Longing for God: Psalm 42

Hello again! Today is yet another quite gloomy day that really makes me want to stay indoors, so here I am writing some more! It's about 10am and I am currently snuggled up on a chair in my living room, with a blanket on top of me because it is freezing over here in Nashville. 37 degrees specifically at this moment... which might not be very cold to some of you, but we southerners are dying! Brr… January. (OK, I'm posting this in February.)

Anyway... I have officially (most likely, no promises) moved on from Matthew. Well, at least for now. I am missing my Psalms and going back to reading them, as I always do after I commit to reading any other book. The other day, I was reading Psalm 42, and I was reminded of how much I love this chapter because it makes me think of singing a certain song when I was younger! It goes:

As the deer pants for
the water so my soul longs after thee.
You alone are my hearts
desire and I long
to worship thee.

This song is called "As the Deer" and we used to sing it a lot in church growing up. A lot of the songs we sang in the church I grew up in are different than the songs we sing in my current church, and sometimes I get to missing those nostalgic songs. Because of this, I just love it so much when I'm reading Scripture and I come across a reminder of one of those songs!

Today I really want us to get the message of this Psalm, but we're not going to do it like we normally do. I'm not going to break down each verse, but rather tell you my main thoughts and notes on it and want I got out of it the most. Here it is!

Psalm 42: As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, "Where is your God?" I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts. Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God. I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me. The Lord will send His faithful love day by day; His song will be with me in the night - a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to my God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemies oppression?" My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, "Where is your God?" Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Ok, so a little background: Psalm 42 itself was written by the sons of Korah. Who's Korah? Well, this is questionable. Korah is mentioned in Exodus 6 and Numbers 16, where he is described as a priest from the tribe of Levi. So "sons of Korah" probably refers to his descendants that were working in the temple.

Man, these guys were going through it! I know this Psalm is on the longer side, but I feel like the synopsis of it is pretty simple: even though these guys were deeply depressed, they still chose to praise God! They didn't understand why they were depressed. They cried out to God saying, "Why? Why is this turmoil going on inside of me?" Then after this literally the next line is them saying, "Put your hope in God. I'm still going to praise Him. Even in this depression, He is still my Savior, still my God." Amazing - what an example to us.

In verse 2, the author writes about how he thirsts for God. I love this terminology here - the word thirsts is really the perfect way to describe how our soul should long for God. We should thirst for God like we thirst for water. We should long for Him in a way where we recognize and accept that we literally cannot live without Him.

Then in verses 3 and 4, the author writes about how his tears are literally his food, he's not eating, and people are saying to him, "Where is your God?" Then the author remembers how he used to lead the worship in the house of God and be the one to lift up joyful thanks and shouts to the Lord. In his depression he is recalling how he once worshipped. We can do the same. When we feel overwhelmed, we can remember all our Father has done for us. Through remembering these things, He can put a smile on our face. Even in the depths of sorrow, our Father is with us!

So today, I hope that this Psalm leaves you with this: when you feel like the waves of your life are drowning you, go to God. Even in the depths of darkness and drowning, remember in your heart all of your blessings that still remain, and all that God has done for you in the past. Thirst for God in every moment. Recognize that He is all you need, no one else can satisfy, and just surrender. Let Him guide your life and orchestrate your steps. Trust Him with your whole heart, because He knows best. I will be doing the same.

Love you all, and see you soon!