Psalm 42: Longing for God

Psalm 42   To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually,

‘Where is your God?’

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls
all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,and at night his song is with me, 

a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?’
As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, 

while they say to me continually,

‘Where is your God?’

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. 

Psalm 43             Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people;

from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!
For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; 

let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; 

and I will praise you with the harp, 

O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

Context:   Once upon a time, Psalm 42 and 43 were one … one prayer in two parts.   The unity of these two psalms, which I will refer to as one, is evident by their overall cohesive structure which includes the beauty of a repeating refrain times three and by the lack of any attribution at the “beginning” of the 2nd of the two psalms.

This psalm combo is a “maskil,” which is thought to mean either a psalm with a lesson to learn or a psalm that is written cleverly.    It is a psalm of the Korahites.  The Korahites were of the priestly line of Levi and had a colorful history dating back to the time of Moses.  At the time of David, the Korahites were “doorkeepers” of the tabernacle.   With eleven psalms attributed to them, the Korahites were also renowned poet/singers in the temple.

This 2-in1 psalm is written as a series of individual laments.  A lament is an expression of grief.  The laments of the psalmist are interrupted by words of praise of and trust in God.   In this psalm we see the essence of spiritual struggle that is so common to human beings.  The psalmist suggests that hope can counter spiritual depression of the soul. 

Where do you find hope in your times of despair?   As you read and pray this psalm … what are the feelings that emerge?
  
Going Deeper:   Popular Christian writer, Anne Lamott, has written that her prayers oscillate between “help me, help me, help me” and “thank you, thank you, thank you.”  Psalm 42 and 43 model that same 2-fold pattern which is an echoing theme through the Psalms and the Old Testament as well.  Humanity, both individually and communally, fears the abandonment of God as we cry out with the psalmist, “Where is your God?” with desperately hopeful longing and praise in the face of everything that invites us to abandon our faith because we perceive that we have been abandoned.  In our finest hour we gather up all of our faith, go against the flow, and cry out, “Hope in God!  For I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”

Have you ever felt like you have been abandoned by God?  What were the circumstances?  Have you ever longed for God’s presence … to know God more?  The psalmist talks of that longing as “thirsting.”  How would you describe your longing for God?  How are you able to sustain your hope throughout the struggles of your life?   Where do you find the invitation of God to stay strong in your daily living?

Pondering:  Read the first verses of Psalm 42 aloud again as you engage in the art of Lectio Divina (divine reading)

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually,
‘Where is your God?’
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

• Lectio=Listen to the words. Read the words slowly, repeating them again and again, allowing them to linger on the tongue, savoring their beauty ...

• Meditatio=Prayerfully listen as you read until a small portion of the psalm (a word or a thought or a phrase) begins to draw you deep within.  Turn your “portion” over and over in your mind and consider what God may be inviting you to think or feel or do or be … Write down the “portion” that Spirit has given you:

Stay with your “portion” and commit it to memory as your thought for the day …  Praying:

• Oratio=Spend some time in prayer responding to God’s invitation … allow prayers of confession, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise, or ...

• Contemplatio=When you runs out of words to say, simply rest in the presence of God, lingering with God in loving companionship …

Amen!   
Experience the song inspired by this psalm on this YouTube video ...