Psalm 42

This summer I've decided to paraphrase the lectionary Psalms as a prayer practice and then read prayerfully (lectio divina) with my own paraphrase.  Finally, I'll develop a breath prayer to take the transformed psalm with me into my week.  You are invited to join me and paraphrase the summer psalms for yourself.   As we work with the psalms and rewrite the text in our own words/using our own vocabulary, we will find deeper meaning as the week unfolds.  The psalms are prayers of dearly faithful people.  We can pray them into a personal prayer language that lives and breathes our own faith.  

Paraphrasing the Psalm ...  
Step 1:  Read the Psalm from a translated version, this week we read from the NIV.  Read it several times and out loud if you dare!    Psalm 42 is a song sung by the exiled Israelites remembering what it was like to go to the temple to worship God.  Now they are separated from the temple and they are expressing a sense of the felt absence of God.  Have you ever felt the absence of God more than the presence?   As you consider the overall message the Psalm writer was trying to convey with this psalm, what message are you hearing for your own life?

Psalm 42 (NIV)
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,
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 go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Step 2:  Explore the images you find in the psalm and seek new ways of proclaiming the message of in words and phrases that translate to the situation we find in our world today.  Be creative and think not in words but in ideas and give your psalm a sweeping form.

Step 3:  Take up a journal OR pull up a blank document on the computer ... begin writing in a stream of consciousness with new images, words, and phrases.  Let the images grow and become.  Let the words and phrases emerge to translate the psalm anew in your own prayer language, a new song!

Step 4:  Paraphrase the Psalm with your own images in your own words and phrases ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Cindy's Paraphrase of Psalm 42 ... As the deer listens and longs for babbling brooks,
desire for your presence bubbles up in my consciousness,
my deepest love, God of my Life
Deep within me, I am parched and dry as a desert
Tell me where you are and I will come to you, O God!
Only my salty tears feed me all day and into the night while everyone taunts me,
"Your God has abandoned you!"
Memories emerge like living water from deep within me
O how I remember the sanctuary with its beautiful altar, 
God’s presence filling the space with comfort and peace
Singing, dancing, and loving in the joyful community
So ... Why am I so depressed?  Why am I so troubled?
I must praise the God of Hope, the One who Saves, the Sovereign God!
Depression threatens my sanity; I try to remember you from my childhood,
I try to remember you from the days I spent in Canada and in New Orleans.
The depth I feel meets your infinity as together we rush over the waterfalls of life,
I feel the waves crashing on the shoreline of my heart, 
threatening to pull me to the surface of myself
Everyday your love fills me, every night your song lifts me up – 
I pray to you God of Love
O God, you are my fortress but you turn away from me in my despair
And so the sadness overwhelms me, others take advantage of me
I am human, I grieve what could have been as people perpetually shout out,
“Your God has abandoned you!”
Yes ... I am so depressed?  I am so troubled?
Yet ... I believe in God, I will sing and dance for God, my Redeemer and my Rock!

University of Arkansas Campus, May 2013

Lectio Divina ...
Step 1:  Read Psalm 42 slowly and reverently ...
Use the NIV text, my paraphrase or your own, or take link to use this Message Paraphrase:
What image, word, or phrase calls for your attention?  Spend a few moments pondering ...

Step 2:  Read your selection again and reflect ...
How does this paraphrase illuminate your life right now?

Step 3:  Read your selection again and respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you are seeing God's presence in it?
Write a one-sentence prayer as an Amen to your time of lectio ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

O God, God of Hope, the One who Saves, the Sovereign God, you are mine and I am yours.  
So be it!  Amen!

Step 4:  Rest ... Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.

Breath Prayer ...
Step 1:  In 3-4 syllables, what image of God is emerging from your time of prayer?

Step 2:  In 3-4 syllables, what prayer of desire is rising within you?

Step 3:  Create your breath prayer ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Breathe in … God of Hope (pause)
Breath out … I yearn for you (pause)

As you continue to journey through your week, breathe!  And take the Presence of God with you through the breath prayer you have created from your time with Psalm 42 ... Amen!


If music is a pathway for you, check out this youtube video of "As the Deer"