There are times when it seems God is far away. Times when sorrow sweeps away at our joy. Days when those around us spout oppression instead of hope and taunt, “Where is your God now?” The writer of Psalm 42 felt the same way.
“As a deer longs for flowing streams, 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, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? 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 by day; his song will be with me in the night— a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42, CSB)
Reading through this psalm several times in a cycle is good. It’s easy to read the first part about how they long for God like a deer longing for a drink of water and miss the reason. It is good to long for God in good times or bad, but the psalmist expresses their desires from a deep emotional pit.
The writer speaks of their tears, feelings of dejection, turmoil, depression, sorrow, oppression, taunts, and crushing. They even feel that God has forgotten them. Against this dark and crushing moment, they light a candle. “I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.”
This psalm is loaded with praise and worship. The psalmist longs for God, thirsts for God, and remembers joyful praise and thanks-fueled shouts. They faithfully declare that the Lord is faithful in His love.
And yet, there is no “end of the story.” We don’t know what happened next, only what happened in the moment of despair. There is no promise that God will sweep in and make everything right. No assurance that the taunting enemy will suddenly become silent. I can promise you this, worship and praise of God always changes us.
I can’t tell you how often I felt too tired or beaten by life to bother with going to church or a small group gathering. Perhaps out of habit and obligation, I went anyway. I felt much better after the worship, word, and fellowship of those times. Lifting up in the Lord in praise always changes me in some way.
As you meditate on this psalm, read it through a few times. Consider the psalmist’s response to depression. Also, consider your response to dark days and how you may change that in the future. Meditate on the goodness of God and then praise Him for that goodness. That moment of worship may not change your circumstance, but it will change you in ways you can’t begin to imagine.
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