Below are some thoughts I took
away from Psalm 42 regarding prayer, begun a couple months ago in my journal
and fleshed out here! :)
It's so insightful how the
psalmist goes back and forth with himself in this prayer. He starts out
"panting" for God, "thirsting" for Him, crying out in
anguish day and night – for one, apparently distressed because unbelievers
around him are questioning God's very existence, as circumstances seem to
indicate (in their minds) He's not showing up to help; and second, because the situation he is
in is apparently a really difficult one, hence his desire for God's help. So
he "pours out his soul within him” (v.4), remembering a time when he was
surrounded by the faithful and grieving his current situation.
He begins v.5 by rather
upbraiding his own soul, reminding himself that he needs to hope in God –
praise God – "for the help (or saving acts) of His presence." God
has, in other words, already proven Himself trustworthy, so “why are you in
despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me?” He’s
grounding his emotions in truth here. No matter how dire circumstances are, the
truth is that God is absolutely always present and faithful and leading His
children. But even though the Psalmist knows this, he is also honest in his
pain, and acknowledges to the Lord that still, "O my God, my soul is in
despair within me." That is really powerful. Even though he knows what is
objectively true – that the all-powerful God is present and cares and is
fulfilling His will – he still frankly acknowledges to God exactly how he is
feeling. What a reassuring and beautiful lesson concerning our prayers
to our Father! It's okay to come to the Lord with our deep heartache, fear, longing,
and uncertainty – and we can do this while still believing in His omniscient
nature. Trust in Him does not prohibit us from pouring out our hearts to Him in
our uncertainty, and what’s more, He actually wants that from you and me! He
doesn’t grow impatient of our finite understanding, nor does He view our pain
over things we don’t understand as a lack of faith in His care of our lives. It's astounding, that level of compassion.
The thing is, the Psalmist never
just stays in this place of distressed outpouring. In fact, because of
the despair he feels, he immediately refers again to God’s power: "therefore
I remember You from the land of the Jordan, and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount
Mizar."(v. 6) God, he says, has come through before and He has not
suddenly lost His power now. And as he speaks of his pain, saying "all
Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me,"(v. 7) he yet grounds
himself with the TRUTH that "the Lord will command His lovingkindness in
the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of
my life."(v. 8) God will not forsake him –providing His lovingkindness in
the daytime – and His song (a prayer, an avenue of communication) at night.
Wow. So not only do we have assurance of the Lord's constant help and presence, but on the one hand, we see His compassionate patience and desire for our
honest communication with Him – and on the other, we see complete faith
and trust in the one praying. It’s a great example of the type of prayer
mentioned in James 1:6, in which there are two parts to the equation of a
prayer that WORKS: first, a God who is generous, compassionate, and gives without
reproach, and second, a child of God who, full of faith in his Father, meets
Him without doubt.
After all of this internal turmoil,
expressing his emotional pain and yet always coming back to God's faithfulness,
the psalmist cries out one more time, "why have You forgotten me? Why do I
go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" It’s interesting – he
seems to remind the Lord (again) that his adversaries are mocking the fact
that God (in their minds) is not coming to the rescue. He actually seems to be
as distressed about this as he is about his own affliction. Which leads me to
ask myself – am I that earnest in defending the honor of my God, of Jesus
Christ who DIED for me and without whom I would have nothing? Am I that
distressed when I hear untrue statements about Him, mocking disrespect of Him,
or flippant irreverence toward Him among friends or co-workers?
Do the people around me know that I don’t go along with that kind
of talk? Christians ... be clear!!
I love that he ends with the
simple truth. He has poured out his anguish to God, and at the conclusion of
his prayer he comes back to what will never fail. "Why are you in despair,
O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I
shall yet praise Him – the help of my countenance and my God." Amen! Our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever -- and may He give me the faith and trust to be able to bring this kind of prayer before Him. Y’all
have a wonderful week!
