Psalms Of The Sons Of Korah - Psalm 42 Part 1

Thus we see the contrast - joy to despair; thanksgiving to tears. It is downward, and it could very well be that the most miserable of people are those Christians who are out of fellowship with God. The psalmist knew that, for he was engrossed in current despair with memories of the good times of fellowship that had fled. Did they flee, or does one allow the departure, not willingly of course, but through the subtleties of deception and priorities, and by taking his focus off the Lord? Fellowship and communion are precious threads, but very fragile ones.

He recognises the plight of his own soul, for he questions himself in this very matter, trying to fathom the reason for this despair. As well, he was disturbed within his soul. We know not why the psalmist was in this state or what circumstances led to his being so depressed. If fact it may be very possible he did not know himself, for depression and despair does not need a great show or much encouragement to take full bloom in Christians’ lives. We must never believe that Christians are immune to despair or from being disturbed in their souls. The reasons may be numerous, and may include the pursuits of things that do not profit, resulting in the starving of the soul; being in the valley of the shadow and hard pressed on all sides; having unforgiven sin; being covetous or envious (Ps 73); not coping with grief; facing marital or family problems; being discontent with your church and the behaviour of Christians; being of such a nervous nature that makes one more prone to despair and depression, and so the list goes on.

There is no rest to the disturbed soul, no peace to the one in depression, no vitality of witness or testimony. Instead there is misery and defeat, and an atmosphere of gloom that is seen by others, and in the case before us, it was enough to cause rivals and enemies to pass comments in mockery. We can only hope that there were inquirers who were genuinely concerned about the spiritual welfare of this man and took time to get alongside him. I feel sure the Korahites were a wonderful supportive group. That is not often the case for some people. Those who profess to be fellow Christians will sometimes shun the one in trouble discounting him, and justifying it by a multitude of reasons. Is it the road to Samaria all over again? The psalmist recognised his plight as already pointed out, and we shall see shortly what steps were taken to remedy the situation.

We must notice at this point that all the past remembrances of God were before him as verse 4 points out. How he would have sifted them through in his mind, one by one, recalling the delight the Lord’s presence had given, and how the earnestness of praise welled up from him. All that was a humbling experience, and humbled we must be before we can put things right again, for the problem lies not with God, but with us. Can you, listener/reader, recall former days of joy and thanksgiving that were your meat and high tower but have passed to tears and despair now. Perhaps no one knows of this in your life as you keep it well hidden but could it be asked, “Where are those former days of joyful fellowship with the Lord?” Where are those days of thanksgiving as you entered His word in a wonderful expectation of His speaking to you out of its pages? Has all that been relegated to the past, locked away in a cupboard so tightly that you dare not approach it for fear of facing reality? “Where is your God?”