Wednesday 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:
Midway through his struggle, the psalmist does something radical by turning inward and boldly questioning his own heavy heart: "Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?" He had reasons to be broken, yet he refused to let his discouragement sit unopposed or sweep him away without a fight.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously noted that most of our unhappiness stems from the fact that we listen to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves. When our broken emotions try to dictate our reality, they can bring back yesterday's problems and whisper that hope is gone.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously noted that most of our unhappiness stems from the fact that we listen to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves. When our broken emotions try to dictate our reality, they can bring back yesterday's problems and whisper that hope is gone.
Preaching to your soul isn't a magic trick that instantly erases deep pain; it is a conscious decision to choose objective truth over ever-changing feelings. Even while writing from exile at Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar, far from the comfort of the sanctuary, the psalmist chooses to remember God anyway. True faith comes through you declaring what is true about God until your heart catches up.
- When you experience deep discouragement, do you tend to passively listen to your emotions or actively challenge them with truth? What negative thoughts or lies has your soul been whispering to you lately, and how can you begin talking back to them with Scripture?
- Where have you thrown up the white flag of defeat and allowed discouragement to rule your life, and how can you turn to God to fight back?
- What specific scriptural truths do you need to start preaching to yourself daily to repent of the unbelief fueled by your feelings?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the times you have passively listened to the negative, fearful lies of your downcast soul instead of talking back to them with the truth of Scripture.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage and clarity to call out your discouragement. Pray for the strength to actively preach God's promises to your heart day after day until your feelings catch up.
- Praise Him as your Savior and your God, whose truth stands completely unshakeable regardless of your emotions.
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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