Psalm 42 comes from the sons of Korah, a family of temple singers. The writer is far from Jerusalem, cut off from the worship he once led with joy. People mock him and ask where his God is. His tears have become his food day and night. This is a psalm for anyone who feels spiritually dry, discouraged or far from home. Many in our church know what it is to miss family across an ocean. Psalm 42 shows that sadness and faith can live in the same heart.
Thirsty for God
The psalm opens with a picture of a deer panting for streams of water (Psalm 42:1-2). In a dry land, a thirsty deer will search until it finds water or dies. The writer says his soul thirsts like that for the living God. Notice that his deepest need is not just comfort or answers. It is God Himself. David felt the same longing in the wilderness of Judah, when he said his flesh longed for God in a dry and thirsty land (Psalm 63:1). Thirst is not a sign that something is wrong with your faith. It may be a sign that your faith is alive. Jesus stood up at the feast and cried out that anyone who thirsts should come to Him and drink (John 7:37). He is the only one who truly satisfies.
When this week will you set aside quiet time simply to come to Jesus with your thirst, without a list of requests?
Talk Back to Your Soul
The writer remembers better days, when he led crowds to God’s house with shouts of joy (Psalm 42:3-6). Now people taunt him, asking where his God is. Then he does something wise. Instead of only listening to his feelings, he talks back to them: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? He tells his soul to hope in God. Many of us listen to our sad thoughts all day long. This psalm teaches us to preach truth to ourselves. Jeremiah did the same in his grief. He called to mind God’s mercies, which are new every morning (Lamentations 3:21-23). Paul admitted being troubled, perplexed and struck down, yet not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Feeling low is not the same as being lost. Remind your soul what God has promised.
What discouraging sentence do you often repeat to yourself, and what truth from Scripture will you speak back to it every time it comes up this week?
A Song in the Night
The troubles do not stop right away. Deep calls to deep, and the waves seem to roll over the writer (Psalm 42:7-11). He even feels that God has forgotten him. Yet in the middle of the storm he says that the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song will be with him. God gives songs in the dark. Paul and Silas sang praises at midnight in a prison cell with their feet in stocks (Acts 16:25). The psalm ends with the same refrain: hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him. The word yet is full of faith. The writer is not praising today, but he will. Paul prays that the God of hope will fill us with joy and peace in believing (Romans 15:13).
What worship song will you choose to sing or play in your hardest moment this week, even before you feel like it?
Conclusion
Psalm 42 gives us permission to be honest about sadness. Our souls thirst for God, and Jesus invites us to come and drink. When we are downcast, we can speak God’s truth to our own hearts instead of only listening to our feelings. And even in the night, God gives a song. The writer had not yet seen his rescue, but he chose hope. In Christ, you can choose hope too. You shall yet praise Him.
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