Scripture Reading(s)
Psalm 42
42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
42:4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help
42:6 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.
42:7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
42:9 I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?”
42:10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Reflections
Verse 11 truly sums up how one wrestles with the fact that they are in deep need of God’s help in the midst of a hard circumstance. Sometimes we find ourselves at the point of utter hopelessness and we know that the one place we can find our hope again is in God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. (Psalm 42:11)
Going through a hard trial and not knowing the end result can one leave feeling defeated and discouraged. When the future becomes unknown, it can be hard to remember that we serve a God who is so loving and in complete control of our lives.
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and we were speaking about trials and I was saying that from going through something that has been challenging that I know in my heart that God is in control but at the moment it feels as though my faith is just so small. The words my friend spoke to me were so encouraging. They were basically that sometimes we get to the point in which we need to cry out to God and express our feelings to Him. It is so important to remember who He is. When we hit rock bottom, our faith is tested-do we really believe what we say we believe. In the midst of a hard time, God is giving us the opportunity not to just say you believe He is in control but to live like He’s in control. That is not a easy thing to do and it is actually something we have to constantly fight for.
The fight is to ultimately believe that God is good and He knows what He’s doing even if you don’t. It is a battle to keep on trusting in Him, even though the situation can be confusing and you don’t understand why or how things happen. It is an opportunity to allow for God to reveal your heart in letting go of your worry and anxiety about the future and lay it all before Him.
My encouragement from all this is that we all face trials and we should not feel about our struggle with faith. However keep on calling out to God and asking Him for help. As my friend said to me “Your faith may be small, but God can work with that. He knows what He’s doing.”
Quite often when we think of Psalm 42 we hear the song “As the Deer” playing in our heads. It’s a wonderful song based on Psalm 42. But it hardly captures the essence of the Psalm. David is struggling hard with his situation and he is feeling abandoned by God.
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
“Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me? As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”/blockquote>
We’ve all been in situations where we feel abandoned by God. I’ve been there myself a number of times. But I can tell you from experience that God will not abandon you or forsake you. Having gone through trials I can say that God has never abandoned me and He will never abandon you. You might experience trials but in those trials seek the Lord and you will find the refuge you seek. When you make it to the other side of your trials you will see how the Lord was with you the entire time.
[Featured image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/49030844@N05/11197066133]