds David and the Magi across a thousand years of history. Both possessed what mere religion cannot manufacture: sacred hunger.

The Sacred Hunger That Invites Transformation

Why do I correlate David and the Magi? Because deep hunger for the Lord invites Him to meet us and cause our transformation through worship and the encounter of His presence. David's hunger led to a heart after God's own. The Magi's hunger led them to the feet of the King of Kings. Both found what they sought because they sought with everything they had.

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

— 2 Corinthians 3:18

This is the divine economy: we seek, He reveals; we hunger, He satisfies; we worship, He transforms. The hunger itself becomes the invitation for Heaven to invade our ordinary lives.

The Word for 2026: God's Faithfulness

The word impressed upon my heart for this year is God's faithfulness. He who has called us is faithful, and He will complete the work He has begun in us.

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

— 1 Thessalonians 5:24

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

— Philippians 1:6

His faithfulness enables and empowers us in grace to be faithful. We do not generate our own consistency—we receive it as gift from the One who is Himself unchanging. As we lean into His faithfulness, we find the strength to remain steadfast in our own pursuit of Him.

A Prayer for Sacred Hunger

O Faithful Father,

Create in me by Your indwelling Spirit the hunger that David knew,

the hunger that drove the Magi across deserts to find Your Son.

Tune my soul and senses to lean into Your faithfulness,

that as I worship You, I may be transformed daily into Your likeness.

May I serve Your purpose in my generation,

and at the end of my days, may it be said that I sought You with all my heart.

Amen.

Shalom,

Dr. Sam Kurien