Tuesday Devo
Scripture:
Psalm 42
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of the descendants of Korah.
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of the descendants of Korah.
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
Commentary:
42:1–5 My Soul Pants for God. The song begins with a poignant expression of longing for God himself, using the image of thirst: As a deer pants for flowing streams. For the pious, the answer to this longing comes in public worship; this is clear from the phrase appear before God (i.e., at the sanctuary; cf. Ex. 23:17), and from Ps. 42:4, which recollects the former participation in sanctuary worship. The singer represents himself as separated from this worship and subject to taunts from those who despise his faith. The singer closes the stanza by encouraging himself that God will return him to worship. (Observe that the first words of v. 6, “and my God,” belong with the refrain.)
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 989.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 989.
Questions:
In Psalm 42:4, the psalmist shifts his gaze backward, remembering when he walked among the crowds and led great processions of worship to the house of God. He recalls the uncontainable joy and the loud sounds of celebration, but these beautiful memories only cause his heart to break in the present.
Dwelling on the past is a dangerous trap that will either fuel hope or feed despair. The gap between what used to be, and what is, can create a paralyzing grief. Instead of seeing what God did as a promise of what He can do, we begin to treat our memories as evidence of what we have lost. A soul dissolved like water is often the result of focusing entirely on our losses rather than God's unchanging character. If you are grieved by the memory of a time when faith felt effortless, remember that the God of your past is still standing in your present.
Dwelling on the past is a dangerous trap that will either fuel hope or feed despair. The gap between what used to be, and what is, can create a paralyzing grief. Instead of seeing what God did as a promise of what He can do, we begin to treat our memories as evidence of what we have lost. A soul dissolved like water is often the result of focusing entirely on our losses rather than God's unchanging character. If you are grieved by the memory of a time when faith felt effortless, remember that the God of your past is still standing in your present.
- What past experience with God do you find yourself longing to relive? Was there something specific about that experience that you are clinging to or wanting to happen again? How might that longing be affecting your relationship with Him in the present?
- Why is it dangerous to measure God's love by our emotions instead of His promises? How does Psalm 42 challenge us to evaluate our relationship with God differently?
- What habit or mindset is keeping you stuck in disappointment instead of moving forward in hope? How can you intentionally place your hope in God again?
Prayer Topics:
- Thank God for the ways He has faithfully met you in the past. Praise Him for every season where He strengthened your faith.
- Confess any ways you've allowed disappointment, nostalgia, or discouragement to shape your view of God. Ask Him to forgive you for looking backward with bitterness instead of trusting Him in the present.
- Ask God to help you recognize His presence and faithfulness right now instead of longing only for what He has done in the past. Pray for the faith to trust Him in this season and the hope to believe that He is still at work, even when you cannot yet see it.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
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