Hope in God
Notes
Transcript
Why are you downcast, Oh my soul?
Why are you downcast, Oh my soul?
This morning, we are going to continue our Summer in the Psalms. These Psalms were known as the song book for worship. Some of them are songs of praise and worship - many of the praise and worship songs that we sing today come from the Psalms as well. In fact, you’ll see when we read our text for this morning that one of the songs we sang this morning came directly from our text. Poetry and music captures emotion & feeling in a way that prose just cannot.
This morning, we are going to look at Psalm 42 & 43 together. There is a similarity in these 2 Psalms that has caused some to view them together as 1. We are going to do that this morning - let’s turn to these Psalms.
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
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?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 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.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love, 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 must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
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.
1 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
5 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.
One of the reasons for considering these Psalms together is the recurring verse found in 42:5 & 11, and then again in 43:5.
5 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.
Sometimes when we think of the authors of scripture, we forget that they were human beings with raw and painful feelings, as well as feelings of tremendous joy. They experienced heartache and pain just like we do. They experienced loss and the unfairness that life sometimes brings. The Psalms are one of the places in scripture where we see the brokenness and raw emotion in its authors.
We don’t really know for sure who wrote these Psalms. We often think of King David when we think of the Psalms, because many of them are attributed to him, but we have to admit that we just don’t really know for sure here.
What we do know is that the Psalmist was, for some reason, unable to go to worship. We have this beautiful description of how great the desire is to worship. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”
Years ago, we lived in Kingwood, WV, which was up in the mountains of Preston County. We would often make the trip 26 miles down the mountain to Morgantown. It was one of those mountain roads where you better be alert because I don’t think there were any straightaways on the whole trip. Huge boulders could be seen along the side of the road, and there were places where mountain streams could be seen from your car - if you were a passenger. As the driver, you couldn’t really pay attention to these things, because you needed to keep your eyes steadfast on the road! The first time my parents came to visit us there, my mom asked why they had speed limits on that road, because she said she didn’t think it was possible to speed on that road. One day as we were driving back home from Morgantown, Lisa made the comment that she would love to just see a deer drinking from the stream that was near the road. About that time, we rounded one of the curves, and there they were - deer drinking from the stream. She has tried that many times since, and I don’t believe it has ever worked.
It really is not that surprising that we would see deer at the water, though. Like any other animal, they require the water. The Psalmist draws this picture of deer that are panting fro water - they are in deep need of water. The deer is not leisurely drinking from the stream - it is panting and desiring the water. When you are really thirsty, there is nothing else that satisfies quite like water. I almost said a nice tall glass of cold water, but when you are really thirsty, you really don’t care if there is a glass, and you really don’t care if it’s cold! You just know that you need that water.
For some reason, the Psalmist had been unable to go to the house of God for worship, and the desire had arisen from deep within to go to the house of God - to be with the others who worshipped. Something had caused him not to be able to go with the others. Our minds may go back a few years to the beginning of the pandemic when we were unable to gather in person for worship. But I believe that this picture of deep desire for worship ought to be the way we approach every opportunity to worship!
Like streams in the desert, we run to Him to praise and worship - to experience His awesome presence and to bask in His glory! That is what I love about the music of the church. It helps to draw us in to the presence of the almighty God who is always present. Yet, so often we approach worship with the ho-hum attitude. Often we approach worship with an attitude that is more concerned with who is here and who isn’t here than with approaching God, and basking in His presence. No matter who is present and who isn’t, we come to worship to experience the almighty God of the universe, and we ought to be coming in such a way that we are hungering and thirsting for Him and His presence.
When we are unable to be together with other believers for worship, may our attitude be that of the Psalmist that we find repeated in these Psalms:
5 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.
Perhaps sometimes in your life you feel like the Psalmist, who waxes eloquently about how it seems like everything and everybody are against him.
Maybe this morning you feel like the world is just throwing wave after wave upon you and no matter how hard you try or how loud your scream, you feel like nobody hears you. It is hard to garner attention when you are trying to out shout the waves and waterfalls!
For the Psalmist, life was difficult - depression was setting in, so in desperation, there is a remembrance of God’s presence back home. How God had always been there. How when it seemed that there was no hope, waves of love and encouragement and hope swept over his life. By day and by night, God was with the Psalmist, and yet, at the moment of writing these words, there was this feeling of being overwhelmed - there was this feeling of being forgotten by God, as if that is even possible. People are that way - we often forget - we have difficulty staying in touch with people when we are far away - out of sight out of mind. That is exactly how the Psalmist was feeling about God in this Psalm. The Psalmist declares that God is his rock, but in the next breath asks why God has forgotten him - why does the mourning continue - why does God allow the oppression of the enemy?
Sometimes we are not as honest with God as we ought to be. Can I just tell you this morning that God can handle it! He already knows how you feel, so be honest with Him! If you are feeling abandoned and alone, tell Him. When it feels like everything and everybody is against you, it is OK to be honest with God. Some of you have been fighting battles and struggling to get through them - it is in line with scripture to honestly go before God and tell Him how you feel. And yet, along with the Psalmist, we are brought back to these words that are now Psalm 42:11
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.
At times, I must confess when I look around at the world in which we live, and I see the mess that we have made and continue to make of it - I wonder why God puts up with us! History, they say, is written by those who win. If that is true, then we know that some evils are often covered up. That is true not only of world history, but of American history. There are some vile things that have happened in the name of freedom in America that have been anything but freedom.
Today in America, we are celebrating a holiday. The Post Office and most banks will be closed tomorrow to celebrate Juneteenth. Why do we have a new holiday? I hate to admit it, but I was unaware of this until a few years ago. If you look at our history, it helps us understand why this day is so important, not only to African Americans, but why it ought to be important to all of us!
On January 1st 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Emancipation Proclamation which legally declared that all slaves were freed. That didn’t end the civil war, though, and slavery continued in the South. On April 9th, 1865, the Civil War was effectively over “when Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, after Lee had abandoned Petersburg and Richmond. Confederate generals throughout the Confederate army followed suit.” That was April 9th, but it wasn’t until June 19th of 1865 - a full 2 and 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law and over 2 months after the war had ended, the proclamation was finally forced upon the slaveowners in Texas and slaves were set free. It is a part of our history that we have tried to cover up because it is ugly - it was wrong - and it was utterly oppressive!
The Psalmist felt betrayed and let down by an unfaithful nation. There has been a rise, over the past few years in what is known as Christian nationalism which is a movement that is far more nationalist than it is Christian. There is no nation that is perfect before God - no nation has been perfectly formed - because nations are led by people and people are flawed! Our Psalmist was looking for vindication from God against an unfaithful nation.
Yet, in the midst of this time of separation and oppression, there was always this reminder deep within that there was opportunity to go to the altar of God and praise God in the place where God dwelt. In a political climate that tries to tell us that we can right the wrongs and fix the problems of our world if we would just elect the right officials to be in charge - if we would just follow the correct philosophy, then we could return to our former greatness. I want to remind you that there is only one in whom we can place our hope and our trust. There is only one that is worthy of our praise and adoration. Jesus, our savior has come so that we might have life and that we might have life to the full.
Even as Jesus was getting ready to go to the cross, He prayed for God to remove the cup from Him that He was about to endure, but He also prayed, not my will but yours be done. We may not always like the circumstances that we face. We may even feel like we are being overwhelmed with the trials and cares of this life. We might feel like we have been wrongfully accused or treated unfairly. Even in those moments, we can say with the Psalmist, as is repeated again in 43:5
5 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.