Psalms

Psalms 42: Hope in the living God

Begin in prayer

Before we speak about the things we long for, let us remember the soul that thirsts for the living God. Pray for hope in the living Christ when our souls feel downcast and praise comes slowly.

I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

Hosea 13:5

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word, and help us to see Christ. Show us that the living God gives His people reason to hope in Him even while grief remains. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The song of the sons of Korah begins with a soul thirsting for the living God as a deer pants for water. Tears fill the singer's days and nights while enemies keep asking where his God is. Remembered worship with the joyful crowd makes the present longing sharper, yet he tells his troubled soul to hope in God. From the country of Jordan and Hermon, he remembers God while waves and billows picture the troubles sweeping over him. He holds to the LORD's loving kindness by day and His song in the night, even while asking his Rock why he seems forgotten. The enemy's taunt returns, and the song ends by telling the downcast soul again to hope in the God he will yet praise.

As you read Psalms 42, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The living God commands His loving kindness, giving His downcast people reason to hope and praise again.

The title gives this song to the sons of Korah, a family serving among Israel's singers. Thirst pictures longing for the living God Himself, sharpened by absence from the gathered worship the singer remembers. The crowd's former joy and the enemies' repeated question pull his heart in opposite directions, so he pours out his soul before God. His command to hope speaks faith into his own distress without pretending that the distress has ended. Jordan, Hermon and Mizar name the place from which he remembers God, while the rushing waters give a picture of trouble after trouble. Calling them God's waves puts even this overwhelming experience beneath the Lord's rule. The LORD commands loving kindness by day and gives him a prayer and song through the night. He still asks why his Rock seems to have forgotten him. The final return to hope rests in God as his saving help, with praise expected while the grief is still present.

How does Psalm 42 show us that the living God commands His loving kindness, giving His downcast people reason to hope and praise again?

The living God is the One His people long for.

The thirsty deer pictures a soul longing for God. Tears and remembered worship make the distance painful, while enemies question whether his God is there. The singer brings that longing before the living Lord.

The LORD's loving kindness gives hope amid distress.

Troubles feel like waves sweeping over the singer, and he still calls God his Rock. He trusts the loving kindness the LORD commands and prays through the night. His soul is told to hope because he expects to praise his God again.

Memorise

Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:8

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where am I seeking relief without seeking the living Lord Jesus?

The singer calls Him “the God of my life.” His waves of trouble have not ended, and the enemy's question still hurts. Yet the Lord's loving kindness gives him reason to speak hope to his downcast soul.

Our sin has separated us from the God for whom we were made. Jesus bore the punishment of His people's sins and died in their place at the cross. He rose from the grave. His people are brought near through an accomplished rescue, with nothing left to pay for their peace before God. Their acceptance depends on His finished work.

Turn from sin and trust Jesus. His mercy includes full forgiveness for sinners who put their hope in Him. Bring Him the longing you have tried to satisfy elsewhere and the grief that returns after prayer. The living Lord gives His trusting people hope beyond their tears and reason to expect renewed praise.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the living God gives His people reason to hope in Him even while grief remains. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His loving kindness by day and His song in the night. Bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 4:14

Living God, You know the longings and griefs we struggle to speak about. Please bring us to trust Jesus and find acceptance through His finished work. Teach us to seek You above every comfort. Sustain the downcast with Your loving kindness, and give Your people hope and songs through this week's nights. Amen.