Psalms 42

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“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!” (Psalm 42:5 NLT).

February 26, 2022

HOW DO YOU HANDLE DISCOURAGEMENT? Many tend to wallow or spiral down deeper into despair when facing sadness and discouragement. But David knew how to “encourage himself in the Lord” (1 Sam. 30:6). This psalm illustrates his method.   When he felt down or out of sorts, he didn’t just drag on, he stopped and

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (Psalm 42:11 NKJV).

August 28, 2020

A PSALM FOR THE SOUL When you are discouraged and “cast down,” learn to encourage yourself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6). Bring your soul to the Lord. Instruct your soul to “hope in God” and “praise Him.” Have you not yet learned that a fresh encounter with God will change the disposition of your

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance” (Psalm 42:5 NKJV).

February 26, 2017

David had learned to encourage himself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6). This psalm illustrates his method. When he felt down or out of sorts, he didn’t just drag on, he stopped and found a quiet place to get alone with God. He addressed his soul, searching inside for the source of his own “disquiet.” Getting in touch with his own feelings and doubts, he carried them to the Lord, confessing his soul’s condition and changing the object of his hope from self to God. He was essentially saying, “Soul, stop hoping in yourself, that’s why you’re feeling so worried. Instead, hope in God!” After a look in the mirror to see the source of his soul’s condition, he looked up to seek the “countenance” of the Lord. Like the countenance of an anxious child that brightens to a smile when seeing the face of his mother, so David sought the help of seeing the Lord’s face.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1 ESV)

August 28, 2016

David addressed the spiritual emptiness of his own soul by expressing his feeling towards God. His soul’s thirst for God was just as real as a deer’s thirst for water. His psalms are like prayers recorded in a spiritual journal. They reveal the heart of the man that God Himself called a “man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). David knew that only God could satisfy his soul’s deep longing. Many today don’t recognize this need. Sure, they feel the spiritual emptiness, but they vainly attempt to fill it or medicate it with worldly things. Yet, only God will satisfy. As Augustine once said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2 ESV)

February 26, 2016

David described the longing of his soul for God. The brilliant French physicist and philosopher, Pascal, proposed that such a longing was present in every human heart, saying, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees). People try to fill this longing with other things, which explains the misery of many. But the human soul can only find its fullest satisfaction in Christ.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (Psalm 42:11 NKJV)

August 28, 2015

A psalm for the soul. When you are discouraged and “cast down,” learn to encourage yourself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6). Bring your soul to the Lord. Instruct your soul to “hope in God” and “praise Him.” Have you not yet learned that a fresh encounter with God in Word and prayer will change the disposition of your soul and therefore your “countenance,” putting a smile in place of a frown? Reset your soul’s hope from its idols and put its hope in God. Worship works.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2 ESV)

February 26, 2013

David described the longing of his soul for God. The brilliant French physicist and philosopher, Pascal, proposed that such a longing was present in every human heart, saying, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees). People try to fill this longing with other things, which explains the misery of many. But the human soul can only find its fullest satisfaction in Christ.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:11)

August 28, 2011

David encouraged himself in the Lord. Lift your own soul up to the Lover of souls. Sometimes we are down without even knowing why, but God knows us better than we know ourselves. Cry out to Him.