Psalm 42 - The God of Hope (Round 1)
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
Here I am, staring at a camera again during a second very unusual Sunday. Last week we had our first ever live stream only service. This week we have experienced the first week of our mandatory stay at home executive order. Just a few weeks back, none of us could have foreseen these rapidly changing events. None of us could have foreseen these events, but we can rest assured that God had these events planned since the beginning of time.
I am constantly amazed at how God orchestrates events to accomplish his purposes. I mentioned a couple weeks ago when the first executive orders that came out regarding the pandemic that the passage that we had come to in our series through 1 Thessalonians was exactly the verses that we needed that week. I had planned that series months ago. Furthermore, that particular week had been delayed by my foot surgery that I had three weeks ago. But of course, all of these events were part of God's plan.
Involvement:
The same is true this week. I have planned to begin a series in the psalms following 1 Thessalonians for some time. This is the week for that series to begin, so of course the psalm that we will start with today speaks perfectly to the unique situation that we find ourselves in this week.
Context:
When open the Psalms in our bibles, I expect that we recognize that we are coming to a unique book. The individual psalms contain songs and prayers of ancient Israel. Many of the psalms were composed by David, by no means is that true of all of them; in fact, there are several of them which give no record of who composed them. Plus, the actual composition of the psalms seems to have spanned many generations in Israel’s history and it appears that then the collection and organization of them extended over centuries. There seems to be some level of arrangement at times in the Psalter—the name given to the collection we call Psalms—but by and large each psalm stands on its own as a unique piece of Hebrew poetry.
The arrangement that we have in our Bibles may have not actually found its final form until sometime after Christ. Still, the individual Psalms date much earlier. In the final form, the Psalter was divided into five books…you may have noticed at some point that it probably says “Book 1” in your Bibles above the first Psalm. In our Bibles, we have combined all five books into a single book called “The Psalms” but you will find the older book indications recorded. For example, Book 2 begins at Psalm 42 where we are beginning this morning.
Over the course of several months back in 2015 through 2017, we covered the first book of the psalter; the first 41 psalms. This morning I plan to begin working our way through the second book which runs from Psalm 42 through Psalm 72. I do not intend to cover all of these in one stretch, but we will start working our way through them. I've not decided how far we will go now as we start into the second book, but later this summer we will take a break from the psalms and switch to a different series for a while.
Many of us, I am sure, love the psalms. The psalms are great poetry and, as great poetry, they not only teach us, but they also help us feel. The psalms are full of emotion. Many of them guide us as to how we should express our emotion to God as well as how we should manage the emotions that arise within our lives through various situations. My goal is that we would not only understand the individual psalm that we are looking at it each week, but that we would also feel the emotion that it conveys.
Preview:
This morning, as I've already said and as you can see on the screen, we're going to look at Psalm 42. I am sure that you see that my title for this sermon is “The God of Hope.” I'm also sure that you notice that under the title I have called it “Round 1.” That is because Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 were apparently a single poem originally. Somewhere in their history they were divided into two separate psalms, but originally they were a single poem with three stanzas. That means that the main emphasis of the psalm we will look at next week, Lord willing, is the same as what we will find this in our psalm this week. So next week will be “Round 2,” not exactly a repeat, but still a large overlap in theme. Of course, I am sure that we all need hope at this time which our God has arranged to give us through these two psalms.
Our psalm this morning is composed of two stanzas. You can think of it much like the hymns that we sang earlier, or at least I assume you sang in your home since I couldn't hear you. Each stanza has set a lines followed by a common refrain—much like a hymn verse followed by a chorus. The way that we can look at it this morning is that they hymn verses give us facts of life, while the refrain gives us core truth for dealing with those facts.
Transition from introduction to body:
Let's begin at the fact of life that comes out of the first four verses…
BODY:
I. Fact: We will experience times of despair.
Application
We will experience times of despair. Do any of you feel like saying, “amen” to that? I would expect that there is not a person listening to me this morning who had not experienced a feeling of despair at some point in their lives. With everything going on because of the pandemic, you may even be feeling that sense of despair right now. It really doesn't matter if you are young or old; it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor; it doesn't matter if you are the healthiest, fitness person among us or if you are sickly. The reasons for despair are many and we all encounter challenges in our own unique situations at various points in our lives that can bring us to despair.
Transition:
One of the great things about the psalms, is that God inspired them to be written in a way that they continue to speak to all of us in the real-life situations we face. While we do not know who wrote this psalm, I'm sure we will resonate with the emotions of despair that he describes. In the first 4 verses there are three things that he calls out that have brought despair into his life; Things that all of us are likely to experience as well.
First of all, we can find in verses 1 and 2 that…
A. Despair comes from feeling separated from God.
Let’s read verses 1 and 2…<read Ps 42:1–2>.
Verse 1 is one of the most well-known verses in the psalms. We even have a song in our hymnal composed around this verse. “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”
I want to make sure that we understand the image that the psalmist is creating here. He is not thinking about a situation where a deer has been chased and has run hard and now is panting by the water because it is winded and thirsty. Rather, he is describing the situation were the deer needs water because it has been too long since it has had a drink. The deer is in a barren land without water, looking for water but is unable to find it. That is why it is panting.
The psalmist is using that imagery of the intense longing the deer would have for water to describe the feeling that comes when we are separated from God. The image suggests that the psalmist is in exile of some sort and is unable to journey to Jerusalem in order to worship God with God's people. He knows the living God. He wants to worship the living God. He has an intense longing to appear once more in the sanctuary before God…remember, in the OT God met in a special way with his people at the central sanctuary. In the OT, before Christ, God made His presence known in a special way at the central sanctuary as He filled it with His glory; if someone could not get to the sanctuary, then they would feel separated from God.
Application
We are not limited to a single physical place for worship, but we can still experience times in which we feel separated from God. Have you ever gone through times like that in your life? Have there been times when you feel as if God is simply not there? Maybe there's been a time when you have been sick for long stretch and have been unable to gather with God's people in worship; during that time have you experienced an intense longing for God? Does it feel as if an absence from others who love God has left you cold? Or maybe it is through a struggle with sin in your life that you have experienced a time where it felt as if you were separated from God. During those times, despair can set in.
Transition:
Despair comes from feeling separated from God. Let's move on to verse 3 where we can see that…
B. Despair comes from being taunted about God.
Verse 3…<read Ps 42:3>
While the psalmist is separated from Jerusalem, he is apparently not isolated from people. The problem is the people he is around do not worship God; rather, they mock the very idea of God. Not only do they mock God, but they mock the psalmist because of his love for God. They look at the hardships that he is experiencing, whatever they are, and use those as evidence to throw in his face that God does not exist.
Application
Have you had people throw your faith in God into your face as a reason to mock you? It is not hard to experience that in our culture as our culture has turned its back on God. Such ridicule can eventually wear you down and lead to despair.
Transition:
Despair comes from being taunted about God. Now in verse four we find a third fact that can lead to despair,…
C. Despair comes from remembering times with God.
Sometimes the most painful things emotionally can come from memories of wonderful events.
Illustration
I know many people grieve in a unique way when they come to the first major holiday or the first birthday after the passing of a spouse. It is the memories of wonderful times in the past that brings on the poignant grief in the present.
This is what the psalmist describes in verse 4….<read Ps 42:4>.
The specific situation that the psalmist remembers are the wonderful times in which he not only went to the central sanctuary, he actually led the crowds that were going there for the various festivals that were held annually. You may recall that in the Old Testament there were three annual festivals in which all the Israelites were expected to journey to Jerusalem and celebrate. These were exciting times of worship and jubilant celebration. The psalmist remembers the joy of these past experiences that those memories cause despair in his current circumstances.
Application
Remember, I said the psalms express emotions. It doesn't necessarily make sense logically why memories of good times in the past would cause despair in the present, but it makes perfect emotional sense. Have you ever found yourself slipping into despair because of memories that you know are no longer possible to experience again? This scenario can certainly occur when the good memories are connected to wonderful spiritual times. We compare our current experience to the good old days and slip into despair.
Transition:
Fact: we will experience times of despair. despair comes from feeling separated from God. despair comes from being taunted about God. Despair comes from remembering times with God.
These are the facts; facts that can drive our emotions to despair. The first 4 verses of this psalm lead us to the first refrain in this poem and in the first refrain we find a core truth—truth that must come to bear upon the facts that we have just considered. That truth is…
II. Truth: We can overcome despair with hope.
Illustration
If we're not careful our emotions can very quickly overwhelm our thoughts. We see that going on all around us right now; people are afraid of the unknown. The uncertainty of the pandemic produces emotions of fear. But when those emotions of fear overwhelm thoughts, the result becomes panic. And panic leads to empty shelves without toilet paper and water.
The psalmist faces a similar emotional problem, but he refuses to let his fears rule the day. Look at verse 5…<read Ps 42:5> What our psalmist expresses in these verses is that he knows that Hope comes from faith in God. Hope comes from faith in God. That is a truth to hang on to.
Amid his despair and feelings of spiritual barrenness, the psalmist encourages himself by remembering that he has the living God as his savior. He does what each of us should do when we are being overwhelmed by our emotions, he speaks truth to himself; truth that comes from God's word.
There are really two ideas to this verse that are important for us to see. First of all, our psalmist rebukes himself for letting his despairing emotions get control over him. Secondly, he reminds himself of the hope that he has in God. In fact, because he knows the character of God, he expresses his confidence that he will praise God again at some point in the future.
Application
If we allow our emotions to run wild, they can overrun our thoughts. But, our minds are also able to override our emotions. We can govern our minds by fixing our minds upon truth rather than dwelling upon the thoughts being driven by our emotions. And there are no more powerful truths to fix our minds upon than the truths of God; we can dwell upon what we know of our God.
Think about it, the psalmist was encouraged by dwelling upon God even with the limited truth that he had that God would save him somehow if he was faithful to God. We live on the other side of the cross. We know how God will save. God sent his own Son to provide our salvation. Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to give His life to pay the penalty that our sin deserved…<insert full Gospel>.
Transition:
Truth: we can overcome despair with hope. Hope comes from faith in God.
This is a great truth. Yet even with this great truth, we still need to recognize that life is complicated. It seems as if life keeps going around in an ongoing cycle of difficult times. Just when we begin to get our emotions under control by bringing truth to bear, a new set of trials well up and threatened to throw us back into emotional despair once again. Well, the same thing happened in the life of our psalmist as we see in the second stanza of this psalm.
Once again, we begin with the same fact…
III. Fact: We will experience times of despair
Don't you wish that you could conquer your emotions once and be done with them? But that doesn't seem to be the case, especially with the emotion of despair. Time and time again we will experience despair.
Transition:
Continuing on in verse 6 we see that…
A. Despair comes from missing the worship of God
The psalmist is on an emotional rollercoaster that is all too familiar; Just when he gets his emotions back under control, despair come from another direction. Let's read verse 6…<read Ps 42:6>.
Despair comes from missing the worship of God. The psalmist is apparently far away from Jerusalem but not far enough away that he cannot remember God and the wonderful worship that he had there are so many times. Once again, his memories lead to emotions of despair.
Application
While I'm hoping that you are not falling into despair, I do hope there is some yearning and ache in your heart this morning because we are not able to worship together with each other. We should miss the worship of God. We should remember how wonderful it is to be able to sing together and pray together, and we should miss it when we don’t have it. We should regret not being able to greet one another in the lobby. We should be disappointed that we are not sitting side by side as we listen to this sermon. The corporate worship of God should be so precious that we miss it when we cannot have it.
Transition:
In our writer’s case, missing the worship of God led to despair. It was a fact of his experience.
In verse 7 describes another fact that leads to despair,…
B. Despair comes from an onslaught of hard times
<Read Ps 42:7>.
This verse is a little surprising because at the start of the psalm we had the picture of a dry empty land whereas here we learn the psalmist is surrounded by a lot of water. It seems as if he could hear water all around him, most likely from where he is in the land of Jordan with many streams that contain fast moving waterfalls; he hears water crashing around him. He uses that image to describe the way he feels; it is as if hardships are breaking over him one after another just like the water breaks over the rocks as it flows down the streams and over the waterfalls.
Application
Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever feel like there is just one hardship after another? Do you feel like there is no break between the struggles you are experiencing in your life? I'm quite sure that some of you at least feel this way at times because I know that you've been hit by one severe hardship after another. When the hard times pile up like this, despair is a natural emotional.
Transition:
Despair comes from an onslaught of hard times. That is a fact. Thirdly,…
C. Despair comes from suffering before those who hate God
Earlier, in verse 3, the psalmist talked about the mocking that he was enduring. Now in verses 8 through 10 it gives us more insight into the internal turmoil that such mocking creates. Let's read these verses…<read Ps 42:8–10>
Our psalmist knows that the Lord is faithful; he remembers the faithfulness of his God by using the term in verse 8 that describes God's covenant loyalty to his people, the word we have translated his lovingkindness. Yet, in his emotional state, remembering God's faithfulness increases his despair because it feels like that truth does not match his experience; He feels as if God has forgotten him in the face of his enemies; his enemies are oppressing him without God doing anything so they are able to continually mock him as well as his God.
Application
I know that we have talked about this before; most of us have never experienced real suffering for our God so we do not know how that feels, but we have experienced other periods of physical suffering and during those time it can feel as if God has forgotten us. It is not too hard of a stretch for us to imagine what this feels like—the despair that our psalmist is suffering.
Transition:
Fact: we will experience times of despair. Despair comes from missing the worship of God. Despair comes from an onslaught of hard times. Despair comes from suffering before those who hate God.
Remember, though, despair fought with truth…
IV. Truth: We can overcome despair with hope.
In the final verse of this psalm, our psalmist returns once more to the refrain of hope. Let's read our final verse…<read Ps 42:11>.
The solution for despair remains the same as before: hope. Hope comes from faith in God.
This verse is virtually a repeat of the refrain found in verse 5. Once more our writer is summoning his faith in the Lord to fight his despair. In spite of all that he has endured, in spite of the facts have led to his despair, he fully expects once again praise his God. Why? Because he knows his God; his faith in his God gives him hope.
Transition from body to conclusion:
Hope comes from faith in God.
Conclusion:
We will certainly go through situations in life that lead to the emotion of despair. That is simply the fact of life. But despair does not need to win out in our lives we can deal with the facts that lead to despair with the truth that we have seen in our Psalm. We can overcome despair with hope. Hope comes from faith in God.
Do you have hope? Do you know God in this way? Do you have faith in Him? As I stated earlier, the only faith that is real is faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. If you do not have this faith or you do not understand what I am talking about, please contact me through my email address that you can find on our website. I would be happy to share with you how you can have faith in Jesus for salvation.
We will encounter situations that causes our emotions to despair. But God gives hope. Hope comes from faith in God.