Psalm 42-43

Introduction

I’ve been doing one-on-ones with the junior girl overnight counsellors every week since camp started this year, and in multiple conversations, there is this phenomenon that some girls have mentioned. They talk about how they experience this spiritual high when they come to camp. You probably know what I’m talking about. You feel so close to God as you are surrounded by other Christians, seeing God at work in campers’ lives, participating in worship, hearing speakers every day, praying with other staff, and being mentored by older believers. And then you go home, and it’s just not the same. You don’t have that community to encourage you and keep you accountable. Life gets hectic. Social media and pressures from work and friends and family are constant distractions. And that passion for God that felt so strong a few months ago starts to fizzle. God can feel far away.

This is an experience that every one of us will face at some point of our lives. God feels distant and we feel alone. It can be a horrible, isolating experience. You might wonder, “What’s wrong with me? Why am I such a weak Christian? Why is it so hard to hold on?” And for anyone who has ever struggled with depression or if you’re facing another serious crisis in your life, these feelings of being far from God can become utterly overwhelming.

We can feel like no one understands what we are going through, but the crazy thing is that this is an incredibly common experience. Today, we’re going to read Psalms 42-43 (If you have your Bible, you can flip to Psalm 42 now). In these poems, the psalmist is experiencing these intense feelings of isolation and longing for God’s presence. These are two psalms that I believe were originally one psalm that was somehow divided into two parts. The biggest reason why I think that way is because there’s a chorus that is repeated word-for-word three times in Psalm 42:5, 42:11, and again in Psalm 43:5. I’m going to read these two psalms without pausing. Let’s read them together, starting in Psalm 42.

Psalm 42–43 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. 1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 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. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 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. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! 2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Isolation and Turmoil

The geography of this psalm is really interesting. In Psalm 42:6, the psalmist writes that they are at “the peaks of Hermon.” The Mountains of Hermon were in the far north of Israel, right on the border on Lebanon. This could be literal or metaphorical, I’m not sure. But that’s not where he wants to be. He wants to be in Jerusalem at the Temple where he can worship God.

He remembers in Psalm 42:4 “how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.” He might be thinking about the Passover celebration or Pentecost or one of the other Jewish festivals where Israel would come and worship God together. For the people of Israel, this was like their summer camp experience, a yearly time of pilgrimage, celebration, worship, and fellowship. He wants to go there again, but something is keeping him away from the temple, away from this community of believers and worshippers, and it is tearing him apart.

This psalmist is very honest about his feelings of depression, anxiety, and despair. He says his soul is cast down. He is in turmoil, a storm of fear and anxiety inside. His agony is so strong it feels like a physical wound or disease in his bones. But the worst part is that he feels so distant and far from God. He is thirsty for God like a deer in the desert, looking for water in the dry season when the streams have all dried up. But instead of finding water he just ends up drinking his tears.

Psalm 42:3 is very interesting. It says, “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”’ Now, who is it that is saying to the psalmist, “Where is your God?” In the NIV, they translate it as “people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”, but that word “people” isn’t actually in the Hebrew text. It just says “they”. Who is they? It could be people, but there aren’t any other people mentioned until verse 10. Let me read the verse again: “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”’ I think the answer is his tears. His tears are metaphorically the ones asking him “Where is your God?” This is primarily an internal struggle. It is his own heart that he is fighting against, who is trying to convince him that God doesn’t see him, that God’s not there. That God has forgotten him, that God has rejected him.

But it’s not just his tears. There are also enemies, people who are taunting him and encouraging him to doubt God, and these people are exasperating the doubt and isolation he feels within. Notice that Psalm 42:9 and Psalm 43:2 are almost identical, but with some clear differences. In Psalm 42:9, the psalmist asks, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the opporession of the enemy?” He feels like God is ignoring him, like God doesn’t see what is happeneing. And then in Psalm 43:2, he asks the same questions, but he changes it to “Why have you rejected me?” To be rejected is even worse than being forgotten or ignored. He feels like God is choosing to push him away. These feelings of abandonment and isolation are escalating throughout these psalms.

Hope in God

But even while the psalmist is overwhelmed and downcast, he recognizes that his feelings do not represent reality. In Psalm 42:8 he writes:

Psalm 42:8 ESV

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.

He knows that day and night, God is with him. He feels alone. He feels rejected. And yet, he knows that his feelings are deceptive, that God has not abandoned him. Remember Psalm 139:

New International Version (2011) Psalm 139

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

No matter how far we feel from God, how alone and isolated we might be, God’s spirit is still with us. No matter if we run from him, if we deserve his frustration and disappointment, God is still there, ready to guide us like a good shepherd who goes after his lost sheep and picks them up with love and grace.

For the psalmist of Psalms 42-43 who is longing to go back to the temple and experience the presence of God, he constantly reminds himself that he doesn’t need to feel this way. Three times we come to this chorus where he stops and reflects and challenges his perspective. He asks in 42:5, 42:11, and 43:5,

Psalm 43:5 ESV

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

The psalmist doesn’t just accept these feelings of despair and isolation. He stops and asks himself, why do I feel this way? Why do I feel so alone? Why is my soul in turmoil? And in response to these feelings, he tells his soul how he should respond: Hope in God!

To hope in God means to believe, no matter what our circumstances are, that God is at work and he will bring about his good plan. It is a solid, firm belief that God is good and the future he has in store for us is good. To hope in God means to lift up our eyes beyond the present moment and to look forward, knowing that God is not done yet! The psalmist reminds himself to hope in God because he knows he will see God’s salvation at work in his life and he will praise God again, both on his own and with his community.

Send your Light and Truth

Psalm 43 ends with a beautiful, victorious vision of hope. The Psalmist writes in verse 3, “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.” Your holy hill refers to the temple mount in Jerusalem and your dwelling refers to the Most Holy Place in the temple which was the only place where the High Priest was able to meet with God in the Old Testament. I find it interesting that light and truth are both words Jesus used to describe himself. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the very answer to this psalmist’s prayer. Jesus, who is the light and the truth, is our guide who leads us to the Father.

Unlike the Psalmist, we don’t have to wait until we arrive at the Temple in Jerusalem to experience God’s presence. Jesus, through his sacrifice on the cross, has opened up the way permanently. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is with you always. The psalmist found hope believing that God’s light and truth would bring him back to Jerusalem so he could have that “Summer Camp” experience of worshipping God at the festival again.

But you don’t need to wait for the bus to bring you back to camp to experience God’s presence. Frontier Lodge isn’t the temple. You are. Worshipping here with the music and friends isn’t what brings you close to God, even though you might feel closer to God here. You have the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is with you. You can continue to experience a vibrant, glorious relationship with God in your city, at your school, with your family, wherever God sends you next.

I started this message by talking about how normal the experience is to have a spiritual high at camp and then going home and getting hit by a spiritual low. It’s a real shared experience. But you can feel a spiritual low without having a spiritual breakdown. You are probably going to feel these emotions of isolation and discouragement at some point. But even then, remember that you are not abandoned by God. You are God’s Temple and the Holy Spirit is in you. When you feel that way, come back to Psalm 42:5: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”