Hope in the Father - Psalm 42

Welcome brothers and sisters to Day 4! Let us open with prayer.

My Abba Father. How I give You all the praise and glory for all You are to me. Your grace and mercy were everywhere today. When I turned around, You were there. When I sat down, You were there. Praise You Lord. Nothing surprises You. You withhold no good thing from Your people. As I meditate on Psalm 42 today, I pray that You will create a greater yearning for  Your presence within me. May I be obedient to steal away time with You, in our meeting place, to seek You while You can still be found. Teach me Lord now more about surrendering what I am holding during the battles that I am in, so that my arms can be free to be raised to You in praise and worship. For You inhabit the praises of Your people. Give me the strength to lay it all down before you in beautiful surrender. In Jesus Precious Name, Amen.

We begin with Psalm 42 (NKJV) which states,

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 

When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

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.

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.

My soul is downcast within me; therefore, I will remember you from the land of the

Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have

swept over me.

By day, the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me—a prayer to the God of

my life.

I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about

mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long,    

“Where is your God?”

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. 

The Lord loves us. Our soul and spirit respond with every part of us as we place our hope in our God. Amen.

I love this psalm. I had another psalm in mind when the Lord dropped this into my view. Verse 1 of the psalm reminds me of the first days after recommitting my life to the Lord in 1995. I was so thirsty for His Word. I could hardly wait to be with our church home group where we had unrestricted worship that often lasted for more than an hour. Guitar and voices lifted in adoration of our King. With His presence so tangible, His Heart in His Word flowed right into mine. I hid His Word deep in my heart. It was exciting. Then it happened.

“When can I go and meet with God?” the psalmist writes.

If we are honest, this question might have been on our lips during tough times. It has for me... several times. Our lives get clouded with distractions aplenty. Have you noticed that fog makes it difficult to see the road in front of us? So, it is with our faith. Cloud, fog, and distractions... they cause us to lose sight of where our God is. Our Father knew this would happen. He is not surprised by anything. He is exactly where He has been since the creation of the Universe and the Earth as we know it.... on the Throne. We only need to call out His Name. He sovereignly made a way for us to have His tabernacle within us. A place to meet with Him. Wholly His. He and His love. Without the sacrifice Jesus made for us, none of this would be possible. Praise Him for His Love for us. Our anchor = His Love.

"My soul is downcast within me"

Have you ever felt like His protection was taken from you? Did you feel like Job? Questioning where God went and what you had done to deserve the storm? I questioned my Lord just like the psalmist. I may have sounded more like Job. In His loving kindness, His response reminded me that His thoughts and ways are above mine. There are mysteries to why we undergo storms. Some answers are revealed here on Earth later while other answers remain a mystery. Any questions should be laid down at the foot of the Cross. His Purposes are for our benefit, creating a well of depth of faith that makes you the compassionate, caring person that you are today.

Have FAITH brothers and sisters! In my situation, I recognized that the truth was that He never left me, not even once. He heard my heart cries and realness with Him. He loved me through it all. He just wanted time with me to demonstrate what it meant to walk in faith trusting Him to provide and guide. Praising Him during that time was an important piece to keep me anchored to Him and keep me steady.

Verse 8 proclaims that “By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.” I can see Him reaching down to me as He has done repeatedly throughout my life. He is with me day and night. His song, a melody, and words of praise, I sing to my King. The beautiful truth is that our Father’s love knows no bounds. When His Word says that He will never leave nor forsake us, that is a promise. I am His forever.

Brothers and sisters, make a choice to embrace His love even if you are in a storm and sing praises to Him. Remember the psalmist repeatedly acknowledged the situation he was in, but still encouraged himself in the Lord by saying "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."

The key is I will praise Him. Let us ALL praise Him for He is worthy. God bless you today.