Psalm 42

Read this in the King James Version. It's so great that I could argue the Lord inspired the whole translation just to get this Psalm translated. A couple of times I've heard people (tho never a Bible scholar) claim Shakespeare helped with the KJV of Psalms. Whoever did number 42 was an inspired genius. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

In a land that knows droughts, the readers would identify with being thirsty. I remember playing tennis on hot summer afternoons as a student. My best friend and I would usually drive down to the A&W for one of their frosted root beers in a frosted mug. Nothing ever tasted so good. I still keep a frosted mug in the fridge in memory of that. The Psalmist envisaged a desire for God so intense, he compares it to the wild deer seeking a watering hole. His intense purpose is to stand conscious in the presence of the Living God!

My tears have been my food all day long...What in the world? He is further comparing his desire for God to his thirst for God. Note the word translated food literally means “bread.” It's “lehem” in Hebrew, part of Beth-lehem, house of bread or food. Where is thy God? If this is a late Psalm coming from the Babylonian captivity, it may have the same source as Psalm 137:4 – how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Yet their captives were demanding it of them. Yet, with one exception, God is the word used repeatedly in this psalm rather than Lord, the personal name of the God of Israel or Zion. Perhaps this speaks to the idea of God as creator and God of the whole world, not just Israel. You don't have to be in the temple or the church to worship. You can seek God anywhere!

Another possibiltiy behind the question where is thy God is discouragement in the face of life. Who has not said, “Why me?” Many have doubted God when they look and see all the evil rampant in the world. “Where is God?” “Then pealed the bells, both loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth He sleep...” This is more likely, for the next verse has the singer leading “them” to the house of God to worship!

Verse 4 tells of his leading a crowd of people to the house of God to worship. Was it the temple, a synagogue, another building of some sort in Babylon? We don't know, but there's an emphasis here on corporate worship. We have a need to join others in sharing worship and supporting one another.

Verse 5 – Why art thou cast down, O my soul? I've read Mother Teresa's diary. It's incredible that a woman who made such an impact on the world was depressed almost all the time. She was sure God had deserted her. My point is that when you are “dry” spiritually, don't beat yourself up. Many great saints of the church suffered from either depression or spiritual “dryness.” St John of the Cross wrote a book about it called “The Dark Night of the Soul.” The Psalmist here in gorgeous poetry writes from agony.

But suddenly a new song booms through! “Hope thou in God!” Martin Luther apparently was bi-polar with wide mood swings. The story goes that he was slouching around the house one day in a terribly black mood, when his wife said, “I' m so sorry that God has died.” Luther responded, “What? Woman, what are you talking about? God is not dead. God does not die.” She replied, “Well, the way you were looking so morbid I could only think God must have died.” Our faith in God is most important when it is the most difficult!

In v 6 he repeas himself. “My soul is cast down (or bowed down), THEREFORE I remember thee.” Faith is most necessary when it is most difficult. It is also most valuable then. One can also see a subtle change in the use of the word for cast or bow down. From dropping to a low point in feelings of despair, he is driven to his knees. Being cast down leads to bowing down!

“Deep calls to deep at the noise of thy cataracts – or conduits.” Beautiful, but what does it mean? I believe it means that when you are overwhelmed by the seas of life, God's channels of grace still find us. And the author affirms it!

PSALM 150

To conclude our study, take a quick look at the last psalm. Can you imagine such a worship service? I remember when some churches objected to adding a guitar to service. How would your congregation react if you walked in one Sunday morning to a praise band composed of:

Trumpets, psaltery and harp (their equivalent of guitars) tamborines played by dancers, other string instruments (lyres?), and flutes (better than “organs”). Of course, if you already use a praise band or orchestra, only the dancer would be radical. (At one church during Christmas candle-lighting services, we had a mime coming through expressing the traditional meaning of each candle - love, joy, etc. It's fitting that Psalms concludes with a resounding HALLELUJAH!