Psalm 42
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Psalm 42:1-2:
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? |
David is a prolific writer and he captured well how he actually feels about God. In this verse, we see how David compares his longing for the Almighty.
Water is essential for life. Without water, we are all going to die. However, water is not simply for survival, it’s for comfort and refreshment. On a hot sunny day, a deer would long for the cool water. Sooner or later, the deer can’t resist the need to go to the water brooks and there, receive refreshment. As you can imagine, the deer knew that water is essential and we must always long for it. In the same manner, we should have the same longing for God as the deer longs for the water. This means that the desire to be with God is so strong that it becomes a matter of life and death for us. -Becoming Christian |
Psalm 42:3-9:
3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
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Psalm 42:11:
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. |
In these words we read of the sad discouragements of a gracious spirit, with those remedies that are to be applied and used against them. The discouragements are expressed in two words, under two similitudes: cast-down, disquieted. As a man is bowed or cast down under the weight of some heavy burden, so art thou cast down, O my soul, says David: and as the sea in the time of a storm is much disquieted, so art thou also disquieted within me, O my soul. The remedies that he uses against these discouragements are two: self-reprehension and self-admonition. First, He chides himself for his diffidence and distrust of God: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” He chides and rebukes himself for it. Secondly, He admonishes and calls upon himself to wait upon and hope in God: “Hope thou in God.” Why. I. Because I shall yet be delivered: “For I shall yet praise him.” II. Because salvation belongs unto Him alone: “He is the health of my countenance,” or, “the salvation of my countenance.” III. Because He is in covenant with me, and I with Him; He is my God: “The health of my countenance, and my God.” -William Bridge
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Ironically, it is also when our body and mind are satiated — when physical gratification has been exhausted and the mind is muddled and mired — that we again begin to hear the murmuring of our restless soul, turning in its longing for true fulfillment.
