Psalms 42:4

“Remember These Things”

Psalms 42:4-6, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.”

Psalms chapter 42 is a Psalm about seeking Christ. If you thirst after something then you will seek it. Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke chapter 11 and verse 9, “Seek and ye shall find.” One way of seeking Christ is to remember the promises of God and the many wonderful works of God. In these 3 verses in Psalms chapter 42 we are told twice to remember. We are to remember, “These things,” and “Thee.”

To remember something means to look back on the past and to use your mind to think about it. Psalms 42 says God is, “The living God.” In talking about remembrance one of the Ten Commandments is Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” 2 Timothy 2:8 says, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.” Christ is the Sabbath.

It is important to notice that in talking about remembering verse 4 mentions Holy day. Holy day is the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is the day that Christ rose from the grave. When you think about the teaching of the Sabbath day you should think of the promises of God. Good keeps his promises. Jesus is faithful and true. There is only one Sabbath day. It is the day when Christ rose from the grave. Some people involved in religion make every Sunday a Sabbath day. To the Jews of the Old Testament Saturday was a Sabbath day. The true Old Testament teaching and New Testament regarding the Sabbath is the same: The Sabbath day is Holy. It is the day Christ rose from the grave. The Word Holy means perfect. It is not that any one day is better than another but it is that men need to think about the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that is in Christ. Any day is a good day to remember the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Psalms 42 says God is the living God. Psalms 42 says keep these things in remembrance. 2 Timothy 2:8 says, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.”

Here in Psalms 42 the phrase, “The living God.” is associated with remembering, “These things.” Of all the things to remember about God you need to remember that there is forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Christ. I John 1:9-10, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

The next phrase that is repeated in these verses is, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” It can be a great sorrow for those that love Jesus to be persecuted by those that do not know the faithfulness of God. It can also be a great sorrow to see so many that do not have faith in Christ. As a Christian, the way to handle sorrow of any kind, is to remember the wonderful works of God and the promises of God.

Psalms 42:7-8 says, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his loving kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” When you follow Christ there are going to be times of peace and times of spiritual warfare. In a sense there is always a spiritual warfare going on. This is why The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:1-3, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Even though there is always a spiritual warfare of the truth against lies going on there is the day season and the night season. This symbolizes the times in which the battle for the truth is greater than at other times. But in both the day and the night Christ has a way of helping his children to serve him. Psalms 42:7-8 explains how He does this. Psalms 42:7-8 says, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his loving kindness in the day time.” The lovingkindness of Christ is an important characteristic of God to think about. It is a word that emphasizes how much God enjoys and desires to do good things for men: things such as forgiving men of their sins when they repent and building them up in the faith.

Psalms 42:8 says, “Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time.” In other words in the times of peace and prosperity, in the times when there is less suffering, temptation, persecution and spiritual opposition against God’s Word it would be wise to take advantage of the opportunities to enjoy and use the lovingkindness of God to become built up in the promises of God so that you will be a strong Christian and watchman when the night comes.

We live in the last days. The age of grace in this world is coming to an end. It is still the day but the night is coming. The LORD commands his lovingkindness. The last part of Psalms 42:8 says, “in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” In the times of greater spiritual warfare you need prayer and you need praise more than you do in the day. The lovingkindness of God will prepare a Christian for the times of great spiritual warfare. The night time is when you need greater encouragement. This is what it means when it says a song. You need joy and you need the Spirit of God to give you that fire for the gospel of Christ. Jeremiah 20:9 says, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

When Psalms 42:8 talks about song and prayer it means being thankful for what God does for you. Prayer means getting the wheels of God spinning in your life. Talk to God. Ask and ye shall receive. God is a giver and He loves to give. He gives his almighty favor to those that trust in His Word. When the night season comes you really need to rely upon the strength of Christ and not your own strength. You need to have the faith to see God’s hand upholding you in the spiritual warfare of this world so that you can be a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lovingkindness, song, and prayer in the day season and in the night. The Holiness of God does so much for us through Christ when we walk with Christ and go God’s way and not our own way. Psalms 42:1 says, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” Seek the living God. Desire the righteousness of Christ. Remember the Sabbath day. Jesus rose from the grave. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus to find forgiveness and eternal life.

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