Psalm 42

This is a wonderful Psalm to meditate on when in the midst of unexplained anxiety or depression. I applied it to what was going on in my life at the time. It was written in Oct. 1997. :)

Psalm 42

1 AS THE HEART PANTETH AFTER THE WATER BROOK, SO PANTETH MY SOUL AFTER THEE, O GOD.

Yes, Lord...where are You, God? My soul pants after You! It seems that ever since I became sick with my allergies (or a cold?) a week or so ago...O Lord, where are You? I miss the deep communion with You! I miss You so much! Please come back to me, and restore unto me the joy of my salvation!

2 MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR (THEE,O) GOD, FOR THE LIVING GOD: WHEN SHALL I COME AND APPEAR BEFORE (YOU AGAIN, O) GOD?

3a MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY MEAT DAY AND NIGHT

... and especially this morning, O Lord. I cry big tears, and I don't really know why. My problems are no greater than they were before, but somehow I just don't see how I can handle them.. The little problems seem like "mountains"! I don't know what's wrong with me.
Unexplained anxieties have gripped my heart, and great big knots have lodged themselves in my stomach this week. Lord, help me! Are my hormones messed up now that I have weaned
the baby...or what? "My tears have been my meat" this morning,


3b WHILE THEY CONTINUALLY SAY UNTO ME, WHERE IS THY GOD?

Yes, my enemies (the devil and his angels) keep whispering to me "Where is they God" O Lord, where are You? Please come and deliver me!

4a WHEN I REMEMBER THESE THINGS, I POUR OUT MY SOUL IN ME:

David remembered going with the multitude up to the house of God, and he said,

4b FOR I HAD GONE WITH THE MULTITUDE, I WENT WITH THEM TO THE HOUSE OF GOD, WITH THE VOICE OF JOY AND PRAISE, WITH A MULTITUDE THAT KEPT HOLYDAY.

O what joy! O what peace! I remember those days, Lord - not too long ago - in which there was joy and praise and the keeping of your holy day...and sweet communion with you every day, for that matter. Your Spirit was so precious to me, and the peace in my heart was so sweet - a special gift from You!

5 WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN , O MY SOUL? AND WHY ART THOU DISQUIETED IN ME?HOPE THOU IN GOD: FOR I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM FOR THE HELP OF HIS
COUNTENANCE (ie. his face, his favour, his PRESENCE!)

6 O MY GOD, MY SOUL IS CAST DOWN WITHIN ME: THEREFORE WILL I REMEMBER
THEE FROM THE LAND OF JORDAN, AND OF THE HERMONITE, FROM THE HILL
MIZAR.

"Blessed downcasting which drives us to so sure a rock of refuge as thee, O Lord?" Maybe David "...recalls his seasons of choice communion by the river and among the hills, and especially that dearest hour upon the little hill, where love spake her sweetest language and revealed her nearest fellowship. It is great wisdom to store up in memory our choice occasions of converse with heaven; we may want them another day, when the Lord is slow in bringing back his banished ones, and our soul is aching with fear. 'His love in times
past' has been a precious cordial to many a fainting one; like soft breath it has fanned the smoking flax into a flame, and bound up the bruised reed. Oh, never-to-be-forgotten valley of Achor, thou art a door of hope! Fair days, now gone, ye have left a light behind you which cheers our present gloom." Yes, Lord, this is true! Thank-You for the memories, and by Your grace, restore unto me that which has been lost!

7 DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP AT THE NOISE OF THY WATERSPOUTS: ALL THY WAVES AND THY BILLOWS ARE GONE OVER ME.

Yes, Lord, this is how I feel! "David thought (also) that every trouble in the world had met in him, but he exaggerated, for all the breaking waves of Jehovah have passed over none but the Lord Jesus..." Let me remember this, Lord. And let me remember, too, that they are YOUR waves and YOUR billows. It is a comfort to know this and to know that Your "waves" and "billows" are given in love!

8 YET (YOU) WILL COMMAND (YOUR) LOVINGKINDNESS IN THE DAYTIME, AND IN THE NIGHT (YOUR) SONG SHALL BE WITH ME, AND MY PRAYER UNTO THE GOD OF MY LIFE.

O Lord, when I first read these words awhile ago, my heart burst forth, and tears streamed down my face. Your love is so special! You are holding me even in the midst of all of this TODAY - even though I have not felt your presence. And in the night Your song shall be with me. Yes, grant that I shall learn Psalm 27 quickly - that it might be for me "A song in the night"- (when I am afraid or when I am in trouble.) Ps. 27, 4-5a "(You are) my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear?...One thing have I desired of (You...) LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in (Your) house...all the days of my life, to behold...(Your beauty)..., and to inquire in (Your) temple. For in the time of trouble (You) shall hide me in (Your) pavilion..." Yes, Lord, even now You are "hiding me in Your pavilion"! Dear God of my life, my prayer to You today in this "night-time" of my life, is that I will feel and know Your presence again as You hold me in Your arms of love!

9a I WILL SAY UNTO GOD MY ROCK, WHY HAST THOU FORGOTTEN ME?

Lord, I know You haven't forgotten me, but...why am I so anxious and nervous, and why are there big "knots" in my stomach this morning?

9b WHY GO I MOURNING BECAUSE OF THE OPPRESSION OF THE ENEMY?

The devil is indeed 'hounding" me heavily this morning! There is no PEACE in my heart! I can't seem to handle these "decisions", Lord...What ARE my responsibilities, and why can't we seem to "hit upon" a good daily schedule again? Things were running so smoothly just a short while ago. And why am I so anxious about this - and about EVERYTHING?

10 AS WITH A SWORD IN MY BONES, MINE ENEMIES REPROACH ME;WHILE THEY SAY DAILY UNTO ME, WHERE IS THY GOD?

Yes, Lord, this is kind of how I feel--like a sword is in my bones. (Actually it's more like a rope around my neck tied up in the middle of my stomach!) This verse definitely makes me think of Eph. 6:12 - "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Please deliver me, Lord, from the "oppression of the ENEMY" and Satan's lies.

11a WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN, O MY SOUL? AND WHY ART THOU DISQUIETED
WITHIN ME?

"As though he were two men, the psalmist talks to himself," and so shall I do the same. "His faith reasons with his fears, his hope argues with his sorrows...These present troubles, are they to last for ever?..Why this deep depression, this faithless fainting, this chicken-hearted melancholy?...To search out the cause of our sorrow is often the best surgery for grief.Self-ignorance is not bliss; in this case it is misery. The mist of ignorance magnifies the cause of
our alarm; a clearer view will make monsters dwindle into trifles...Why am I agitated like a troubled sea, and why do my thoughts make a noise like a tumultuous multitude?" Could it
really just be my hormones, Lord? Anyway..."The causes are not enough to justify such utter yielding to despondency. Up my heart!..."


11b HOPE THOU IN GOD:!

Yes, Lord, I shall hope in You! No matter how I FEEL, by Your grace, I shall trust that You are HOLDING ME! You are my El Shaddai!

11c FOR I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM,

''Yet will my sighs give place to songs, my mournful ditties shall be exchanged for triumphal paeans. A LOSS OF THE PRESENT SENSE OF GOD'S LOVE IS NOT A LOSS OF THAT LOVE ITSELF...!"

11d WHO IS THE HEALTH OF MY COUNTENANCE, AND MY GOD.

Yes, Lord...You shall deliver me and take away my heaviness. You are my physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health! May Your smile rest upon me that I might smile again, too.

In Jesus' name. Amen!

*Quotes by Spurgeon