WHEN GOD SEEMS ABSENT
Opening Prayer
Lord, I put my hope in You, my Savior and my God.
Read Psalms 42,43
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.
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,
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.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
These psalms are full of emotion and fluctuate between hope and despair. Read them out loud with this in mind.These two psalms are generally accepted to be one and no one is certain why they were divided. Notice the refrain that is repeated three times (42:5,11; 43:5) and divides the psalm into three stanzas.
John Goldingay helpfully sees three elements in each stanza. The psalmist: lets himself go; makes himself think; and pulls himself together (The Bible Speaks Today: Psalms 42–51).
How does the psalmist express his feelings in each stanza? What experience have you had of a desperate longing for God (42:1–3)? Of being overwhelmed by circumstances (42:7,9,10)? Of being on the receiving end of injustice (43:1)? How readily are you able to pour out what you feel to God?
What does the psalmist remember about the past and hope for in the future in each stanza? He is turning his mind to his situation and not allowing his emotions to paralyze him.
To what extent do you think the refrain or chorus seems to reconcile things for the psalmist? He is determined not to drown in his misery and sorrow. Yet he has to reach this conclusion three times. This is no easy “pull yourself together” approach to difficulties.
Apply
Have you experienced times when God has seemed very distant, even absent? How did that feel and how did you respond?
Closing prayer
Lord, “send me Your light and Your faithful care” that I may yet praise You.
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