Psalm 42

Hello everyone. My name is Benjamin McEndarfer. Some of you might recognise me from the kitchen, I have the honor of cooking the lunches and dinners this year. And it has been a wonderful privilege to do that for all of you. Before diving into the scripture I wanted to give all of you some background on me. I grew up in a christian home and accepted christ when i was around the age of 8, we were living in Massachusetts at the time, my family a year or so later moved up to Northern Maine. Years after moving up there we eventually ended up becoming good friends with Mark and Jill Kalata and started attending their congregation. Some of you know them as they have been coming to camp for many years helping in any way they can. So about 10 years ago they approached me and said hey we think you should go to this school that is starting up at camp shoshanah. It's called ariel school of messianic and jewish studies it was going to be a year-long school and it was going to be the very first year of them doing it. I remember thinking that I'm not interested in being a rabi and I'm not interested in going and learning Hebrew. But God had different plans. That week I actually had a hard time sleeping and could not get the thought out of my mind that I needed to go to this school. And in my lack of faith I challenged God and said fine. If you want me to go then you have to make it happen. I came up with a list of things God was going to have to do if he wanted me to go.

1- i would have to be accepted to this school (Well he took care of that)

2- I wanted to go doubt free. And not only debt free but I wanted all $10,000 before the first day of school. (At this point i did not have any money saved, and that was 3 months before the school started and i hade no money saved) (Well God made that happen as well)

3- I would need transportation to and from school (well you should not be surprised but God took care of that as well)

I can tell you this if God wants you to do something he will provide. He meets everyone of those request and through some extremely neat ways. And if any of you would like to know how later i would love to share.

Due to the lack of students the school ended early but even that was a wonderful thing because 2 days after the school ended my father passed away and I was able to see him before he went home to be with the Lord. God's plans and ways are much better than our own and even through the hardship or disappointments he is always with us and faithful.

After that I was able to go on the tour of Israel with Arnold Fructembum and from that I met my future wife Megan who was also on that tour. We than both worked at camp Shoshana back in 2016 and we got married in 2018. Since then we've moved to central Illinois and have 4 amazing and wonderful children. And it's such a privilege to be here this summer. And its such an honor to be able to speak this Sunday.

And in all honesty I tried a little to get out of speaking this sunday but Mottle was persistent and i thank him for that.

But I feel inadequate to do this. Being at camp you are surrounded by mature christians by teachers and schoolers of the bible and who am i to share in the shadow of such pillars of the faith. I have never felt so small in my life. The past few weeks where I have taken spare time to work on this I felt unable and inadequate, it has been a overshowdoing feeling that I could not shake.

But God in his goodness reminded me of this statement from Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 12:9

(9) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

So on that note.

Today we are going to be looking at a psalm. A very passionate and expressive psalm and most of you have properly heard the first verse of this psalm but if you are like me you might have only ever glanced quickly over this psalm without giving it too much thought.

But we are all probably familiar with the hymn “As the deer”

The hymn that was inspired by this psalm is one of my children's favorite songs and it's so wonderful to hear them sing it.

The psalm by the way that inspired the music is psalm 42

“King David is credited with writing most of the psalms, with at least 73 attributed to him that's out of 150 so just under 50%, other contributors include Moses, Solomon, Asaph, the sons of Korah, Ethan and some have no known authors.

The first 41 psalms in the book of psalms are almost all attributed to David as the author. We could call the first 41 psalms as book 1 of the book of psalms with a subtitle as the psalms of David. so that would mean psalm 42 is the first psalm of book 2. And we can get a hint of that by seeing that this is the first time you see an author other than david. So who is the first author mentioned after David? it is the sons of Korah and they are the authors of the next 7 psalms.

So who are the Sons of Korah?

well a whole study could be done on this group. We see in Numbers 16 that Korah led a revolt against Moses and God killed him and his family. We later see in (1 Chronicles 6:31) that some of the descendants of Korah are in charge of worship and in 1 Chron 9:19 that the descendants of Korah were in charge of guarding the entrance to the tabernacle. (There is also a possibility that the sons Korah who wrote the psalms are different then the Korah found in Numbers) regardless the sons of Korah are best known for the psalms they wrote. 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, and 88

Lets open our bibles and take a look at psalm 42

Psalms 42:1-11

(1) To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. 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.

Psalm 42 contains 2 stanzas. Verse 1-5 and 6-11 both stanzas end in the same way. And you can see that in Verse 5 and 11

Psalms 42 lets read the first verse.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So my soul pants for You, O God.

If you are familiar with the hymn “as the deer” you can see where the inspiration came from that famous hymn writing by “Martin Nystrom” in the summer of 1984

Martin was a school teacher and during the summer of 1984 was encouraged to fast for a month and take that time to pray and read the bible more, Martin said this looking back on the experience in an interview done in 2016 "I took up the challenge, and on the 19th day of the fast I found myself sitting at a piano trying to write a song. I was simply playing chord progressions when I noticed a Bible on the music stand of the piano. It was open to Psalm 42. My eyes fell on the first verse of that chapter... As the (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. After reading the verse I began to sing its message, right off the page. I wrote the first verse and the chorus of a song, pretty much straight through. The whole of the adventure was completed in a matter of minutes. I then repeated the song I had just written. I wanted to seal it in my mind."

For those who might not be familiar it goes like this.

“As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after Thee

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship Thee…..

Not to disregard this hymn but I believe that it misses some of the point of the psalm. I found that while preparing this and reading this psalm again and again that the hymn is good but the psalm is so much better and deeper and I want to help all of you to feel the passion and heart of the psalm writer as i have done while studying for this.

The sons of Korah start the psalm with a simple statement: As the deer pants or thirst for water so his soul is thirsting for God. He is wanting his soul to be filled with the Lord. Imagine a deer but it's in a desert and there is no water to be found. Nothing satisfies the thirst of the deer and if it does not get water soon it will die. A deer only pants for water when they are extremely thirsty or they are about to overheat. So this phrase is not one that should bring joy to us. This is an image of a deer that will die if water is not found. And the psalmist compares their soul to this thirsting deer.

Lets read verse 2

Psalms 42:2

(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?”

(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?”

The Psalmist changes from comparing his desire for God like a deer thirsting for water. to desire to appear before God. It is our hope as declared righteous through Messiah that we would be able to appear before Him, that we would stand in his presence. In fact the sons of Korah wrote a psalm expression this thought well

Psalms 84:1-2 ESV How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! (2) My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God……10 ESV For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

The psalmist in psalms 84 used the thought of being close to God as spiritual motivation but here in psalm 42 it is in deep sadness, its not being used as a joyous statement but a sad reality to the feeling of the psalmist. The scripture does an amazing job at showing the reality of life. It does not sugar coat itself. Its real, its authentic.

Verse 3 9 and 10 parallel each other well

(3) My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

(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?”

To help us understand how the psalmist might be feeling, let's read a psalm of Asaph.

Psalms 77:1-4 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. (2) In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. (3) When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah (4) You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

When hardships come wither that's from work. Family life. Age. We can easily get discouraged and it's hard for us to be positive and it's even harder in those times to put our trust in the Lord. We feel as though he has abandoned us and no longer cares for us we read verses like.

Psalms 36:8-9 ESV They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. (9) For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

Or how about this psalm

Psalms 34:8 ESV Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

But we don't feel that way. we do not feel God near. And we cant seem to find out why. why don't we feel close to God?. sometimes its because of Sin. Sin puts a barrier between us and God.

Psalm 32 is a psalm to go to if you are ever wondering what unconfessed sin can do to you.

Psalms 32:3-5 ESV For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. (4) For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (and the solution is) Selah (5) I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

I dont believe that the struggle the psalmist is having is one of sin but a struggle that we all go through. Think about how the psalmist feels. He feels thirsty, alone, sad, cast down, forgotten, hurt, he is in turmoil. And to make it all worst not only is his own soul down but He is being taunted by his enemies. Talk about being kicked when you are already down.

And what is the taunt in verse 3 and 10?

It's simple, clear and to the point. Where is your God? You claim that God will never leave you or forsake you? You claim that he is your comforter? You claim your soul is satisfied in Him alone. So where is he? Maybe he is not who you think he is, maybe he does not love you? Maybe these hardships have happened because you are a sinner? This taunt is simple but powerful, and when we are feeling Good its easy to answer but when we are down its seems harder.

Have you ever had those thoughts of doubt?

So why do we get so discouraged and why is it that when we are down that thats when we get attacked. Part of this could be from spiritual warfare.

in first peter helps us understand that the enemy is looking for opportunities to bring us down and we see that in

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Our enemy the devil is looking for ways to bring us down. He is constantly seeking those who he can devour. And what should our response be to these attacks? It's to be sober minded, watchful.

My wife and I live in Central Illinois. And every time a thunderstorm comes through it almost always produces a tornado. So what do we do. Well when the storms start to come we get mindful, we start paying attention. We pay attention to the wind, the radar and the direction of the storm and based on this information it will determine what we do. That might be go to the basement or just hang out in the living room. When we see the storms of life coming our way. Its not a time to be fearful and worried at the coming storm, its a time to be sober minded, its a time to pay attention and to be ready for the storm before it hits at full force.

You might be thinking that all nice if you can see the strom but what about when the storm comes unannounced and you don't have time to prepare, like the Lost of a loved one? Before we answer this, let's look and see how the psalmist responds to his own feelings of discouragement.

Psalms 42:4-5 ESV 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

He starts by remembering when he did feel close to God, and that was when he was leading worship with the multitude. He is remembering his mountain top experience. And now that he is no longer on this mountain top, he is discouraged. He is in a valley and he is in emotional pain. We all have had a mountain top experience and most of us have had a few. For me, one of them was the day I got married, standing at the front of the church as I got to see my bride coming down the aisle, my heart stopped beating and I could hardly stop myself from shedding a few tears. It is amazing what a few weeks/days with your new spouse can change your feelings after a mountain top experience. What was this feeling of being overjoyed turns into terror when you have your first real argument. The things that cause our mountain top experience are normally the same things that cause our valleys. Since we know what it feels like to be at the top we are desperate when we are not there. The psalmist feels the same way.

So what is the answer? Its two fold.

First we need to remember, we remember what God has done for us. For The psalmist he is remembering when he was leading worship and praising God. in verse 6 He remembers God from the land it says.

Psalms 42:6

(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.

Even though we are discouraged we remember. Going back to the wedding analogy, at times my wife and I can get upset with each other. And one of the things I will do quietly is remember. Remember that my wife loves me. Remember that through all the hardship she has been by my side. We remember the good.

The second part of this is looking forward. We first look back and remember the good we then look forward and hope.

The psalmist twice Calls on his soul to Hope in God. first in verse 5 and second in verse 11. He ends the psalm with a call to Hope in God.

Lets review?

So Why do we feel discouraged? We lost hope. Why do we feel despaired? We lost hope. We stopped trusting God. and why do we do that? Well there could be a few reasons. In my own family the reason that many of my siblings have stopped following God is first they lost hope and that happened because they trusted in man and man failed them. We can do the same thing maybe we hoped we would be comforted by someone in our church or another christian but that did not happen. Lets see what God said about this very topic through the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. (6) He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. (7) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. (8) He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Those who hope and trust in the Lord bear fruit even in a drought, the one who trust in the Lord does not worry when that storm approaches. (Side note this should remind us of Psalm 1:3)

Here is a quote from A,W Tozer on his book God's Pursuit of Man. talking about our Hope.

Are you putting your hope daily in the Lord?

A little acquaintance with our own hearts will force us to acknowledge that there is no hope within us, and the briefest glance around should show us that we need expect no help from without. Nature itself will teach us that apart from God we are but orphans of the creation, waifs of the wide spaces, caught helpless amid the whirl of forces too great to comprehend. Onward through this world roars an immense and sightless power leaving in its wake generations, cities, civilizations. The earth, our brief home, offers us last only a grave. For us there is nothing safe, nothing kind. In the Lord there is mercy, but in the world there is none, for nature and life move on as if unaware of good or evil, of human sorrow or human pain. But in Messiah we find Hope.

Lets look at the two verses we have not read yet

Psalms 42:7-9

(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.

When i toured israel 9 years ago one of the things that was so neat is i thought the land of israel was a desert. With hardly any water and not much to see. Well let me tell you that all of that is untrue. The land is beautiful and one thing that you might not be aware of is how many waterfalls there are at least 9 waterfalls in israel that flow all year long. And many more that flow during the rainy season. One of the water falls that truly got my attention was Banias falls it sits at the bottom of mount Hermon and it's only 30 feet drop but it is very loud. I remember being able to hear it long before we could see it. I also remember the waves and in particular the waves at Rosh HaNikra, or the sea caves. You go inside this walkway that leads to a cave and inside its open to the sea and the waves come inside these caves and slam against the inside carving out these beautiful caves.

The psalmist is taking a moment midpsalm to pounder the overwhelmingness of his situation. He is thinking about the sound of the waterfall the cruising of the waves and this feeling of being rolled over by the waves. He knows that even though the waves have gone over him a new day will down. He knows that the Lord will show His hesed (Steadfast love) to him. And this is his comfort through the dark night.

Lets read the last verse again in the psalm.

Psalms 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.

Though you might not be on your mountain top. Though trails might arise. Though pain might come. Though enemies might taunt and discourage you. Put your hope in the Lord. and praise Him. the Psalmist started by being thirsty and ends by again praising the Lord. He starts by desiring to be satisfied in the Lord and ends in recognizing that our salvation is in God. His desires are not magically gone but his heart is in the right place. His heart went from calling on God and asking when can i appear before you, have you forgotten me. To I will praise you. I will Hope in you.

Are you down cast? Put your hope in God. Are you in Turmoil put your hope in God.

Though we might be in pain. Though we might not feel God near. Let us put our hope in God, let us take joy in the God of our salvation, and let us again praise the almighty!!

Lets read a few verses from Habakkuk before we finish.

The prophet Habakkuk after hearing how The Lord was going to bring the Babylonians to judge Judah writes a psalm and ends it this way.

Habakkuk 3:16-19 ESV I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. (17) Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, (18) yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (19) GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

The Lord is our strength in times of trouble. In the Lord is our Hope and Salvation.

Dear God.