Bible Study Notes - Live in
Hope – Psalm 42:1-10
Introduction
Some new believers think they know it
all. As a result, they reject direction
in their spiritual journeys. Then they face their first crisis and lose faith
in God. The believer’s challenge is to
develop a vital relationship with God.
When we experience God in our lives on a daily basis we learn that His
love is, in deed, steadfast. Our
personal knowledge of God allows us to reaffirm our hope in Him regardless of
our circumstances. When we despair, it
helps to remember prior situations in which God has sustained us. These recollections assure us that God is
always with us and He will see us through the current storm.
Lesson Setting
It is widely held that Psalms 42 and 43
constitute a single prayer because of their common structures, themes and
refrains. The author of this prayer was someone who had a longstanding personal
relationship with God. However, life choices and circumstances have somehow
distanced him from God. From the depths
of depression, the psalmist pleas for relief from the feelings of emptiness
that mark this separation.
Unfortunately, no definitive authorities
offer the exact chronology for this prayer to enable us to pinpoint the
specific circumstances that inspired it.
Nevertheless, if we credit Psalms 42 and 43 to David we can look to a
number of personal and familial experiences as possible sources of the dire
anguish depicted by these passages.
For instance, David may have written this
Psalm during the time when he was forced to flee for his life and take refuge in
Philistia in the wake of Saul’s plan to kill him. (1 Samuel 16 – 31)
Alternatively, David may have been reflecting on his willful pursuit of
Bethsheba that resulted in his commission of adultery and murder. (2 Samuel 11: 4 –5, 14) Or, perhaps David was mourning the loss of
the son he conceived with Uriah’s wife.
(2 Samuel 12: 15 – 19)
David also experienced the tragic deaths of
his sons Amnon and Absalom. First, to
avenge the rape of his sister, Tamar, Absalom murdered his half brother Amnon. (2 Samuel 13: 9-14, 22 – 29) Although this rendered Absalom heir to the
throne, he could not wait to unseat his father.
Consequently, Absalom conspired a bloody insurrection and sought to take
his father’s life as well. Absalom was stopped because his life came to a
deplorable end when his mule bolted and left him to hang from a tree. (2 Samuel
18:9 and 33) So we see that with the
grace of God, David endured several difficult life experiences that might have
inspired our focal scripture.
Exposition
I. In the midst of distress, the psalmist longs for God (Psalm
42:1-3)
The psalmist uses powerful imagery to
illustrate the depth of his desire to commune with God. As we read his words, we can clearly envision
the deer nearly at his last breath. The
animal’s thirst surpasses even his exhaustion from the arduous chase. Having escaped his oppressor, at least for
the time, the deer “pants for streams of water” to deliver him from the
critical dehydration that still stands to claim his life.
David’s desire for God is akin to the
horrific thirst of this deer that seems to have stumbled upon a dry brook at a
time when he is most in need of water.
The psalmist specifies that his thirst is for the “living” God. Because David knows the one true God from
past encounters, he acknowledges that He is the only creator and sustainer of
life. Accordingly, David signifies that
he will not waste time seeking out lesser gods in any form. David realizes that only God, our creator,
knows and can satisfy our real needs.
The psalmist’s honest assessment that there
is no substitute for God’s presence remains instructive to us today. This
passage cautions us against the folly of relying on careers, education,
notoriety, wealth or even friends and family to sustain us. Though we may find pleasure in these
blessings, we must remember that God is their source or we risk making these
our idols. God is the life spring that
satiates. Everything and everyone else
fills our void just for a moment.
David is grief stricken by his perceived
estrangement from God. This is why the
psalmist says, “My tears have been my food day and night...” David’s appetite
is for God alone. His despair is
intensified by the merciless taunting of those who continually ask, “Where is
your God?” Somehow David’s desire for
God remains strong despite their ridicule.
He sincerely hungers for God in the midst of his distress.
II. The psalmist prays and recalls a happier
time (Psalm 42:4)
Even as the psalmist bears his soul concerning
his separation from God, his mind wanders to happier times when he was among
the crowds of worshipers who went to God’s temple with praise and
thanksgiving. Most likely this vivid
recollection of the celebration of God’s benevolence served to boost David’s
spirits for an instance. That others
would choose to honor God’s presence in their lives validates David’s deep
desire to rightly relate with Him.
On the other hand, David’s memories of
better times magnified the anguish of his current condition. The psalmist
recognized the stark contrast between the life he once enjoyed in God’s
presence and the one he now struggled to sustain in God’s absence. This reality seems to catapult David back
into the depths of depression.
III. In spite of discouragement, the psalmist reaffirms hope in God
(Psalm 42:5-6, 11)
Rather than
deny or minimize the breadth of his feelings of despair, the psalmist decides
to honestly contemplate them. He seeks
the reason for his emptiness.
Instinctively David knows that no other human being whether friend or
foe can identify the true cause of his anguish.
Resourcefully, the psalmist begins to search himself. To this end, David asks, “Why are you
downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” This inquiry leads the common
refrain found at Psalm 42:6 and 11 and Psalm 43:5.
The reader
senses the psalmist’s earnest attempt to answer these questions. David hopes that by resolving them he will
pull himself out of the dry hole into which he has unwittingly stumbled in
search of life sustaining waters.
Despite his best efforts, David quickly sees that he is incapable of
lifting himself out of his predicament.
Though still disheartened, the psalmist recognizes he must place his
faith in someone greater. Accordingly,
David exhorts himself to reaffirm his hope in God. The psalmist acknowledges that God is his
Savior and resolves to praise him even in despair.
IV. The psalmist remembers that God’s love is steadfast despite
the storm (Psalm 42:7-8)
In spite of David’s valiant attempt to escape
the throes of depression, he is overcome by its turbulence. Violent waves of
conflicting emotions continually ravage his soul. As is usually the case with depression,
David’s feelings repeatedly vacillate between the extremes of exuberance and
gloom. Nevertheless, the psalmist tells us “Deep calls to deep”. In this way David affirms that though it is
lost to him, God can rescue his soul from the tide.
The psalmist recalls that God’s love is
steadfast. It is resolute despite the
storms of life. David puts his faith in
God’s persistent concern for him. David
trusts the God of his life to resuscitate him with His sustaining love.
V. Although he feels forgotten, the psalmist still sees God as
his “rock” (Psalm 42:9-10)
David confirms that God is his “rock”. In so doing, the psalmist acknowledges God as
his stronghold amidst the current. If he could only grasp hold of God with the
very tips of his fingers, David is sure he could weather the ripping waves of
the storm. Therefore, David determines
to seek God in spite of the unending heckling of those who challenge his
faith. The psalmist admits that he feels
forgotten because God’s intervention is not immediate. He mourns the loss of God’s company and the
strength he finds in it. Nevertheless,
David resolves to wait for God in hope.
Lesson
Overview
In this lesson we explore the impact of
life’s great challenges on the believer’s faith in God’s sustaining grace. The psalmist offers an example of how a
person of faith can weathered the storm by continually seeking God. David’s
honesty with both himself and God is instructive to us.
The scripture demonstrates that the most
faithful of God’s servants may become ambivalent in the face of
difficulty. They may be swept up by the
powerful tidal waves of depression at one time or another. However, the strength of their growing
relationships with God enable people of real faith to bear their souls to him. God wants us to seek his counsel in every
circumstance. All attempts to hide our
feelings of fear, confusion, disappointment, loss or abandonment from him are
futile. God knows our hearts and cares
about our conditions.
Nevertheless, it is God’s desire that we
honestly communicate our concerns to him and look to his response. Our study of the scriptures reassures us that
God is always with us even when we feel discouraged and forgotten. Our reflections upon past instances when God
has seen us through the storms of life confirm his grace and reaffirm our hope.
The
Main Thought Explained
“Hope in God; for I shall again praise
him, my help and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)
To hope is to wish for something or someone
with great expectation. In this passage
hope is also synonymous to trust.
Essentially, the psalmist is exhorts us to have confidence in God. Here David directs us to consider his plight
and the pit of despair he visited over and over again as he tried to live
through it. The psalmist assures us that despite his lament, he still desires
God’s presence. Moreover, he waits with
confidence knowing God will fulfill his expectation.
We know that David anticipates his communion
with God because he declares “I shall again praise him.” Rather than yield to the ebb and flow of
depression, the psalmist confesses the truth, that God is his help in every
situation. David’s sincere
acknowledgement of his need for the life-spring that God alone provides is
instructive to all believers. No matter
how dire our situation may be, like David, we should continually reaffirm our
faith in God. When we do this we live in
hope.
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