Psalms 42:9

“Hope Thou in God”

Psalms 42:9-10, “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?” Psalms chapter 42 has a very noticeable repeated phrase in it. It is the phrase, “Where is thy God?” A Christian walks by faith not by sight, faith in the promises of God. A Christian’s World view should be based on the promises of the Bible. Those who do not have a personal relationship with Christ will always respond to their circumstances in life by saying, ‘where is God?’

The previous verses of Psalms chapter 42 talked about the day and the night. The day symbolizes times when God’s Word is abundantly available for any and all. The night symbolizes times when the forces of evil and those in power in this world oppress the freedoms of men for the purpose of opposing the Word of God. Whenever there is persecution against a Christian there will always be those who will attack the faithfulness of God. They will say, “Where is thy God?”

Psalms 42:9-10 says, “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?” God is holy and therefore God is faithful. God is faithful and therefore God keeps his promises. Many times in Psalms Jesus is called the rock. This is a way of emphasizing the faithfulness of God.

I Corinthians 10:1-4 says, “Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

In talking about the Rock, in these verses in the New Testament what is mentioned is the time that God delivered the Children of Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians from 400 years of slavery. There are many reasons this event in human history is mentioned here and is so well remembered. It was a great miracle that God did in parting the waters of the red sea and letting the Israelites go free. The story of the parting of the Red Sea is given in Exodus 14:13-31 which says, “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Where fore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharoah’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; nd the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.”

And the people feared the LORD and believed the LORD. When God does a great miracle such as the parting of the red sea it is so that those who behold the mighty works of God will turn from their sins and trust in Christ. When God delivered the children of Israel in the days of Moses they turned to him in faith. The parting of the Red Sea shows the faithfulness of God towards those that trust in His promises. There is always redemption for those who trust in Christ. I Corinthians 10:1-4 says, “Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

I Corinthians 10:2 says, ”And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.“ Baptism symbolizes God’s salvation. That is what physical baptism is, a symbol of the salvation of a soul, the redemption and cleansing of a soul from sin through Christ. When you think of baptism think of the parting of the red sea and think of the faithfulness of God.

Psalms chapter 42, if anything, should remind a believer of the faithfulness of God. Even in the book of Ezekiel when Ezekiel described his vision of God sitting upon the thrown in all his glory what Ezekiel described was the faithfulness of God. Ezekiel 1:28 says, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.”

God is faithful. God keeps his promises. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever because God is Holy. That which is impossible with men is possible with God. Men are not faithful. Men are sinners. Men many times do not keep their promises. But God is faithful and God always keeps His promises because Christ is the rock.

Psalms 42:11 says, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Hope and faith are not the same thing. Faith means to believe what the Word of God says. And Hope means to look towards the future with confidence knowing the expected end that God is going to give to those that trust in Him. The kind of hope the Bible talks about is not the same kind of hope the world talks about. The World hopes things will work out. But A Christian knows that all things work together for good to them that love God. To know what God has promised and to know it will come to pass is true hope. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

In times of suffering the world will persecute a Christian by attacking the faithfulness of God and saying, “Where is thy God?” This type of attack is the same type of persecution Christ faced when He hung on the cross. Matthew 27:41-42 says, “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.”

Satan and the world will attack the faithfulness of God. They will say to you, “Where is thy God?” But hope though in God. Jesus is the rock. If you could have a vision of the glory of God upon the throne of God what you would see is the faithfulness of God. God Keeps His promises. Christ died on the cross. But He did not stay dead. He rose from the grave defeating death and sin. All who turn to Christ for salvation will find it. Where is God? God is fulfilling His promises in his timing to give unto those that trust in Him an expected end. Hope thou in God.

$Description: C:\BibleGemsDoc\Image37.gif$

___________________________________________________