Psalm 42
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Rev D. Graham Leitch
11 August 2002

“D’you want to see?”

Psalm 42 is one of the “insight” Psalms and it will reward those who WANT to see!! It’s a matter of openness to God. It’s a matter of giving him our humble and ready attention. Of saying to God (as Jesus did) “not my will but yours” and echoing the prayer “teach me your way.”

So let’s come to the text of Psalm 42 - this portion of Scripture - not with scepticism but with faith and expect God himself to speak to us today through this insight Psalm.

God, Charles Spurgeon used to say, has not “outpromised himself” yet! Today we can apply the promise yielded by one of the Psalms we looked at just a week or two ago:

“Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!”

Turn with me, then, to Psalm 42, to see what it has to say to us.

THE STRUCTURE OF PSALM 42
Folk often find that providing a structure to the exposition or unpacking, the explanation of a Psalm (or for that matter any passage in the Bible) helps. Dear George B Duncan, for so many years minister of St George’s Tron in Glasgow and, in his later years a member here, G.B. (whose daughter Margaret is still a member with us) was not only a gifted expositor of world renown, but also an unsurpassed champion of alliterative preaching.

I could never match his skill - GB could reduce almost any passage in the Bible to three heads, each with three sub-heads - and all starting with the same letter!! But perhaps my poor attempt to follow his practice and advice will be of some use!

In this Psalm we have:
. The revelation of a strong desire.
. The recognition of a serious plight.
. The reporting of a sensible decision
. The relief of a sure conclusion.

It may be perfect but a pretty blunt spade can still turn the soil over!!

1. The revelation of a strong desire is in the opening verses:

“As the deer pants (longs) for streams of water” writes the author “so my soul longs for you O God, My soul thirsts - my soul is thirsty - for God, for the living God!”

The report of a strong desire - the author’s deep deep longing for God!

2. The recognition of a serious plight comes in the author’s description of his soul ( a description
he gives in v.5 and repeats in v.11) as “downcast” and “disturbed.” The recognition of a serious
plight - the author was in a bad way. he wasn’t just down. He was down and out!! “My tears have
been my food day and night!”

3. The reporting of a sensible decision comes in .6. in his “therefore....” there! In 5 he muses and
reflects; “Why are you cast down, my soul, why are you disturbed...” But in the next verse he goes
beyond musing and reflection - he decides!

“My soul is downcast within me....therefore....!”

And I interpret the author’s therefore as the hinge of this psalm and the turning point for him -
enabling him in verse 8a to confess:

“By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me....”

4.The relief of a sure conclusion is exhibited in the faith which by God’s grace can trustfully
exclaim:

“I will yet praise my Saviour God!”

1. THE REVELATION OF A STRONG DESIRE
With that brief summary or outline as a backcloth, let’s visit each subject in turn and begin at the beginning in the very first verse with the REVELATION OF A STRONG DESIRE.

“As the deer pants (longs) for streams of water” writes the author “so my soul longs for you O God, My soul thirsts - my soul is thirsty - for God, for the living God!”

Commentators writing on this psalm often portray these verses as an expression of the sweet delight of the writer, who enjoyed nothing more than communion with God. Here, says one, is “holy love thirsting, love upon the wing, soaring upwards in holy desire....” But I’m not so sure..........

That there is a thirst which is experienced as a strong and sweet anticipatory delight at the thought of a drink is commonly known. That such a thirst is a fit way to describe the longing for God of the m,an or woman whose chief delight is in Him, I have no doubt!

But the strong desire of the opening verses of this psalm is, to my mind, far from sweet. It is not the picture of the hind in the meadow scenting the stream; is it the picture of the hart in the parched desert - weakened by dehydration, collapsing and near to death - aching and desperate for water, where there is none!!

“As the deer pants (longs) for streams of water” writes the author “so my soul longs for you O God, My soul thirsts - my soul is thirsty - for God, for the living God!”

This is the testimony not of sweet hope but of bitter despair! These are the words of someone at the end of their tether - with their hope all but gone! The picture I have is of unsheltered deer, in the heat of the midday sun, staggering in a parched desert of endless sand, suffering from a desperate and painful thirst!!

This is not “holy love thirsting, love upon the wing, soaring upwards in holy desire....”in other words - it is the aching heart, seeking but finding not.

And not even the strongest faith is immune or the maturest Christian believer is exempt from such time - times when the absence of God is palpably real to us and the [presence of God but a dream!

“As the deer pants (longs) for streams of water” writes the author “so my soul longs for you O God, My soul thirsts - my soul is thirsty - for God, for the living God!”

The author is expressing the experience of the person who feels shut off, cut off from God; who believes in God yet cannot find Him; who longs for the nearness of God but feels abandoned... hence the perplexed question, born of despair, of v.2a:

“Where can I go and meet with God?”

It is the cry of one who knows that in God, the Living God, relief is to be found, yet with Job cries out in despair: “Oh that I knew where I might find Him!”

Behind the rage of the angry man who curses God there is sometimes a heart crying out for Him!!

In the opening verses of this Psalm there is THE REVELATION OF A STRONG DESIRE. This Psalm is the record of someone seeking God without success and saying “If only I knew where to find Him!!”

2. THE RECOGNITION OF A SERIOUS PLIGHT
But in the verses that follow there is THE RECOGNITION OF A SERIOUS PLIGHT. Twice - at 5a and at 11a the author speaks of his soul being “downcast” and “disturbed” and muses on his predicament: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?”

Notice the descriptions he gives of his own inner self:

He describes himself as downcast - floored - down and out! It is a picture of weariness - of a man no longer able to stand on his own two feet. Pummelled by life’s trials some knock-out blow has landed him on the canvas for the last time, unable to rise!!

He describes himself as disturbed - the picture now is of the sea whipped up by the wind, swirling and tossing in ceaseless motion - and the writer, like a piece of flotsam at the mercy of the waves and imminent danger of being cast upon the rocks.!!

So it would be fair to say that the author, reflecting upon his life and situation, feels in a helpless and hopeless condition. He’s not coping and he knows he’s not coping!! He feels hemmed in by his situation. Overwhelmed by circumstances. Things aren’t just bad, they’re worse than they’ve ever been! Look at v3b:

Not only is his own heart questioning God, but others, mocking, are also saying - “Where’s your God now?”

And in v.4 he remembers nostalgically better days when his faith was full, life was good and believing was easy. Then he had played a leading part in his religion. But not now:

“These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.”

This is a useful reminder that even the leading figures in Christian communities are not exempt from turmoil, from doubts and spiritual difficulties. They are a primed target for the Devil!!

“My tears have been my food day and night.”

THE RECOGNITION OF A SERIOUS PLIGHT - when we’re in a bad way it’s sometimes easy to pretend we’re not - to put on a brave face or to live in denial. To imagine that, if we tell ourselves often enough that we’re OK, we will be!!

But the course this writer follows is the healthy one - he doesn’t deny his plight or disown his feelings. He pulls himself up and has an honest discussion with himself about himself (as it were). He looks in the mirror at his own reflection and he sees a man in depression and a mind in turmoil - a picture of despair.

The recognition of a serious plight. Don;t run away from your mental emotional and spiritual state - OWN IT! Those who live in denial cannot admit their need to themselves or to God and so deny themselves the help of His sufficient grace!!

THE RECOGNITION OF A SERIOUS PLIGHT - before God can solve our problems for us we need to own them - to be honest about our problems with ourselves, so that we can be honest about them with God!!

3. THE REPORTING OF A SENSIBLE DECISION
The third thing we have in this Psalm - in v.6 - is THE REPORTING OF SENSIBLE DECISION:

“My soul is downcast within me,”the psalmist confesses to God, “therefore I will remember you...”

I’ve already described this THEREFORE as the hinge of the Psalm and the turning point for its writer.....

His wisdom is displayed on this, that he advanced beyond, musing and reflecting upon his state of heart and mind and decided to do something about it.

And there is a crucial lesson in his example. Too often those who are “downcast” and “disturbed” yield to the temptation which often accompanies discouragement and depression to become broody -introspective and inturned, which, in turn, leads to self-pity which then feeds upon itself.

In v.6 we have the reporting of a SENSIBLE DECISION. Verse 6 reveals that the writer of the Psalm, far from becoming trapped in a cycle of introspection and self pity - chose THE UPWARD LOOK!

“My soul is downcast within me,”the psalmist confesses to God, “therefore I will remember you...”

The story in Matthew 14 of Simon Peter’s experience when Jesus invited him to come to him walking on the water through he storm on the lake is helpful. When Simon Peter looked in to his own heart he saw only fear. When Peter looked around he saw nothing but the storm. His only safety lay in looking to the Lord!!

In times of doubt or difficulty the temptation is to doubt the faithfulness of God, to discount the merciful kindness of God, to deny the love of God. That’s the temptation. But the NEED is precisely opposite -

“My soul is downcast within me,”the psalmist confesses to God, “therefore I will remember you...”

In time of difficulty or doubt or distress the sensible believer, the wise Christian chooses not to question God’s faithfulness, mercy and love but to REMEMBER God’s faithfulness, mercy and love - that is, the kind of God he has!!

* That was what Paul and Silas did when, as Luke reports in the Book of Acts, they sand songs to
God in prison. And we must do the same.

God’s goodness is not proportionate to our experience of His goodness - as though the measure of God’s goodness fluctuates as our circumstances change. No!! God is always good and God is entirely good and His goodness is the same at the worst of times as at the best.

As an old hymn has it:
“Good when he gives, supremely good,
nor less, when he denies,
even crosses from his sovereign hand
are blessings in disguise.”

4. THE RELIEF OF A SURE CONCLUSION
And then the final thing we have in this psalm is what I’ve called THE RELIEF OF A SURE CONCLUSION.

Is it expressed in v.5 and repeated (in v.11) at the psalms end:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise Him,
My Saviour and my God!”
Here are TWO THINGS:

THE DECISION TO TRUST GOD
There is the decision to TRUST GOD in the command the writer addresses to his own soul in 11m:

“Put your hope in God.”

It’s not enough to BELIEVE in a certain kind of God in our heads - as though faith is a matter of academic belief - an operation of the intellect. It is a matter of TRUSTING Him and ENTRUSTING whatever it is that’s getting us down or working us up to HIM!!

It’s a matter of trusting him and entrusting ourselves to Him - not just placing our worries but replacing our lives consciously and clearly, deliberately and completely in HIS hands.

The one who is MY SAVIOUR and MY GOD at the best of times does not cease to be MY SAVIOUR and MY GOD at the worst of times!!

And secondly, there is the CONFIDENCE OF BETTER THINGS TO COME:

THE CONFIDENCE OF BETTER THINGS TO COME
Scott of the antarctic once confess that the complete darkness of the six month long Polar night was worth living through for the joy of seeing the dawn.

In the darkest bleak and chilly night that fate can send those trusting God can be sure of day’s return and say with the psalmist:

“I will yet praise Him my Lord and my God.”

AMEN