Psalm 42 & 43 - Where is God?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning, brothers and sisters. Victor Chong is my name. The message today is entitled “Where is God?” based on Psalm 42 - 43.
Just a few quick words on the Psalms. Psalms are lyrics of songs sung in the religious services of the Jews. When the Temple was still standing in Jerusalem, the psalms were sung as songs of praise and worship to God. In fact, the Jews calls the Psalter, Praises. Being lyrics of songs, all the psalms are poetic in structure; and being used to praise and worship God, all the psalms are poems spoken to God. God is the intended audience of all the psalms, and this make the Psalter unique as a genre of biblical literature. And because of this, more than any other books of the Bible, the Psalms, being poetry and lyrics of songs, are uniquely effective in communicating not just theological truths and doctrines, but also in bringing alive the feeling, the emotion, the joy, the pain, the laughters and the tears of their ancient authors. It is in Psalms that the heart beat of God and his people come alive. Perhaps because of this, the Psalms are popular among believers, and are the most read portion of the Old Testament. The Gideon Bible that is placed in many hotel rooms, for example, contains only the New Testament, the Psalms and the Proverbs.
I have been tasked to share on Psalm 42 today; but I will include Psalm 43. The reason is that both psalms 42 and 43 were originally written as a single psalm - you can still see the internal evidence of this; Psalm 43 lacks the heading that every psalm contains; both psalms have the same structure, same topic and the same refrain or chorus. This will become clear when we dive into the message. Not to include Psalm 43 would be a job half done.
Background of Psalm 42-43
Background of Psalm 42-43
Many psalms start with a title, or notation. Psalms 42 an 43 are no different. The opening notation is:
Psalm 42 (ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
I will be using the ESV - the Ever Superior Version - mostly.
You will notice that Psalm 43 does not have a heading, an indication that it is in fact a continuation of Psalm 42.
One of the problems with studying the psalms is that often the context of the psalms is not known. For example, we don’t know the circumstances under which these 2 psalms were written; we don’t know anything about the music and instruments that accompany the singing of the Psalms, and even the authors of most of the psalms. And this makes interpreting them difficult. The title “A maskil of the Sons of Korah” could mean a variety of thing. The term “maskil” is not well defined; we don’t know if if refers to a set of musical notation or instrument. What we do know is that by the time of Jesus, or even a couple of hundred years prior, the meaning of this word was lost. And who is Korah? Perhaps a Levite in 1 Chronicles 6:16-22? And the phrase “sons of Korah” could mean actual sons, or descendants, or it could refer more generally to the Temple worshippers. We don’t know the exact date either of their composition, though internal evidence - the mention of festivity in the Temple and the language used that is similar to other Davidic psalms - suggests that these 2 psalms were probably written during the imperial period, that is, during the period of the Divided Kingdom in the southern kingdom of Judah, before the destruction of the Davidic temple in 72BC.
Like any song, Psalms 42 - 43 are written with a clear structure with 2 stanzas follow by a chorus, repeated twice:
Lament: Psalm 42:1-3
Meditation: Psalm 42:4
Hope: Psalm 42:5a
Meditation: Psalm 42:5b-8
Lament: Psalm 42:9-10
Hope: Psalm 42:11
Lament: Psalm 43:1-2
Meditation: Psalm 43: 3-4
Hope: Psalm 43: 5
Prayer
Prayer
Let us begin with a word of prayer.
The world today is in a mess; not something new or unique - much of human history is a mess. But we seems not to be able to pull ourselves out of it. There is war in Europe, Africa and Asia; half to a million casualties in Russian’s invasion of Poland; 1/10 civilians killed or wounded in Gaza; the decade long civil wars in Myanmar, Syria, Kurdistan, Ethiopia, central African countries, seems to have no solution; and who knows how long would the cease fire hold in Gaza. Today, there are more people than ever on earth, yet we are more lonely that we ever have been. Closer to home; as a nation, we are wealthier than ever, yet the divide between the have’s and have-not’s are greater than ever and getting worse. We have more resources and wealth and tools at our disposal, and Australian population has never been bigger, and yet we are not happier. In fact, we more lonely, worry and sadder than ever; the prevalence of depression and anxiety shows steady increase over the years; today, 9% of Australians suffer from depression, and 17% from anxiety disorder.
Where is God in all this pain? Where is God when children are orphaned, women widowed; innocents wounded and killed, the powerful oppresses the weak, even in God’s own name? God seems nowhere to be found.
And personally for many of us, this is not unfamiliar. In our disappointment, our loss, our pain, we often ask, “Where is God Almighty, my Saviour?” Looking at all these sufferings and pain, is there even a God? And how do we personally deal with these depressing news and prospects?
Background
Background
The author of Psalms 42 and 43 was facing the same situation, the same questions when he penned these 2 psalms. And being psalms, or songs, the psalmist does not seek to provide a theological or logical answer to these questions. Rather, he chronicles his journey of how he dealt with the pain emotionally. Today, we call Psalms 42 and 43 psalms of lament - psalms through which the author brings his pain and suffering to God.
What was the situation that the psalmist found himself in?
He is oppressed by his enemies; who are deceitful, ungodly and unjust, Psalm 43:1
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
His troubles come on him waves upon waves in Psalm 42:7
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
And when his wounds are fatal, his enemy taunts him, “Where is your God?”
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?”
The word “where” here is not a simple interrogative; not simply asking where is something, like asking where is God found; but rhetorical, that there is no God; and if there is God, he is nowhere to be found; “Well, where is your God? We don’t see him at all! He is not here. Where now are you going to find him?”
And so he longs for the presence of God; he longs for God to come to save him.
Lament: Where is God?
Lament: Where is God?
A quick reminder of the structure of Psalms 42-43, which is composed of repeating stanzas of laments, meditation and chorus of hope.
In the first of the 3 laments, his heart cries out, yearning for God in the midst of his troubles, in Psalm 42:1-3
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?”
The psalmist was utterly depressed; he was in tear all day and night; and he yearns for God like a deer, having escape from the predator, yearns to quench its thirst on the fresh flow stream. He longs to see God face to face, and verse 2 is translated literally by the NRSV as, Psalm 42:2
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
And yet, it was to no avail; God seems to have forgotten him, in the second lament of the psalms in Psalm 42:9-10
9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Or worse still; when he was deceived and unjustly treated, God seems to have forsaken and abandoned him, in the third and final lament in Psalm 43:1-2
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?
What happens when even God himself seems to have forsaken us, abandoning us to our own devices? Who else can we turn to? Who else could help us? What do we do in these moments of darkness and hopelessness?
Meditation
Meditation
Instead of giving in to despair, the psalmist turns to meditation - meditating on how he found joy, peace and celebration in God’s presence; in Psalm 42:4
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.
God is his source of joy, his peace, and his encouragement. And in the darkest moments of his days, he recalls the joy and peace he has in God’s presence, and as he does so, his meditation and remembrance turn to prayer in his second meditation, Psalm 42:6-8
6 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.
Mount Hermon is the highest peak in Israel; it is situated at the northeastern border, and separates Aram from Israel; standing at 2814 m in height, or over 9 000 feet, the peak is perpetually covered in snow. Mount Mizar is one of the lesser peaks in the Mount Hermon ranges. At the foot of Mount Hermon is a waterfall, which is the source of the river Jordan. You can image how the psalmist was looking at the mountain and the waterfall when he wrote the psalm.
Despite the waves upon waves of troubles, the psalmist trusts in God’s steadfast love; he prays and he sings to God, even to a God who seems to be absent, who seems nowhere to be found.
And the psalmist’ prayer continues in the last meditation, calling on God to bring him back to God’s holy presence, where he will again find joy, peace, assurance, and praise; Psalm 43:3-4
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.
And this is a beautiful picture of how prayer triumphs over hopelessness, how faith triumphs over despair; a faith that does not give up; a faith that trusts despite not seeing, not hearing, and not knowing. And this faith is not blind, but a faith that is built and founded on God’s faithfulness and steadfast love; the psalmist is convinced that God’s love is steadfast; in Psalm 42:8
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.
This is echoed in Deuteronomy 4:31
31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
And in 1 Samuel 12:22
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
Our God is a faithful God; when all is lost, when all is gone, when everyone has deserted us; God will still stick by us; he will never leave us; never give us up; whatever everyone else says, and however we feel. He will never leave us because he has mercy on; because he loves us.
Hope and Praise
Hope and Praise
And that, brings hope and praise to the psalmist, in Psalm 42:5
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 verbatim in Psalm 42:11
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.
And in Psalm 43:5
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.
5 מַה־תִּשְׁתֹּ֬וחֲחִ֨י׀ נַפְשִׁי֮ וּֽמַה־תֶּהֱמִ֪י עָ֫לָ֥י הֹוחִ֣ילִי לֵֽ֭אלֹהִים כִּי־עֹ֣וד אֹודֶ֑נּוּ יְשׁוּעֹ֥ת פָּ֝נַ֗י וֵֽאלֹהָֽי׃
The word “hope” here can be translated as “wait expectantly”. It is an imperative; a command; the psalmist is commanding his soul to “wait expectantly”, to have hope, to actively muster up hope and expectation, for God’s salvation, for he is certain that he will again praise God for his salvations in the presence of God; literally, before the face of God.
Where is God in all this suffering and troubles? Well, the theological answer is given by Peter. When the false teachers in Asia Minor mocks that God is not going to come to fulfil his promises in 2 Peter 3:4
4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Peter reminded his audience in that God is not slow or late, but he is giving all us opportunities to repent, and he will surely and certainly come, suddenly, like a thief, in 2 Peter 3: 9-10
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
That, is the theological, intellectual answer to the question we posed.
But we need more than an intellectual answer. We need the emotional reassurance that God is here with us, for us, and he will see us through our troubles.
This emotional reassurance comes from our past experiences and interactions with God, that God is our source of joy and celebration (Psalm 42:4)
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.
And his love for us is steadfast (Psalm 42:8)
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.
And we can always come back to this place of joy, celebration, light and truth in the presence of God in our prayer (Psalm 43:3)
3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
Application: Joy in the Lord
Application: Joy in the Lord
Theologically, or factually, you don’t me to tell you that God is faithful;
8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
And that he loves us deeply; Romans 8:32
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
And we can trust in God, instead of our feeling or understanding, Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Even when our heart condemns us, 1 John 3:19-20
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
But that is the intellectual side of things. Not what these psalms are all about. What these 2 psalms about are how to deal with the emotion of hopelessness and despair. And what I want to encourage all of us to do is to follow the example of the psalmist - spend time and to life together here at EDGE on Sundays and in life groups, and as we do so, as we praise God and worship him, as we celebrate every Christmas and Easter, every baptism and every Bible study together, and as we rejoice and praise God for every good thing he has done for us, cherish these moments, remember them, count them one by one often, store them up in our hearts; and when trouble hits us, remind ourselves of how God has been good to us. Re-live these moments, and turn our heart to pray to him, like what the psalmist has done.
And I want to reassure you that it helps, even though it takes science more that 2 and a half millennia to prove that this works.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
