Reflections on Psalm 42

Hi all! Our church put together a devotional book based on the Psalms for encouragement during

the time of corona, so I'm sharing mine below (starts with the Psalm, reflection follows):

PSALM 42 (ESV)

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2  My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

3  My tears have been my food

day and night,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

4  These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul:

how I would go with the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

ca multitude keeping festival.

5  Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember you

from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,

from Mount Mizar.

7  Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

all your breakers and your waves

have gone over me.

8  By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,

and 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 do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

REFLECTION:

This psalm expresses weariness: how long is this trial going to last?  It feels like there’s no end in

sight.  The psalmist is feeling desperate for God, and feeling intensely sad.  Interestingly, the

psalmist is feeling downcast and far from God in part because his circumstances have placed

him far from the sanctuary, so he can’t physically go to the house of God and worship corporately

with God’s people.  All of this -- a trial that’s dragging on, a feeling of weariness and discouragement,

an inability to physically gather with God’s people -- sounds pretty familiar during this season of

social distancing, doesn’t it?

This psalm is instructive and encouraging to me for two reasons:

First, the psalmist shows us that it’s okay to come to God with our hard emotions.  We can turn to

Him in our despair, discouragement, and exhaustion.  Our prayers can fluctuate from despair (v. 3)

to hope (v. 5) back to sadness (v. 9) back to hope (v. 11).  God knows we are feeling this way, and

He knows this is when we most need Him.  Furthermore, turning to God even with these hard

emotions is an act of faith - it shows that you believe He’s there, He’s listening, He’s in control,

and that He cares to hear the desperate pleas of your heart.

Second, it demonstrates what to do when you’re feeling down.  Start by sharing these feelings with

God.  Then, talk to yourself - remind yourself what God has done.  Remind yourself that God is

your hope and salvation.  Remind yourself how He has delivered you and others in your community

from hard times before.  Remind yourself how He has delivered His people throughout history,

as written in the Bible.  Remind yourself that you will again praise God, your hope and salvation. 

It’s okay if you don’t get to a place of perfect emotional peace and hope at the end of the prayer,

but following this process over and over is the road back towards joy and praise.  

PRAYER:

Lord, these last few months have been difficult.  Thank you that we can turn to You honestly with

all our emotions.  Please help us to remember all that You have done for us.  Thank you for being

our hope and our salvation, and please bring us to a place of praise.