Psalm 42

If you've got a copy of the Scripture this morning

and you want to follow along, it will be in the

Old Testament, the book of Psalms, chapter 42.

Psalms 42 · chapter mention

As we look into the Psalms, 150 chapters in all,

this book served as the hymn book and the prayer

book for Israel. You may be familiar with the

introductory verse of Psalm 42. We looked at

it this morning as we were called to worship.

But as we get into this psalm a little more,

we see it is very deep and it is very complex.

And we're going to be challenged by the text,

I believe, this morning on our desires for God,

on our worship, and what life looks like during

hard seasons of suffering and hardship. A little

background and context to this psalm before we

get into it. The occasion of Psalm 42 is unknown,

and that's not rare in the psalms. There's some

thought that it could have been written by David

as he was exiled. fleeing from Absalom during

his rebellion. And then it was given to the sons

of Korah, as your superscription would read.

There's some that feel it's just a representative

of an exiled Israel, as they're in Babylon. Lastly,

the sons of Korah themselves could have written

it. They longed to be in God's house, in His

presence, but they cannot be due to exile. They're

removed from Jerusalem. regardless of who actually

wrote it, the situation we'll see is very intense.

It's very hard, and we see some severe mocking

also throughout the entire psalm. Derek Kinder

is one of the most regarded commentators on the

book of psalms, and he says this in his commentary.

He says, this psalm, Psalm 42, is one of the

most sadly beautiful in all of Psalter. This

psalm is several things. It is a mass kill. There's

only 13 psalms out of 150 that are such. And

that's a psalm that is instructive, a psalm that

is meant to impart wisdom, to teach God's people

how to think and believe and respond faithfully

to similar circumstances in our lives. But it's

also a psalm of lament. And to lament is a prayer

in pain that leads to trust. And when we think

about lament, that is the language that we speak

to God in our sorrow. Lament is a linkage between

a holy God and a fallen world. And as we think

about lament psalms, of which there's 56, we

see that we are not, as believers, we are not

to repress grief. Rather, faith brings grief

honestly before God while continuing to trust

His covenant. And this is the language, this

language of lament that believers speak as we

refuse to let go of God even when we cannot understand

His providence. We'll start here in chapter 42.

This is actually the beginning of book 2 in the

Psalms. You'll see on the slide real quick, there's

actually five different books of Psalms and how

they're broken apart. But we'll start here in

the second book of chapter 42. And the way this

Psalm is broken up, verses 1 to 4, we see a longing

for God. There's then a refrain. Verses 6 to

10, we see suffering and hope. And in verse 11,

we see that refrain again. So let's look firstly

in that longing for God, verses 1 and 2. It says,

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants

my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God. When shall I come and appear

before God? Now we're going to see two different

uses this morning of powerful water imagery to

express the psalmist's need for God and this

feeling of being removed from his presence. Here

we find the first. And we find it in this deer

panting for the water brooks. And as we look

into the text, this idea of searching endlessly

until they find that water. The immediate picture

here is like an accident. Agonizing thirst during

a drought. The next line though, so pants my

soul. And the word soul often in the Bible refers

to the whole person when we see that. What is

the psalmist's chief desire that we see here

in verses 1 and 2? A longing for fellowship with

God. He's distressed by a dry soul that is very

distant from the Lord's presence. In fact, in

verse 2 it says, my soul thirsts for God, for

the living God. a God of all creation, a God

that this psalmist has known intimately. God

is the source of life, and in the Bible, many

times His salvation is described as living waters.

But what does it mean to long for God, as we

see the psalmist speak of here? I mean, these

verses are very encouraging, but they're also

very convicting to us at the same time. The psalmist

seeks deep fellowship. with God as a necessity

for his very existence. It's not some sort of

optional luxury, but something that he is concluding

is absolutely necessary. This deep fellowship,

this intimate communion with God. But how often,

though, in our own personal lives... Do we almost

see God as optional? Life gets very busy in the

hustle and bustle. We work and we plan and we

do. We've got very busy schedules. And we put

some time in where we can, where it fits. Maybe

tomorrow I'll get more intentional. Maybe tomorrow

I'll go deeper. And maybe someday. I can be more

intentional with my walk with God. We can be

very passive if we're not careful. Just a sermon

a week is good. I made it to church. I did that.

Check the box. I was moved by something I saw

on socials. But that's not what we see expressed

in these first two verses. As much as one longs

to have their thirst quenched after walking through

a dry and arid land, so it is the desire of the

child of God to have regular rhythms of spiritual

food and living water. To fellowship and commune

with God regularly. The living God, the psalmist

says, through the means which He has provided

us. Prayer, reading God's Word, taking the sacraments,

and gathering together for the regular preaching

of God's Word. Verse 3, the psalmist says, My

tears have been my food day and night. While

they continually say to me, where is your God?

We start to see the lament part of this psalm

now. And we see language like this used all throughout

psalms of lament. My tears have been my food

day and night. And we are no different from the

writer here, and I think that's very important

to say. Most godly believers who have been saved

for any length of time will go through times

of spiritual distress and suffering in this life.

My suffering will look different than your suffering.

Yours may be more severe than mine. There are

different levels and varying ways. But the psalmist

here expresses that he can't even hardly eat.

because of the amount of suffering and anguish

and pain that he is feeling at this moment. And

he says he's even been mocked. That some have

questioned, in all this going on, where is your

God now? Where is your God in all this if you

are afflicted in this way? And we may have some

of those same questions at various points in

our lives. Times that we show up and find out

we don't have a job anymore, that that's been

removed from us, a place that we've maybe even

dedicated our lives to and given so much time,

they just don't need us anymore. Maybe it's when

a loved one or someone near to us is suffering

from a long -term illness. Maybe when a loved

one passes very suddenly, or we experience a

myriad of life's challenges. But when we begin

to experience hardship, It is in that moment

that we must cling to Christ. Charles Spurgeon

said it this way, the wicked know that the worst

misfortune, that our worst misfortune would be

to lose God's favor. Hence, their diabolical

malice leads them to declare that such is the

case. Now, we have a spiritual enemy, right?

His name is Satan. We know who he is. Knowing

that he cannot destroy God's children, often

he uses such tactics as Spurgeon commented here

to discourage believers. And knowing that and

anticipating this, we should be very alert to

not allow mocking, hard as it may be. Imagine

this psalmist, where is your God now? In all

this trouble and all this hardship, why would

your God let this happen to you if He is the

Creator and if His reign is from everlasting

to everlasting as you've said? Where is your

God in all this? But it's during those times

that we don't allow those mockings to affect

us or allow them to come into us as such thoughts

that we've been abandoned by God. Even if in

our person we feel that way, It's not true. And

we can't allow those things to take up our headspace.

In our life, life is very hard. And we can begin

to ask in particular seasons of our life, where

is God in all of this that's going on right now?

Because this is not what I planned. This is not

what I envisioned. This is very hard. Paul reminds

us of this in Romans 8, 38 and 39. And Paul reminds

us of the trust that we must cling to during

the very hard seasons of our lives. He said,

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor

angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things

to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor

anything else in all creation. will be able to

separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus

our Lord. Paul writes this in the first century.

And what I love when I read this verse is towards

the end there, he says, nor anything else in

all creation. Nothing in time or space or something

that may have not even been invented yet in the

first century. Even that, nothing will be able

to separate God's children from Him. The writer

here feeling very overwhelmed in trials. I said

we are much the same. We do good in our humanity

to feel the weightiness of those hard sufferings

when they come upon us. We can't help but feel

them. We carry that. And it can almost get like

we don't know how we're going to make it from

day to day. That we just don't know what to expect

next. That there's something behind every turn.

And it is in those seasons that we must hold

fast to God's goodness and the doctrine of that.

And we have to affirm that both things can be

true at the same time. That God has been good.

That God is good in the present. That God will

be good to His children in the future. But life

is also very hard for me right now. And it's

good theology to affirm that both of those things

can be true simultaneously and at the exact same

time. But we must understand that when hardship

comes into our lives, providence has declared

it, and we must submit. Verse 4, the writer says,

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul

within me, for I used to go with a multitude.

I went with them to the house of God, with the

voice of joy and praise, with the multitude that

kept a pilgrim feast. Now you see some language

there. First of all, it says, when I remember.

Now that remember is not you and I remember.

The Old Testament wasn't written in English.

That I remember is not just a recall. It is the

beginning of a prayer arising from memories of

worship in the past. And the writer says, I remember

and I pour out my soul, yielding to the tears

of deep grief. We must pour ourselves out before

an almighty God. And it is... Good that we do

so, that we lay ourselves out bare before the

Lord because you or I are not self -sufficient.

God did not create us to carry the burdens of

this life on our own. I'm not able to do it.

You are not able to do it. When we try, that

is when we start to break apart and fall apart

because we cannot carry the loads that come on

us in particular seasons of life. God is our

creator. He has made us. Who else could we lay

ourselves bare before and tell Him all of the

goings on in our hearts? He knows them already.

We're not going to hide anything from the Lord.

We're not just going to pull ourselves up by

our bootstraps and say, I'm going to make it

through this hardship. I'm going to make it through

this sickness of a loved one. You're not. And

I'm not either. Our God is more than just a sounding

board. Praise Him for that. The Psalms are clear.

He is a refuge. He is a strong tower. He is a

place of shelter. One more important thing to

notice here is that the psalmist talking about

walking with so many people and going to feasts

at the house of God and thinking about all these

things, which are good. He's drawing on fellowship

and all those things are good. But the heart

of the matter in this particular verse and in

this whole psalm, in the matter of public worship,

was the presence of God Himself. It wasn't just

about the building. It wasn't just about the

people. It wasn't just about the fellowship.

It was primarily about being in God's presence

Himself. When we gather here on top of this hill,

here at Mamre Baptist Church, on a Lord's Day

morning, we need to be keenly aware that we are

coming together as God's people. Not just as

individuals, not just as nuclear family groups

any longer, but as we... Come into this church.

This is a building. And what's beautiful is as

we do come in as individuals and we do come in

as nuclear families, we begin to comprise Mamre

Baptist Church as each person is seated in this

congregation. And we are brothers and sisters

in Christ, no longer individuals and nuclear

families who just happen to be in one particular

building. And as we do so, we come in with intentionality

and with purpose. That we worship the one...

true, holy God. And Pastor Ryan and I would both

say we have a very high view of worship. Why?

Because the elements of worship are only of value

if they purpose to fix our hearts on Christ.

God is made known in His church. And Christ is

present by His Spirit through His Word. In verses

1 -4, the psalmist has expressed a yearning to

know God in Christ. in the context of His gathered

and rejoicing people. Look at verse 5. This is

the first refrain that we come to. It says, Why

are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted

within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise

Him for the help of His countenance. This is

the first refrain we see. We'll actually see

it repeated in verse 11. But we first of all

see a biblical model here in verse 5 to minister

to our own downcast hearts. And there are descriptive

words here used to express one who is restless,

one who is unable to settle, one who is deeply

troubled. And the question would be, what do

we do when we're faced with these kinds of fears

and emotions and life is very hard? It's almost

as if we preach to ourselves. We preach the things

we know to be true about God. The promises that

He has made to His people through His Word, we

then preach them to ourselves. Our culture attempts

to encourage us by phrases such as this. Don't

worry. Everything will be fine. Don't worry.

Everything's going to work out. Or this one.

You can handle it. It's okay. You're strong.

You can do this. You can handle it. You can't

handle it. I can't either. Why? Because we are

finite. We are finite, limited beings. And as

believers, we endure to find true north by preaching

the truth of God to ourselves over and over and

over again. We pray it, we preach it, we speak

it to ourselves. The sovereign God, we take hope

in this, the sovereign God is not fazed by the

powers of our world. God is faithful and steadfast

in deliverance. Richard Phillips put it this

way. When we appeal to God, we obtain almighty

help that is undaunted by any dangers in this

world. The more terrible storm, the more necessary

the anchor is. We're also exhorted also to hope

in God, in verse 5, to sit our hope, which is

a hope that there is no waiver. You and I use

the word hope very casually. I hope it doesn't

rain the rest of the day. I hope... maybe this

might work out. When we see the word hope in

the Bible, it is not that way. There is no waiver

in it, which is why the psalmist could say, set

your hope in the covenant promise and revealed

faithfulness of God that we see all throughout

the Scriptures. Regardless of how we feel now,

regardless of how you came in today, you may

have had the best week of your life or it could

have been extremely hard. Both of those are okay.

I am glad you are here. Even though life can

be very real and it can be very hard, we must

hope in God. Why? Because He has been ever faithful

to His people throughout all times. There has

never been a day where God was not faithful to

His people. Look at verses 6 and 7. Here we start

the second section of suffering and hope. The

psalmist says, Oh my God, my soul is cast down

within me. More lament there. Therefore I will

remember you from the land of Jordan. and from

the heights of Mount Hermon, from the hill Mizar,

deep calls to deep, and the noise of your waterfalls,

all your waves and billows have gone over me.

Here's that second powerful water imagery that

we see specifically in verse 7. But we see first

these words, I will remember framing better times.

Then there's this longing for worship in God's

house that we see in verse 6. But the writer's

far away, drawing on memories of communion and

fellowship that he was able to once enjoy. But

we see this other water image in verse 7. But

this one's of a dark connotation. The first one

was quite pleasant. Remember the deer panning

after the water. But here we see, deep calls

unto deep. All your waves and billows have gone

over me. I mean, that's pretty dark. And the

writer here expresses that he feels that all

of God's waves have gone over him. I want you

for just a moment to kind of imagine something

with me. If you've had the privilege of being

in the ocean, you know exactly what this feels

like. You walk out in the water, and you begin

to feel waves. First, they're at your ankles.

They come crashing in, and eventually you get

up to about your knees, something like that.

You get to your waist, and before too long, depending

on the beach you're at, you can get out. quite

deep and that water's risen to a point that you

can't even jump out of those waves anymore as

they're crashing and they start to go over your

head and then you're reminded that salt water

isn't as pleasant as you'd remembered maybe however

long ago you were at the beach and it gets up

your nose and you start to you know you're looking

for breath and all these things and you almost

feel terrified because you've wandered out too

far your feet are barely touching the bottom

and that's what the psalmist is expressing here

he's in deep water and waves are crashing over

his head and he said It's not just one wave,

it's plural waves over and over again. And the

question we find ourselves asking is, what is

someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ to

do when the waves of life wash over them over

and over again? And at such moments, in our flesh,

there is a battle going on between our flesh

and the spiritual side of our humanness. And

we're tempted to drift towards coldness of heart

instead of seeking true depth. with God. It is

in these moments where we feel so conflicted

that we run to Christ. The one who has his arms

outstretched for his people, the one who said,

come unto me and I will give you rest. My yoke

is easy, my burden is light. Look deeper into

that question in verse 8. The psalmist said,

the Lord will command his loving kindness in

the daytime and in the night his song shall be

with me. A prayer to the God of my life. Now

something wonderful happens here in verse 8.

It's very subtle. But if you notice with me,

up until this point in the psalm, you have seen

God, translated God, over and over and over again

in verses 1 -7. That word there is Elohim. normally

you would see the word Elohim in God's role as

creator, as ruler over his creation. But here

in verse 8, you'll notice you see the word LORD,

all caps in your Bible, L -O -R -D. And the writer

shifts from referring to God as Elohim to now

referring to him as his covenant name, Yahweh.

And why is that important? Because we've shifted

from just emphasizing God who is the ruler over

all creation, the one who has all things in his

hand, to now the covenant keeping, covenant.

promise -keeping God, the one whom believers

are in covenant with. And he says, what will

Yahweh do? He commands his steadfast love. Why

is that so rich? Because verse 8 didn't say his

sometimes love. It was very tactful, the way

the writer did this. It didn't say God would

send his love when all was going well. It said

he would send his steadfast love to his people.

In the West, where we live here in America, we

are somewhat conditioned to believe that If things

are good, that means all is well in our life.

That there's money in the bank, that the house

looks good, the pantry's full of groceries, things

are good at work. Everything good in my life

is as good as it could possibly be, but that

has no biblical merit. God's people have suffered

and suffered long throughout history. But God's

love for His people is steadfast. It is unmovable.

It is unchanging despite the individual circumstances

in our lives. And that is powerful. Because when

we're overcome with grief, when we're overcome

with emotion, when we're overcome with sorrow,

we start to believe these lies whispered in our

ears. Where is your God now? The psalmist has

written. And the reality is He's right where

He's always been. Working on our behalf. for

the good of His people. God has promised mercy

on those who call on Him through Jesus Christ.

His grace for believers is as certain as the

fixed order of the seasons. It cannot be undone.

God has covenanted Himself to save and uphold

all who have believed in the name of the Son

of God, and because so, He commands His steadfast

love in accordance with His sovereign promise

in Christ. You say, what does that mean? It means

that God's reign is from everlasting to everlasting.

And as a sovereign, he will with authority command

mercy be reserved for his children. All those

who have called on the name of Christ will find

refuge under his wings. When we are tempted to

doubt, we have to remind ourselves of who God

is. what He has done, and what He has pledged

Himself to do. God has been faithful in every

generation. He has been faithful in the past.

No matter what is going on in your life right

now, God is faithful in the present, and He has

promised He will be faithful in the future. He

has given His children, those who have trusted

Him in faith, a means of grace to seek a ministry

of God's Word, to seek the altar of grace in

prayer, to look forward again to gathering with

God's people for worship, and saving grace is

secure in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 9 and 10.

The psalmist says, I will say, God, my rock,

why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning

because of the oppression of my enemy? It's as

with the breaking of my bones. My enemies reproach

me, and while they say to me all the day long,

where is your God? Now we see despair again,

and we also see hope, both of which contrasts

here in verses 9 and 10. Why do I go mourning?

The question's posed. The oppression is so severe,

the psalmist says it's as if his bones are breaking

at the reproach of his enemies. And they echo

the same chant as earlier we saw in Psalm. Where

is your God in all this? Where is your God? How

could God who says he loves you let all this

happen? But I love this. We see the honesty and

sincerity of the psalmist in these verses. In

the midst of judgment, he does cling to God and

says, I will say to God, my rock. Not just any

God, it's very personal. My rock. While the writer

admits his own doubts about everything going

on around him, fears and even some complaints,

he said, God, why have you forgotten me? Why

have you left me in this? This should encourage

authenticity in our prayer lives. God knows how

we're feeling. And we should be able to express

ourselves very openly and transparently to Him.

But as He's called My Rock, He remembers that

God is His Creator. And in the midst of all life's

hardships, we are to turn our hearts to Him in

an attitude of faith and trust that what we can't

see, God is ultimately working out for our good.

But there is great despair in this verse. Have

you forgotten me? I am oppressed. My bones feel

as if they are breaking. I mean, that's a severe

pain that I think is fully hard to comprehend

unless you've walked some of life's hardest roads.

It says, My enemies reproach me. But does any

of this language sound familiar? My bones feel

like they're breaking. I'm oppressed. Where is

your God now? What is all this? Think back to

the Garden of Gethsemane. God's Son, Jesus Christ,

was overcome with great grief. He was all alone

in the garden. In fact, he would say that his

soul was distressed. He told his disciples, my

soul is very sorrowful, even unto death, he said.

But he entered into our sorrows in order to deliver

us. And the truth is, we will never be alone.

We will never be forsaken by God. Why? Where

do we see Christ in the text? Because Christ

was alone on the cross. Going through agony and

shame, he cried out, Abba, Father, why have you

forsaken me? As he hung there, carrying the sins

of all who would ever come to him in true, genuine

faith, because Christ endured hardship, suffering,

pain, and separation. We will never know that

feeling of being forsaken by God because it was

Christ who has already suffered it on our behalf.

And because He was forsaken on the cross, you

will never be so as a child of God. And that

is heavy. And that is deep theology. If we are

saved, we are God's children by the Spirit of

adoption. And not even the devil himself can

separate us from the love of God and the presence

of His Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts. Last

verse, verse 11. We see this refrain again. Why

are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you

disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall

yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and

my God. Now this refrain is the same as verse

5, but it's also a great assurance for us. When

we consider Israel's history, the ancient Israelites

had waited many times for God. They waited in

Egypt. For hundreds of years. For his deliverance

from slavery in the wilderness, they wandered

around for 40 years as they waited to go into

the promised land. In exile in Babylon, 70 years,

they waited to return to Jerusalem and to the

presence of God and to rebuild the temple. And

when we find ourselves in circumstances where

it almost seems like God is absent, when our

very being feels as though the weight of the

world is upon us, May we be able to speak these

words of refrain in verse 5 and 11. Wait for

God, for I will again praise Him. You say, this

is really good, but what about us? What are the

takeaways here today? Church, because Christ

has bridged the chasm between a holy God and

fallen man by His cross, we can rejoice even

in the darkness of the cross. Jesus rejoiced

in the hope of God's resurrection promise. And

this is a promise that we share, that if we have

trusted in Christ, He pledges that nothing will

be able to separate us from the love of God in

Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ's saving work should

lift up our downcast souls from any form of distress,

hard though as our day -to -day may be. The psalmist

said, I shall again praise Him, my salvation

and my God. It's personal. Not just a God, not

one of many gods, but the one true God who has

delivered you as an individual from many untold

circumstances. The one true God in whom you have

seen work miracles in your very own lives, in

the lives of your children, in the lives of your

family. the one to whom we praise for even just

the small ways, that we see God show up in our

mundane lives from day to day. That is the God

who will never forsake us and raise us up on

the last day. The promises of the gospel are

this. And they are what we must preach to ourselves

as a psalmist did when he said, why are you so

downcast, O my soul? We have to realize that

this life is hard. And it can be very hard. There

are going to be some seasons that are much harder

than others. There are also going to be seasons

of celebration. Celebration of joy in your life.

If you look back on it, there were many seasons

where children were born and the house was expanding

and things were so good. But there are hard seasons

also. But these hard seasons are temporary. They

will not last forever. They feel like it now

because it's your constant reality. And there

are some saints who have suffered long and suffered

hard. And even as I say that, some people might

even be coming in to your memory. Yet the moment

they left this life, all those afflictions ceased

as they experienced ultimate glorification, seeing

the one who they have served face to face. We

see in this psalm that the whole point of lament

is not to get rid of grief, but to draw near

to God. Why? Because it's in lamenting that we

draw strength, courage, and refuge in the midst

of our grief. Now that does not mean that life

circumstances are not hard, but it does mean

that we will never walk through any hard season

alone. God is always gone before us. There is

nowhere His children will go that He has not

already went out before them. Paul David Tripp

said this, Our suffering does not belong to us.

It belongs to the Lord's purposes. Our purpose

is to glorify God, to worship Him through our

deeds, our thoughts, our heart, and to love our

neighbor as ourselves, even when we don't feel

it. There are so many days when we don't just

feel it, when life is hard. And in those days

when we don't feel it, We must profess and believe

that God has been good, is good, and will continue

to be good to His people. That every hard thing

that enters our lives was not by chance. There

is no chance, there are no accidents, but by

His hand of providence. And so we learn to speak

the language of lament as a church body. To cry

out to God, to trust Him deeper than we ever

have before. Because church, God has shown great

grace. To each and every one of us. Sending his

own son to bear and remove the curse of our sin.

Because of that, let us long for fellowship.

Let us long for communion and worship with him.

And may we with fervor echo the passion we saw

expressed in verse 1. As the deer pants for flowing

streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Amen,

church. The word of the Lord. May he be greatly

praised. We come to this time at the end of our

service each week here at Mamre that we set aside

to come together and engage in a means of grace

that God has given to His church that will come

to the table and take these sacraments, the bread

and the cup. And we certainly invite you to that

table with us this morning. It is the Lord's

table. As we do so, we see this as a memorial,

but also as we engage in a common means of grace

looking forward to the return of our Lord Jesus

Christ. And as we invite you to partake, we just

ask that the qualifications the Lord has given

us...