Daily Devotional Friday 28th January 2022
by William MoodyPsalms 42–43
Book Two
Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.
42:1 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?2
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,
a 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 salvation3 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.
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
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 and my God.Footnotes
[1] 42:1
Probably a musical or liturgical term
[2] 42:2Revocalization yields and see the face of God
[3] 42:5Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5 (ESV)
In Psalm 42 something is preventing the Psalmist from meeting with God’s people in worship which is causing a major crisis for him. He describes his longing for God being like a deer thirsting for life saving water (v1-2).
He is facing mockery as people consider his situation (v3) and his heart breaks as he remembers the days of joining God’s people in worship (v4).
As he faces up to his feelings of depression he encourages himself to hope in God (v5). He needs to confront our doubts with the truth about God.
The Psalmist is probably in the region north of the sea of Galilee and far from the temple in Jerusalem (v6). He is in a situation in which he feels as if he is being drowned by rough waters of both a water fall and a raging sea (v7).
The Psalmist responds to this sense of drowning hopelessness by again reminding himself of the Lord’s steadfast love (v8). But no sooner does he focus on God but his doubts and worries overwhelm him once more (v9-10).
The battles continues and he again needs to remind himself of God’s goodness and salvation (v11). Here we see what happens in most believers’ hearts, the battle between faith and feelings. Let God’s truth feed the faith.
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