42:1-2 (NASB) As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? - I love the imagery of someone so thirsty for God that they long for Him. I have been told that a deer, even while being pursued will stop to drink. Can you imagine a hunger for God so great that you would even stop in the middle of a life threatening attack just because He was there and you needed to be with Him. A thirst for God that stands above all ambition, hope, fear, desire.... That is how we are supposed to pursue God. Not like something good, but like breathing. It needs to be so passionate that we would never imagine going minutes, more or less, days and weeks and months, without a true encounter with Him.
42:3 - Sometimes, from the outside, our lives may look like they are absent God. We may end up in such tough circumstances that others might reason that God is no where near us. It is in times like these that the inner hope and peace we have in Jesus and exhibit to others can be a tremendous testimony to God. If the world asks you where God is and yet they see peace in you they will be more inclined to believe God is bigger than your circumstances. When my folks were killed by a drunk driver the inner peace God granted us and that we agreed to receive, made a huge impact and still does to some people today.
42:5/42:11/43:5 - When you are discouraged, sad, disturbed or in despair it is because your hope is misplaced. You cannot have a healthy hope in God and become those things. It means you have begun to hope in other things - your health, the amount of money you have, your future, the size of your church, etc. A true hope in God is so big is consumes those things and encourages us all the time. This is not a chastisement, just a reminder. The next time depression or despair or discouragement sneaks into your life run back and check where your hope is honestly at.
42:6 - To put your hope in God REMEMBER!!! Remember that no matter where you find yourself or how far away you feel that God is near. Remember who HE is and what He has done and has promised to do. Remembering is one of the best ways to restore hope.
42:8 - Remember that each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me (and you). Remember that. And then let that remembering cause you to sing songs, praying to God who gives me life. If we will remember God's love for us than we can sing no matter how dark it feels and we can pray in the knowledge that God is the giver of life and all good things. And sincerely singing and praying will help to restore that hope. It is a beautiful cycle.
42:11 - (NASB) ... The help of my countenance and my God. - I love the way that sounds. God is the help of my countenance. He is the helper to my disposition or my attitude. God, because of who He is and what He does, changes my face because He changes my heart.
43:1-3 - It seems to me that these verses may be a sort of process prayer that we can pray that will help us remember and therefore restore our hope. Look at specifically what the psalmist asks for and consider why and where that kind of prayer would lead your heart.
43:1 - (NASB) Vindicate me / Plead my case / Deliver me
43:2 - For you are God, my only safe haven... - What a beautiful thing to remember. God is the ONLY safe place. Locking our hope up anywhere else will mean it is at high risk to be stolen or lost.
43:3 - Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. - I am amazed that the way psalmist longs to restore his hope and to see things changed is by asking God to guide and lead him back to where God is at. So many times we feel discouraged and we blame God. We think it is because God is far away or unfaithful or distracted. The psalmist realizes that a loss of hope that leads to discouragement is because we have gotten off course and not because God has. His prayer is that God would lead him back by truth and light. Do you see God so well that you can pray that way?
43:4 - ... the source of all my joy ... - Lord, let us so live in Jesus that you truly are the source of ALL of our joy.
Love, Michael
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