I think we're going to be looking at a psalm together, so if you'd like to turn in your Bible, roughly the middle, Psalm 42.
In a couple of weeks' time, we're going to be going back to Genesis, the first book in the Bible.
You may remember that over the last couple of years, we've been going through Genesis.
We've looked at the life of Abraham, the life of Jacob, and in a couple of weeks, we're going to be looking at the life of Joseph, which will complete the book.
But before we do that, we're going to be looking at a couple of psalms.
The psalms are really helpful to us in our lives and in our struggles.
So we're going to read Psalm 42 together now and look at it together.
So let's hear God's word to us.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Where can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, where is your God?
These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the mighty one,
with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
My soul is downcast within me.
Therefore, I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls.
All your waves and breakers have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love.
At night his song is with me.
A prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock,
Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
My bones suffer mortal agony, as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
Where is your God?
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Put your hope in God,
For I will yet praise him,
My Saviour and my God.
Well, let's pray together.
We ask that you, Father God,
the God of all compassion,
would now, through your word and by your Spirit,
pour out your comfort upon us
in our troubles this day.
Meet with us
and give to us what we need.
And we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So how are you?
How are you?
I'm doing fine.
It's what we always say, isn't it,
when we are asked the question.
I'm fine.
Well, the writer of this psalm
is anything but fine.
Look at the beginning of verse 5.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
The writer is not in a good place.
He is down and depressed.
In fact, it seems to be an ongoing trouble
through his life.
The questions are repeated.
Look at verse 11.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
There's a shadow hanging over his life
and it's not shifting.
It's grey and dark,
not bright and colourful.
Now, while this can be hard,
there is something refreshingly honest
about this psalm and the author's experience.
Some of you will remember
a little while back last term
we had Ivan and Carol Watson
come and speak to us.
Carol reminded us that fine,
F-I-N-E,
stands for
feelings inwardly
not expressed.
You see, we feel the pressure,
don't we, from others
and from ourselves
to always be positive
and upbeat,
to present this persona
of one of absolute calm
and peace.
We want to be always able
to go around
with that permanent smile
and friendly welcome
and always to be able to say,
I'm fine.
But the weight of pretending
only breaks us
and crushes us.
You see, what we need
is the words of this psalm.
This poem helps us
to express in words
our inner feelings.
It enables us
to cry out
in honesty
before God
to find hope
in our troubles.
So, four things
we're going to see
from this psalm
that will help us
whenever we're down
or depressed.
It's a pattern
that we can follow
for ourselves.
So, here are the four things.
We're going to look at
praying with tears,
voicing our troubles,
speaking the truth
and learning to trust.
So, tears,
troubles,
truth
and trust.
So, first,
praying
with tears.
Look at verse 3.
My tears
have been my food
day and night.
We all go through
seasons
when all we have
is tears,
broken dreams,
hurtful experiences,
shattered hopes,
loss of family,
the experiences
of life
that we go through
bring heartache.
And maybe that's
the place you're in
right now.
Or maybe you've
been there before.
Sometimes all we have
is tears.
But our tears
are not wasted.
Look,
the writer
is a firm believer
in God.
Look at the end
of verse 8.
He talks about
a prayer
to the God
of my life.
Verse 9.
I say to God,
my rock.
You see,
he has a personal
faith and belief.
You see,
Christians are not
left with their tears.
They pray
with tears.
In other words,
we have someone
to go to
with our disappointments
and our losses.
we have one
who sees
and knows
and understands.
Our tears
are never
wasted
because they
express
what is on
our hearts
as we cry
out to God.
Verse 3.
My tears
have been
my food
day
and night.
second,
voicing
our troubles.
You see,
as we pray,
we are bringing
our complaints
and our troubles
to God.
Look at verse 1.
As the deer
pants for streams
of water,
so my soul
pants for you,
my God.
The picture here
is striking,
isn't it?
Just as a deer
runs to escape
the pursuing lion
and longs
for some respite,
a coo-watered stream,
so the writer
is running
from trouble
and is longing
for God.
We're not quite sure
what the trouble is,
but the response
is right.
He desires God,
he needs God,
he's panting
for God.
But what makes
our troubles
perhaps so difficult
is the feeling
that in our
longing for God,
we find that
God
is absent.
In our longing
for God,
we find that
he is so often
absent.
This is expressed
in two questions
that we see
in the psalm.
Where is God?
And why
has God?
Have you ever
asked those questions?
Where is God?
And why
has God?
First question,
where is God
in my
trouble?
Look at verse 2.
My soul
thirsts
for God,
for the living
God.
Where can I
go
and meet
with God?
God?
It seems
that whichever
way he
turns,
it's a dead
end.
God,
it seems,
is to be
nowhere
to be
found.
Where can
I go
and meet
with God?
Where is
God when
I desperately
need him?
Not only
do we feel
the absence
of God
in our
troubles,
but it
seems
that others
all around
us
sense the
same thing
too.
Verse 3.
My tears
have been
my food
day and
night,
while people
say to
me all
day long,
where is
your God?
Well,
they mightn't
perhaps express
it in those
words to us,
but we sense
and we feel
their thoughts,
don't we?
Those
Christians,
they always
go on about
how good
and how great
God is,
but look
at their
life,
what a
mess.
Surely
if you're
a Christian,
you shouldn't
be down
and depressed.
Where is
your God
now?
We can
feel a
fraud.
If only
my faith
was stronger,
then God
would help.
If only
I was a
better person,
then God
would intervene.
we can
also begin
to doubt.
Maybe God
is not
kind,
because if
he was,
then he
would help
me.
Perhaps
God is
not strong,
because if
he was,
he would
save me.
Like the
author,
we can look
back to
better times.
Verse 4,
these are
the things
that I
remember as
I pour
out my
soul,
how I
used to
go to
the house
of God
under the
protection
of the
mighty
one,
which
shouts
of joy
and praise
among the
festive
throng.
It seems
he is
a long
way from
home,
away from
the days
when he
was safe,
joining
others as
they went
to the
house of
God,
to the
temple,
but now
he is
struggling.
Where is
God?
God's
love for
us.
For us,
because of
Christ,
we don't
need to
go to
a special
place to
meet with
God.
We don't
need a
temple.
We have
access to
God anytime,
anywhere,
but even
with that
knowledge,
in our
troubles,
we can
still feel
the absence
of God.
We long
for his
presence,
we desire
his touch,
we need
his
intervention,
we pant
and we
thirst,
but our
troubles are
not quenched.
The searching
goes on,
where can I
meet with
God?
Where is
God in
my trouble?
The second
question leads
on from the
first.
It's not a
where question,
but a why
question.
why has
God
forgotten
me?
Amidst all
the troubles
and the
feeling that
God is
absent,
there is
only one
conclusion.
Look at
verse 9
with me.
I say
to God,
my rock,
why have
you forgotten
me?
Why must
I go about
mourning,
oppressed
by the
enemy?
my bones
suffer mortal
agony as
my foes
taunt me,
saying to
me all
day long,
where is
your God?
You see,
we all go
through seasons
of suffering
and the
expectation is
that God
will stop
it,
or at the
very least
will somehow
give relief.
if I'm
sick,
well,
God will
heal me.
If I'm
tired,
he's going
to give
me rest.
If I'm
overwhelmed,
God is
going to
end the
turmoil.
If I'm
down and
depressed,
God is
going to
lighten my
load.
And because
we don't
quite feel
it in the
way that
we wish,
then it
can only
mean one
thing.
Verse 9,
God,
my rock,
why have
you forgotten
me?
Why?
Why did
you let
that happen?
Why am
I on my
own?
Why do
I feel
this way?
The
psalm is
both raw
and real
because it
opens us
up to the
experience of
one believer
and it
gives us
the words
to express
our inward
feeling.
You see,
with God
we don't
need to
pretend.
We can
take off
the mask
of those
smiles and
joys and
we can
voice all
our troubles
to God
and we can
pray with
our tears
and we can
cry out,
where is
God in
my trouble?
cry out,
out,
and so.
this psalm is
both raw
and real.
It shows us
the experience
of one believer
and gives us
the words to
express our
inward feelings.
You see, with God we don't need to pretend. We can take off the mask of our smiles and joys and we can voice our troubles to God. We can pray with tears and cry out, where is God in my trouble? Why have you forgotten me?
Well, there is an answer. Third, speaking the truth. Look at verse 6 with me.
My soul is downcast within me. Therefore, I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
The writer is far away from home in the land of the Jordan, way up north. He's high in the mountains. He's away from God's people and God's house.
But yet as he cries out to God, he also speaks truth about God. Look at the beginning of verse 6.
My soul is downcast within me. Therefore, I will remember you.
You see, he's longing not for a place, but for a person. He remembers God.
You see, if anything is going to get us through our troubles, it's by remembering who God is.
Two things we need to remember.
First, God is over my troubles.
Verse 7.
Deep calls to deep, in the roar of your waterfalls, all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
It's like us being caught in a surging, cascading river, dragged under and pulled along.
And just as you manage to break the surface for air, another wave comes crashing over.
Isn't that how life is?
We seem so helpless as trouble after trouble sweeps over us.
We get over one loss and then we're faced with another.
We come through one trial, only to be hit again.
It seems there is no relief.
But look how these troubles are described.
Verse 7.
Deep calls to deep, in the roar of your waterfalls, all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
You see, our troubles are not random chance events.
They are the roar of God's waterfalls.
They are the waves of God's breakers.
Yes, we struggle to understand why God allows it.
But it is not a chance.
It is not a mistake.
He is over your trials.
He rules over your suffering.
In our stormy troubles, we are safe and secure in the grip of God's sovereignty.
Second, God is present with love.
Verse 8.
By day the Lord directs his love.
At night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
You see, as the waves break over us, God is present with love.
In every storm his love is steadfast.
Look back with me to verse 3.
My tears have been my food day and night.
But yet in the tears, verse 8.
By day the Lord directs his love.
At night his song is with me.
In the day and through the night, God's love is upon you.
The truth is, there is nothing and no one that can separate you from his love.
In fact, what we discover is that not only is God present with love, the troubles we face are signs of his love.
They are signs of love because they bring about God's good and pleasing purposes.
One modern songwriter put it like this.
They write from a place of great trouble, having lost her husband early in their marriage.
This is what she says.
We pray for healing and for prosperity.
We pray for God's mighty hand to ease our suffering.
And all the while God hears each spoken need.
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things.
Because what if your blessings come through raindrops?
And what if your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know God's near?
And what if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
What if the troubles that you are going through right now and that you will go through
are not random chance events?
But are God's mercies in disguise?
You see, as we cry out to God, we also speak truth about God.
We remember who God is.
As we pray with tears, where is God in my trouble?
We can say, God is over my trouble.
As we pray with tears, why have you forgotten me?
We can say, God is present with love.
So remember who God is.
And speak that truth to your heart.
Fourth, learning to trust.
The purpose of praying with tears, voicing our troubles, and speaking the truth
is so that we would learn to trust in God.
Two things.
First, trust is fuelled by truth.
Look how this happens.
Look at verse 5.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
You see, in our troubles, we're to have a conversation with ourselves.
We are to ask ourselves questions.
Why do I feel this way?
Why am I worried or afraid?
Why am I down and discouraged?
It's then that we remember who God is, and we remember his character, and it causes us to trust.
Look at the rest of verse 5.
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my saviour and my God.
We're to have a conversation with ourselves.
Our hearts can tell us, God doesn't care.
God has forgotten you.
But we are to argue back to ourselves with the truth.
That God is good.
God is kind.
He will never leave me.
We are to say to ourselves,
Johnny, put your hope in God.
As we reflect and meditate on the unchanging character of God, it brings truth to our hearts that enables us to trust.
You see, truth fuels our trust.
It helps us to see his glory and his greatness, so that we will put our hope in him.
Second, trust is a continuous decision.
Telling ourselves to hope in God is not a one-off event.
It's a continuous discipline as we go through life.
Look how he repeats the same truth.
Verse 11.
You see, this is to be the pattern of our lives.
Every trouble that we face is an opportunity to consciously decide who or what I will trust in.
Put your hope in God.
In fact, we are to follow the example of Jesus who prayed this very same kind of prayer.
Who went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed with tears to his Father.
Who voiced his troubles.
Take this cup of suffering from me.
Who spoke the truth to his heart.
Not my will, but your will be done.
And so Jesus entrusted his life, his sufferings and death to his Father.
In certain hope that his Father would bring him through.
If our Father God brought Jesus through.
So we who trust in Jesus can be guaranteed that he will bring us through.
Trust is not saying that we know everything or understand everything.
Trust is continually resting in God my Saviour who is sovereign over all my troubles.
And is always present with love in the midst of my troubles.
So there we have it.
Tears.
Troubles.
Truth.
And trust.
Put your hope in God.
Truth.
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