Psalm 42-43 KEL Ps & EBC Ps & Calvin
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
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.
Sermon
Sermon
Richard Wurmbrand was a professor and a Lutheran priest in Romania. He was a man of Jewish descent, but converted to Christianity around the age of 30. During WWII he spent his time preaching at bomb shelters and rescuing Jews from the holocaust. Now because of his actions, he was imprisoned and tortured by the Romanian government which maintained a policy of state atheism. He continued to preach in prison, night after night, even though he knew it would lead to him being beaten and tortured each time he was caught.
Psalm Background
Psalm Background
Now unlike some other psalms (like 52, David, Nathan, Bathsheba), we don’t have much background information about these two. We don’t know exactly who wrote them, or exactly what the circumstances were that they were written during. There are multiple Korah’s in scripture too, so it can be tough to determine even which familial line it was that wrote them.
Psalm 42 & 43 were originally just one Psalm. If you notice your Bible will have a section heading for Psalm 43, but no information about who or for what it was written for. It simply shares that information from Psalm 42. Each psalm does manage to be complete on its own, so it is easy to separate them, but let’s be honest, this is my first time preaching, and I likely need more scripture rather than less, so for our use today, it’ll be combined.
The 2 flow together, and so we’re going to look at it like a song. It has 3 verses, and a Chorus after each verse. This morning we sang both of these psalms, in hopes that it will help us retain them and maybe even memorize them if we did it often enough. Putting words to music definitely helps me in memorization. There is a reason that I have pretty much the entire Beatles catalogue memorized, or that I still know the quadratic equation, x=(-b+-SqRt(b2-4ac))/2a even though I haven’t used it since I took Algebra 1 my freshman year of high school 17 years ago, but I can’t even remember the capital to every state, like Iowa’s.
The Coptic church actually does this for all of scripture, and so a Coptic priest may be able to sing any part of scripture if they’re able to recall the tune associated with that section. My hope is that we can continue to sing psalms like this, especially as we are commanded by scripture to do so.
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
and also in
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
There are some churches and denominations that only sing psalms, which I believe is neglecting the other 2 listed, and you never get to sing the name of Jesus, but I also find it wrong that the vast majority of churches never sing any psalms.
So today we’re going to look at the 3 things the psalmist teaches us that we can do to renew our faith when we’re struggling.
Verse 1. Public Worship Psa 42:1-4
Verse 1. Public Worship Psa 42:1-4
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?
Many of you know that Heidi and I recently had our air conditioning out for a few weeks, especially right when we had that sudden 102 degree day. There was definitely a feeling of being that deer searching for water. There may have been some literal panting sitting in the heat, as we would decide to take a trip to walmart just to get some cool air.
As a deer in the summer heat, probably in the wild desert of Israel, longs for water that is scarce, so do we at times long for God. We’ve all likely had moments when we have felt disconnected and lost from God, but longing to be back. Ironically, the psalmist is likely in a place with plenty of actual water to quench his thirst, but he is seeking his real need, nourishment from the living water of Christ as described in John 4 and John 7.
Maybe we were or are going through a tough time at work, or lost your job, and like Job, we feel like God has abandoned us. We have a spiritual thirst and that can make us feel like we are spiraling, and then it becomes a circular progression of despair. We wonder, why is God putting me through this? We have to remember that we don’t have a stone God like the pagans, but we have a living God who fills us up and is active in our lives.
Let’s look at the second half of this Psalms first verse, verses 3 & 4
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.
While in this struggle, the psalmist must suffer the taunts of the non-believers. Ridicule for believing in the true living God, or even the persecution that Christians throughout the world are facing. It can continue to drive us further into that despair. How do we, and the psalmist get through this tough time? They spend time praying and remembering how they would gather with other believers, and join in the praising of God’s name. With glad shouts and songs of praise. Now he doesn’t actually get to join in corporate worship during this time, but just thinking about corporate worship in the past helps bring him through. This also gives us some information about how corporate worship was done. It involved glad shouts and songs of praise. I’ve been very blessed by how loudly this church sings during worship, how you can fill up a room with sound. I will never be able to forget how impactful that was when I candidated here, after listening online for months, not knowing how loud or timid y’all might be.
We were all basically forced into a similar situation with the pandemic. Back at our old church, we spent a couple of months locked down, thankful that livestreaming was available, but longing to be back with our brothers and sisters in Christ and to praise His name together. The first few weeks back were an incredibly rejuvenating experience.
Some of you today may feel that you’re in that desert place now, in which case, I want to applaud you for coming or listening online this morning. That you are trying to find that desert oasis, where at least once a week you get to be filled up with that living water as you gather with other believers and sing praises to God and to hear His word proclaimed.
Let’s skip over verse 5, and go straight into the 2nd verse of this song.
2. Prayerful Remembrance Psa 42:6-10
2. Prayerful Remembrance Psa 42:6-10
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.
Even though we may encourage ourselves to seek out God and sing His praises, we may find that our hearts feel cast back into the wilderness. Now just to clarify, our hearts are not separated, but it can feel as if that is the case, but the Psalmist here is separated from the Lord, physically.
Earlier I said we didn’t know who wrote this, or when, but we do know where it was written. The Psalmist tells us he is at Mount Mizar, in the land of Jordan and of Hermon. We don’t exactly know where Mizar is, but it is believed to be a mountain in the Hermon range, where the source of the Jordan river is. This is at the northeastern border of Israel, and so it would be the opposite end of Israel to where Jerusalem and the temple are. The Psalmist here is physically separated from the temple.
While this isn’t something we suffer as Christians today, since we don’t simply just have one temple that hosts God, we can still feel separated. We can feel as if God isn’t watching over us, as if we’re not filled with the Holy Spirit. In our own culture today, we may feel this way. That the world is completely against us, because it is against God. We can feel as if the culture is this giant wave that is overtaking us, as the Psalmist cries out in verse 7.
In this mountain range, the Jordan starts. Deadly flash floods that overwhelm can take over. Y’all may even remember that in our latest Roy Van der Laan series, we had a week where he taught about the flash floods. Waterfalls fall from the mountains. It is easy for the psalmist to imagine being overtaken by the waves, maybe more similar to how we may fear tornadoes or a derecho here.
He tells us however, that the faithful will continue to remind themselves that God will come, and that God will comfort, as the Psalmist does in verse 8. Just like in the first verse, the Psalmist remembers singing God’s praises. His song is with him. In our doubts and struggles, we must also remember to continue looking back upon the God that saved us. He may not have literally brought us out of Egypt as was done in Moses’ day, but he has brought us out of our own Egyptian slavery of worldliness. We have to remember to continue to pray. To continually lift up our sorrows, our needs, our thanksgivings, and our praise in prayer. When we feel abandoned is when doing all of that is the hardest, especially if we haven’t already built up the habit of doing it regularly to being with. If you’re not feeling abandoned in the wilderness right now, plan to start praying regularly. Whether it is before bed, when you wake up, during your lunch break, whenever, build the habit now, so that when you find yourself feeling like you’re in the wilderness, you have that safe-guard to continue to feel close to God. If you are currently feeling like you’re in the wilderness, start this exact same habit. As a matter of fact, for everyone here, I’m going to give a moment here for everyone to pray. Take this time to lift up what is weighing you down, to our God who loves us, and cares for us. Let Him lift some of that burden off of you.
let’s pray silently
pause 30 seconds
Thank you God for hearing our prayers,amen
Let’s hear the Psalmist’s prayer
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?”
This is the prayer of the psalmist. We know that he hasn’t lost faith based on that first line where he calls God his rock. He is our rock, our steady and firm foundation. We too are able to cry out like this towards Him, but still have faith in Him.
Of course, the enemy taunts us while we’re already feeling abandoned. More and more we can feel our current culture close in and taunt us. It is tempting to think that this is just a modern phenomenon, but it has always been there. The psalmist is being oppressed, Richard Wurmbrand was being oppressed, and Jesus told us it was all going to happen.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
Through these times it is imperative to remember the promises God has made to us, but we’ll come back to that more when we talk about the chorus
Now let’s look at this song’s 3rd verse.
3. Patient Preparation Psa 43:1-4
3. Patient Preparation Psa 43:1-4
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?
Unfortunately, we’re not guaranteed vindication from our persecutors in this life. The Psalmist cries out to God for vindication, for some divine intervention that will set the record straight with the scoffers he is surrounded by. That may happen, but it may not happen in this life for us. We are also surrounded by an impious nation. Not just people that are openly opposed to Christ, but those who are culturally ‘Christians.’ Sometimes their persecution is the worst, because they can’t even see that they’re acting against the word of God.
But for us, we have a God we can take refuge in. We can continue to seek Him, and lift our prayers up to Him and know in the end, that we will be in His protection for all of eternity, no longer having to suffer through the sins, worries, anxieties, and oppressions of this world.
Sometimes when He doesn’t act, it seems like we have been rejected by God, and we have all had experiences that have led us to lament with the Psalmist, but that is never the case. We are still His, and He is ours. He is the great shepherd who goes after the 1 lost sheep. Rest assured that our salvation is not upon our own works, but upon Christ who died for us.
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.
How do we prepare for His coming? or How do we prepare for coming to Him? We diligently and patiently do His work, and continue to praise Him. This circles back to our first point of Public worship. Let them bring me to your holy hill, I will go to the altar of God, in my exceeding joy, and I will praise Him with the lyre.
Strong believers will even plan their praise for God in their prayers. When are we going to devote time to praising Him? How are we going to go about it? Just like with anything else, we’re more likely to do things that we schedule for ourselves. Am I ever going to just happen to wake up at 5 AM and hit the gym? You all know from having seen me this morning that that is clearly not going to happen. However, if I was to plan accordingly, I may actually end up doing it.
Chorus/Application Expectant Hope
Chorus/Application Expectant Hope
Finally , just like when you hear ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ come on the radio, and you have to wait 3 1/2 minutes before the chorus finally comes in at the end and you’re confident to sing along, we’re finally looking at the refrain or chorus of this psalm
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.
This chorus is written for the Psalmist to encourage himself. The psalmist has to first rebuke himself for his despair in the first half. Reminding himself to not just wallow in his own self-pity and despair. The second half is an encouragement to himself, to hope and to wait patiently for God to work. It isn’t just a shallow hope of just, ‘ohh.... I hope God will change this’, but an expectant hope, that the living God will fulfill His promises, because as we’re told in 2 Cor 1:20, all of His promises are Yes and Amen.
20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
We may sing this as our encouragement to ourselves that we may yet praise the Lord.
O why are you cast down, my soul?
Why so discouraged be?
Hope now in God, I'll praise Him still.
My help, my God is He.
Getting out of the desert requires hope. We can hope in our God. He has shown that He is faithful, and that He holds onto His promises. Whether it was his covenant with Noah, to never wipe out mankind with flooding waters again, or Abraham, to create for Himself a great nation and a powerful people, or David, about a future king in His lineage, so too will he hold true on his new covenant promise, that those who believe in Jesus as Lord will have everlasting life. He has paid the price for our sin. We may still struggle and go through our own deserts, but God holds firm on His promises.
Closing
Closing
Devout believers today, who find themselves feeling separated from God and surrounded by the enemies of the faith will long to be praising God for his saving acts.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
We should spend some serious time relying on the Chorus of these Psalms. We as a family of faith need to encourage one another in the faith as we gather, but we also need to be able to encourage ourselves in our own private prayer by remembering God’s love, care, and His work of salvation. There will be times when we will feel isolated, and we won’t bring ourselves to others for that encouragement.
Richard Wurmbrand must have felt much the same way of the Psalmist during his time in prison. Punished by being beaten every day for continuing to preach the gospel, he was able to remember God’s promises, praise Him for His work, and patiently prepare for the day of his return.
“.It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.”
pause
Do we share in the same faith that Richard Wurmbrand had? Are we willing to continue to come to God, to share His word, when it feels as though the world is against us?
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.