Psalm 42:1-11 and Psalm 43:1-5
Title: “Put Your Hope in God”
Subject: How does Korah deal with the existential loss of God’s presence?
Complement: with lament, memory and hope.
Exegetical Idea: The apparent absence of God’s presence causes Korah to lament, remember and hope.
Idea: “Put your hope in God.”
Psalm 42 - For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 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.
5 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.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 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.
Psalm 43
1 Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation. (resulting in exile?)
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain, (Jerusalem)
to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 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.
1. Trouble In The World –
o Pandemic stress/mental health/emotional health issues.
o Rising mental health concerns
o See stats...
o Alone-ness... Loneliness /isolation/ not social distance but physical distance!
o Absence of in-person church community
? Absence of togetherness/celebration
Spiritual drift?
are we Turning the church from community into a commodity?
...I’m also mindful of the Personal struggles of God’s people...
? Sickness
? Marriage troubles
? The cloud of the pandemic
? The vaccine distribution
? When can we travel?
? When can we hug one another...?
? Loneliness...
? Separated from loved ones
o At least we have the phone and the screen...
? And it's everywhere.. it's global
? So people are dealing with grief and loss on a scale we haven’t seen in decades? ... {our lifetime}
? For some Perspective...compare...
o 75 million died in WW2
o To date we have 2.5 million deaths from COVID-19
Questions remain...
? When will church return to “normal” ... when will the family of God pack out the house?
? When can we lay hands on the sick?
? When can we gather at funerals and weddings?
It's enough for you to wonder – where is God?
? We try to make sense of it... what is God saying to us?
? Are we in the final chapter of human history?
...“In times like these we need savior; in times like these we need an anchor – be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid rock.”
2. Trouble/Struggle In The Bible – v. 1-3
First stanza:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 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.
Psalm 42’s Author is “the sons of Korah.”
Korah is a singer of songs in the temple... a modern-day equivalent would be a worship leader.
? He writes lyrics and music for the temple in Jerusalem .
? He sings and leads God’s people in worship... but he doesn’t just sing happy songs!
? He’s authentic enough to sing of the struggle too.
? Maybe psalm 42 would fit best today as a country music tune!
At least he used to... something has happened to put Korah on the sidelines.
? It could be the exile
? 70 years in Babylon
? If so... the temple is destroyed...
It's a spiritual pandemic in ancient Israel... they find themselves unable to gather at the temple.
... 4 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.
And so Korah ( or; the sons of Korah) he/they is pouring out his soul to God.
“Soul” = Hebrew word is “nephesh”( a person’s being or Distinctive essence)
*Nephesh refers to the “interior” vs the exterior (physical body)
See Gen 2:7 7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (nephesh)
Soul (Nephesh) is found 753x in OT
-- translated “Soul” – 475x in KJV
Seat of emotions and passions/ that which breathes/living being/
“My tears have been my food:...
Why is he heart-broken?
God seems distant or even absent...
If that wasn’t enough... People are asking/taunting me... where is your God?
“...As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Maybe that’s where you are today?
Spiritual emptiness/Spiritual dryness?
Dark night of the soul...
Indeed, v. 4 sounds like it could have been written today...(!)
“I remember better days... shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
...Why have you forgotten me?
I wonder what song they liked to sing there in the temple?
Perhaps it was ...
“Great is thy Faithfulness... great is they faithfulness
morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided,
great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me...
you likely know the praise song based on this psalm...
As the deer pants for the waters so my soul longs after thee
Or... in modern idiom... “as the trucker pants for some coffee waiting in the drive-through line-up ... “Timmie, You alone are my heart’s desire and I crave for my caffeine.”
Allow me my personal Lament...
“Isn’t it strange that something as beautiful and sacred as “full house church attendance” has been taken from us?
God calls his people together every 7 days! (it's always been so...)
In the OT – sabbath
In the NT - Sunday (Ress day)
...Plus we have annual festivals
Christmas ...Easter ... Pentecost...
Virtual church is Ok – but is a poor imitation ...
We miss everyone being together... we miss the celebrations!
For the psalmist, his Spiritual hunger is high – because he knows better!
May I ask... “How is your soul today?”
Have you been in his presence?
Do you know his touch?
? Are you spending time in his word?
? Are you worshipping...singing his praises?
? Are you practising praise?
? Do you shout a hallelujah? Or two?
? Come on now people of God!... praise him... sing to him
...If we are silent - the very rocks will cry out – and the last time I looked there are plenty of rocks around this island... so let’s not be out-done by the rocks on the rock!!!
My soul pants for you...my soul thirsts for God.
Where can I go and meet with God?
Story ? Do you remember those days at the altar... worshipping...tears of joy... overwhelmed by Gods presence?
His love pouring over you... do you remember?
? At camp?
? At a retreat?
? In church...
o some people tell me ... usually new believers... why do I cry so much when I come to church?...
o ...I don’t like to cry in public... usually it's just that joy of being home... in God’s house...with God’s people... finally I found what I’ve been searching for... I’ve heard God’s call and I said yes!
Hallelujah! I have found him – whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies my longing, through his blood I now am saved.”
...into this lament of these “sons of korah” comes an affirmation of faith.
This happens 3 times in the Psalm – verse 5 and verse 11 and 43:5 – 3 times!
...it's as if his head is talking to his soul...
The refrain cuts into the lament with a determination to praise God! ... it's his memory...he’s drawing on past experiences... he’s drawing water from the wells of salvation...
5 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. (Will over feeling)
It's a kind of “Self-encouragement”
Like a tree thirsty for rain – its roots draw water from deep in the soil.
Do you know these words...another lyric of lament
Hymn: “Satisfied” (1875)
All my life long I had panted
For a draught from some cool spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.
Chorus:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings;
Through His life I now am saved.
Can you say amen?
...“Hallelujah I have found him, whom my soul so long has craved Jesus satisfies my longings, through his blood I now am saved!”
These sons of Korah – sing about the Experience of being In exile.
In Jewish thought the 3 pillars are law/land/temple
*All 3 were pulled down in the Babylonian exile
So a Crisis of faith develops –
where is God?
Where are his promises?
Not only were they Away from the temple – the temple was destroyed!
We are emotional beings...
We are not only thinking beings – we are feeling beings.
The writer feels alone - God seems far away.
**Notice v 5 and v, 11 and 43:5 ...
? See what’s happening here?
? He’s singing the chorus!
Sometimes when you can’t figure it all out – just sing!
? Choose to sing.
? Choose to praise him.
What’s your “go to” song?
? Standing on the promises?
? Leaning on the everlasting arms?
? Way-maker...miracle worker...
? “Great are you Lord.” (Personal favorite)
? Another One of my favorites:
o I’ll sing to you Lord, a hymn of love for your faithfulness to me; I’m carried in everlasting arms; you never let me go... through it all.
***Remember that other famous psalm where there’s taunting
– Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
... how can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
3. But the writer (Korah) ...is still in the thick of his struggle so he falls back into another lament: v.6-10
My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
(he is remembering the rivers/waterfalls from Hermon...
he sees a picture of his deep questions/deep longings) (power/awe/fear/mystery)
8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
...Do you sense the struggle in these words?
Do you identify with his confusion?
The tension between head and heart?
The thinking vs. the feeling
And he’s tired... maybe even depressed...
...His prayer is a prayer for more of God’s obvious presence... he feels forgotten – perhaps a particular prayer that he really hoped would be answered is left unanswered...
“my foes taunt me...”
? People at work
? Self-talk... doubts/fear
? Foes –
o could be your past...
o some trauma ... abuse has left you feeling insecure and unloved.
Maybe the Devil himself is taunting you.
“Where is (your) God, sons of Korah?
Where is God?
It's a difficult place to be – because we know God indwells us by his Spirit; we know his promise “I will never leave you or forsake you”... we know he is a “good, good father.”
It's Perhaps the biggest question we ever ask...
“Where is God?”
Made ever worse when a non-believer taunts you...or mocks you.
Atheists say... he’s nowhere to be found.
A Russian cosmonaut once mockingly said when he went into outer space he didn’t find God...
Nowadays we have books like ...
“The God Delusion” ( R Dawkins) and
“God is not great” (C Hitchens)
These books are bestsellers...
We’re thankful for Christian writers like Tim Keller – who has written “the reason for God.”
And former atheist, Lee Strobel
– “The Case for Faith”
“The Case for a Creator”
“The Case for Christ.”
And earlier the classic “Mere Christianity” – by CS Lewis
And so there he is – a temple worship leader... caught between the confusion...the circumstances and the covenant.
...Caught between lament and loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
How many days or weeks pass in these doldrums... and despondencies...
...And so he sings the chorus again...
Refrain no. 2 – v. 11
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.
Here’s a more modern refrain...
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before O my soul
I'll worship your holy name
4. Now We Come To Psalm 43 – Vindicate Me O God.
Stanza no. 3 – Psalm 43:1-4
Korah is getting a little more impatient...
He’s starting to need resolution... it's hard to live with all of the uncertainty.
He cry’s out ...“vindicate me, God...”
Psalm 43
1 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
You know this experience... we sing about it too
“O Lord Jesus how long... how long?
till we shout the glad song.
Christ returneth, hallelujah,
hallelujah amen.
**God’s people are (primarily) vindicated at his coming in glory.
o Enemies will be judged
o Persecutors will stand before him defenceless
o Mockers will be silenced.
And we have the Holy Spirit abiding within us... our teacher our helper/advocate and our guide...
Now the Appeal for help... he’s crying out to God...
3 Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. (Jerusalem)
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
**This stanza has a sense of hope emerging... perhaps a breakthrough... he is depending on God to “reveal himself.”
his desire is to be in God’s presence... he wants to worship and celebrate!
Listen to me people of God - God will vindicate his people!
? when?
? How?
? not always on our timetable.
? so, we live by faith and not by sight...
...listen to these words:
2 cor 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
? remember last week’s message – nothing can separate us from God’s love!
? how about this verse: Rom 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
? yes, God will vindicate his people !
? this is why Revelation is such an important book- it brings the struggle to an end – and we and vindicated and victorious !!!
Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
?
5. Refrain No.3
5 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.
people of God – put your hope in God!
There are 2 very important times to sing/worship:
(1) when life is sweet
(2) when life is sour.
Sometimes we sing to get the spirit alive... to waken the emotions.
Silvila Martin. (hymn-writer) was born in Nova Scotia in 1866 /and lived most of her life in Atlanta.
She was inspired to write "His Eye Is On the Sparrow" after visiting a sick friend.
Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely?
And long for heaven and home.
When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches over me
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
... this hymn was made famous by voices like Mahalia Jackson and Ethel Waters..(b.1866)
Let me share a little of Ethel Waters testimony...
? Ethel Waters was the product of rape – her mother was just 13 when she gave birth to “Ethel” (1866)
? Of her difficult childhood, Ethel once said ... "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family.”
? Ethel then was married at age 13 – to an abusive man.
? A couple of years later she left him and became a maid in Philadelphia.
? At 17, she began to sing in bars... her voice was admired and her singing career began.
...but in 1955 (now age 59), Waters was deeply in debt for back taxes.
? the IRS seized royalties of her work.
? She lost tens of thousands in jewelry and cash in a robbery.
? Her health suffered, and she worked sporadically.
The turning point came in 1957 – she was now 61 years old... she attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Madison Square Garden, NYC.
She entered the stadium that night a disillusioned, lonely, 61-year-old woman.
She was in debt, she had physical problems, very over-weight - too much to even sing properly, and she was very worried about her future.
...years later she spoke about that night:
"In 1957, I was a 380-pound decrepit old lady, but I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, and boy, just look at me now.... I thank God for the chance to tell you ...His eye is on all of us sparrows."
And so her singing career was revived and she often travelled with the Billy Graham team in his evangelistic meetings.
Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely?
And long for heaven and home.
When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches over me
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Conclusion:
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.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35
“Put your hope in God.”
When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
Put your hope in God.
