Reflections on Psalm 42
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Through this time when we can’t meet together, I want to encourage you to practice the spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer. To assist you in this goal, from time to time, I will share a reading from Scripture and some prayers. I hope you will find this helpful in these uncertain times.
For the next little while I’d like to share from the Psalms. They are a wonderful spiritual resource for us because they speak the language of the heart and the soul. The language of the Psalms soars to the heavens, giving all praise to God. But there are also Psalms where the writer is in a deep pit and he can’t get out. All he can do is pray to God. One psalm that exemplifies a life in the pit is Psalm 42. I’ll read it for you.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
The writer of this psalm is isolated and deeply despondent. He longs to be in God’s presence; in fact, he thirsts for God. But some situation in his life keeps him from participating in the worshipping community. His tears are his food and the constant refrain throughout the psalm – “why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (5, 11) reveal how difficult life is for him. What makes things worse is that he is reminded of the good times, the joyful times, when he enthusiastically took part in worship with the people of God. But now, things are very different.
And yet, as with most psalms like this, the writer is hopeful of better days ahead. Alongside his sad words about his soul, is an expression of hope: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (5, 11).
I don’t know how all of you are doing this week, but I encourage you to read this psalm and lift your heart to God. Perhaps the COVID-19 situation is making us all a bit uneasy, anxious, and sad. Perhaps we find it difficult to worship and pray at this time. Well, you’re in the company of the psalmist and likely many others in our world. But the beauty of psalms like this one is that, while they acknowledge that life is difficult, they don’t leave in the pit of hopelessness.
So, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
The sequel to this psalm is the next one, Psalm 43. Both psalms share similar language, most notably the words of despondency about the writer’s soul (5). What I love most about this sequel psalm is the writer’s prayer to God.
Send me your light and your truth,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
That is my prayer for you. May God send his light and truth into whatever challenging circumstances you are encountering.
Prayer
Gracious Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the psalms and their honest, heart-felt words that speak to our souls. Help each one of us to be honest with you and tell you what is on our hearts. We are anxious, fearful, stressed out, depressed, worried, and saddened. We cry out to you.
Help us to put our hope in you, our Savior and our God. Send forth your light and truth into the darkness; let them be a flashlight that allows us to recognize your presence with us. Be close to us in the coming days and weeks
Amen.