Praising Scripture - Dec 17

Introduction...

12/17 Psalm 42:1-5 Praise God In the Midst of Distress——To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
（Memorization Scripture: vv. 5）

1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
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 continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”

4 When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.


[Sharing]
Psalms 42 and 43 are the first and second parts of the same psalm, and they echo each other coherently and cohesively. The psalmist was the descendant of those who once were so rebellious to God and should have been swallowed by the earth (See Numbers 16) yet saved by the grace of God. Since the time of David, there were a group of people among the sons of Korah who were delegated to sing in the temple of God (such as Heman, one of the three chief musicians). The psalmist of this psalm presumably should also serve as a musician in the temple of God. And now, because of being held captive during war or some other unknown reason, he was left in a strange place apart from the presence of God and was unable to participate in any worship service. In this psalm, He described that his soul pants for God, as the deer pants for the water brooks. People saw him and mocked him, and said “where is your God?” And this made him so depressed that his tears had been his food day and night.

The psalmist is saddened even more as he recalls a time when, together with the people, he headed to the temple of God and sang praises to keep a feast. But at the same time, this memory became a turning point, which led to verse 5. In both Psalm 42 and 43, verse 5 acts as a chorus which is repeated three times to portray the psalmist’s strong emotions.

Everyone of us can fall down into a spiritual low place while walking the path of faith and it just might seem that we will never get back to those reviving and glorious moments when we dwelled in the temple of God. When we are cast down we are easily disquieted and can lose all hope but in such times, this psalmist who carried the mark of grace, reminded his worried heart to “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance” (v. 5). We too are sinners saved by grace and God will not remember our rebellion to Him. When we are still wandering in the wilderness, as long as our soul pants for His presence, He will be there as always, and help us with His countenance.