Psalms 42:1

The Bible says in Psalms 42:1-2, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.[2] My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” Who are the ones who find God? Those who seek God with all their hearts are the ones who find Christ. Jesus said, ‘’Seek and ye shall find.” One of the tools of the devil is to keep people so distracted by other things that they keep seeking those other things instead of the Lord. And many of those things are perfectly okay in and of themselves, such as: sports, family, entertainment, travel, job and career, education, hobbies, etc. There is a very long list of things that people seek instead of the Lord Jesus.

The Bible says in Psalms 42:3-5, “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?[4] 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.[5] 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.” David is suffering. He mentions his tears and pouring out his soul. He even asks a question of great doubt: “Where is thy God?” That is what he says when he is alone. But then David remembers the spiritual times when he was with other Christians when they gathered together on the Sabbath days. Those were the good times of Christian fellowship, Christian love, hearing the Word of God, and singing the songs of Zion. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, then you have had good times too that you can remember. Jesus is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” That is why David could say in verse five, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God.” Once you take your eyes off your circumstances and your own feelings and turn again to the Lord, you will also be able to say, “for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

The Bible says in Psalms 42:6, “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.” David says, “my soul is cast down.” He is sorrowful, and he is spiritually depressed. He needs to be closer to the Lord and he needs a personal revival. David knows the spiritual principles of life, and that is why David says to the Lord, “therefore will I remember thee.” Think about Jesus: what Jesus is like, what Jesus taught, what Jesus did on the cross, and what Jesus promised. That is the answer to spiritual depression.

David is on the same theme in Psalms 42:7-8, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.[8] Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” David was suffering: without were fightings and within were fears. But David knew God the Almighty. David knew that everything in his life came from God. What David was suffering came from God, and so David said, “all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” That is what David was experiencing, but David looked to the future and this is what he saw: “lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song.” God loves you and He will never stop loving you, and as long as you are on this earth, you will experience many manifestations of His great eternal love for you. That is what your future holds: Jesus loving you and proving to you that He loves you. If you know Jesus as your savior, then you should know that too. And then your future will also have singing for you. You can sing if you want to sing. That is one of the values of going to a church that sings the old spiritual gospel songs. Once you learn them, you can sing them in your heart to the Lord all day long any day of the year. One of the keys to true happiness and spirituality is to sing such songs often. That is why it says in Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

The Bible says in 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?[10] As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?” David knows that God is his “rock.” A rock is a solid foundation that will not fail you, but will always be there to support you. David is going through sorrows and troubles such that it appears that God is not there. David asks the following question three times: “why?” Why is God allowing David to suffer? The entire book of Job is based upon this great question. Part of the answer to this question is that there are things going on that we are not aware of and that we do not know. God knows everything, and we know so very little. The pain that David was suffering was very deep. In verse ten David described it “As with a sword in my bones.” A similar saying that we use in our culture is that we were stabbed in the back. What did David’s enemies say to him? They said the same thing that David was saying to himself, “Where is thy God?”

David had the right response to this situation. David wrote in Psalms 42:11, “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.” David knew that all he had to do was keep hoping in God and eventually the Lord would deliver him. Keep on keeping on. Never give up. Never lose hope. God has His reasons for what He allows, but He will change things. He loves you and He always will. All the promises of the Bible are true and will be kept. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” What Jesus has done for you in the past, He will do for you yet again.

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