Psalm 42 - Jan Brands Funeral

Jan Brands was a man who enjoyed nature. When we talked, he had stories to tell of fishing for eel and hunting rabbits in The Netherlands. On my first visit to his home, he proudly pointed out three things:

· family pictures,

· Ps 23 hanging in the dining room,

· and the stuffed bear hanging on the wall.

The way he talked, you could tell that Jan had spent time in a deer stand, waiting, watching the light dance through the trees, savouring the bird calls, and the movement of a deer as it slipped through the trees and stood still testing the wind before venturing into a clearing or meadow.

Deer, like all animals, need food and water. During a dry spell, they have trouble getting it in the vegetation and the pools and streams begin to dry up. When it gets really dry, they need to travel long, thirsty trips to find water.

That’s the imagery that the psalmist invokes. A thirst animal, desperate for water . . .

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God. Psalm 42:1 (NIV)

Maybe you first heard of this image through the song,

“As the deer panteth for the water . . .”

It’s that picture of a thirsty deer panting for water, struck a chord with Jan – and maybe with you – deep inside there’s a longing, a yearning, a thirst for God, for the living God.

We long, even as adults, to have someone pick us up, comfort us, and assure us that everything is going to be all right. It is so awesome to meet people who have that kind of assurance and peace. But it’s rare. It causes questions.

All around, there are people who look those who have faith and peace. It makes them wonder, “Where is your God?” Pressing Q. Asked 2X.

There are all kinds of yucky things that happen that make us wonder:

· It was a question when Jan & Ellie’s son Kevin died: where’s God?

· And when Ellie was in so much pain from her cancer, where’s God?

· And when Jan was sure something bad was wrong with him, but had to wait, and wait, and wait for a diagnosis, where’s God?

Psalm 42 is a psalm of lament. The psalmist lifts a complaint to God because the situation is tanking. The psalm expresses the yearning for God’s closeness and it searches for a response when people look at the world, look at our situation, and they ask people of faith, “Where is your God?”

Yet it’s not a psalm of despair. There’s a refrain that gets repeated.

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. Psalm 42:5 (NIV)

There are plenty of reasons for being downcast and feeling disturbed. But against all of, the psalmist remembers God. Despite everything, he is determined to praise God his Saviour. We can put our hope in God. Why?

In the OT, it was the memory of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt. Believers in the NT have a similar memory and rescue story.

We face death and illness because not everything is right in the world. God’s good creation has been thrown off kilter by human rebellion. I don’t know your experience, but I know that I don’t live up to my own goals and plans, let alone God’s standard. Because of God’s holiness and justice, death is the consequences for sin: both physical death and an eternity cut off from God.

Why was it then, that Jan Brands wasn’t afraid to die? Isn’t death the great enemy?

It is, but Jan believed that God is also loving and merciful. God is not willing that we die apart from him. So God became human in Jesus Christ and lived a holy and righteous life among us. At the cross, Jesus took the punishment for human sin upon himself, rescuing us from death and damnation.

By his resurrection, Jesus made the grave a safe place for those who trust in him. Those with faith in Jesus have been saved from sin and death to enjoy an eternity of life with God and for God. That is the faith Jan Brands professed. That is why Jan looked forward to the end of his earthly pilgrimage.

Jan wasn’t just looking forward to seeing Ellie again, and Kevin, and other loved ones. It was also the opportunity to praise his Saviour, his God, face-to-face. Like the Psalmist, the things that made him downcast and disturbed did not outweigh the hope Jan had in God. That is why Jan had peace in the face of death.

Like the psalmist, Jan’s faith put his trouble into perspective:

My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you Psalm 42:6a (NIV)

Even when it seems that we’re about to be overwhelmed with trouble, even if we confess that God could rescue us but choses instead to equip us to push on, even then, God give his people a sense of his lovingkindness. The psalmist sings of it:

By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8 (NIV)

One of the OT prophets uses the same imagery:

Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.

The Lord your God is with you,

the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you;

in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:16b–17 (NIV)

Dear family, dearly loved people of God,

This is what I have to offer in face of cancer, grief, and death. We mourn for the pain, loss, and brokenness. The sadness is real; we cannot ignore it. But we will not despair, for death and brokenness do not have the last word:

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. Psalm 42:11 (NIV)