Psalm 42 - One Of The Psalms Of The Sons Of Korah - Part 2 Series

MESSAGE 2 - PSALMS OF THE SONS OF KORAH. PSALM 42 Part 2

Ron Ferguson ronaldf@aapt.net.au

Psa 42 v 5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. Psa 42:6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan, and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Last time we introduced this Psalm written and arranged by the sons of Korah, these men responsible for the music of the Tabernacle. It is widely accepted that the Psalm represents the time David fled from his son Absalom in his usurping of the kingdom, but as I explained last time, I am taking the position of this being the experience of a person away from God, who has been restored, and is writing of his troubled journey back to restoration. Today we begin with a quotation from commentator Barnes who examines verses 5 and 6.

Albert Barnes, 1898-1870, writing about this says - There was a brighter side, and he ought to turn to that, and take a more cheerful view of the matter. He had allowed his mind to rest on the dark side, to look at the discouraging things in his condition. He now felt that this was in some measure voluntary, or had been indulged too freely, and that it was wrong: that it was proper for a man like him to seek for comfort in brighter views; that it was a duty which he owed to himself and to the cause of religion to take brighter views. We may remark,

(1) That there are two sides to the events which occur, and which seem so discouraging to us - a dark side and a bright side.

(2) That in certain states of mind, connected often with a diseased nervous system, we are prone to look only on the dark side, to see only what is gloomy and discouraging.

(3) That this often becomes in a sense voluntary, and that we find a melancholy satisfaction in being miserable, and in making ourselves more unhappy, as if we had been wronged, and as if there were a kind of virtue in dejection and gloom - in "refusing," like Rachel, "to be comforted" as in Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Perhaps also, feeling as if by our negative attitude, we were deserving of the divine approval, and laying the foundation for some claim to favour on the score of merit.

(4) That in this we are often eminently guilty, as putting away those consolations which God has provided for us; as if a man, under the influence of some morbid feeling, should find a kind of melancholy pleasure in starving himself to death in the midst of a garden full of fruit, or dying of thirst by the side of a running fountain.

(5) Lastly, that it is the duty of the people of God to look at the bright side of things; to think of the past mercies of God; to survey the blessings which surround us still; to look to the future, in this world and the next, with hope; and to come to God, and cast the burden on Him. It is a part of religious duty to be cheerful; and a man may often do more real good by a cheerful and submissive mind of affliction, than he could by much active effort in the days of health, plenty, and prosperity. Every sad and desponding Christian ought to say to his soul, "Why are you thus cast down?" And why are you disturbed in me? – The word – disturbed, troubled, sad - the word means literally,

(1) to growl as a bear;

(2) to sound, or make a noise, as a harp, rain, waves;

(3) to be agitated, troubled, or anxious in mind: to moan internally. (end quote)

It has been thought that the Lord’s words in Gethsemane (Matthew 26 v 38) - Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." (NIV) had Psalm 42 in mind.

Verse 5 boldly proclaims the solution, “Hope in God,” and he states very simply that “hoping in God” or to use the alternate reading, “Waiting on God” is where we must first arrive to address the problem, in which, like the psalmist, so many of us are found. Hope is where the answer lies. Hope is all important. It is the link that ties us to God. We will consider Abraham here, concerning hope, and this is written by Paul -