HOPE IN GOD (PSALMS 42)
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There are five books in the Wisdom Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
Job teaches us how to live triumphantly ¡V his physical being;
Psalms teach us how to live thankfully ¡V his spiritual being;
Proverbs teach us how to live truthfully ¡V his social life;
Ecclesiastes teach us how to live thoughtfully ¡V his intellectual capacity;
Song of Songs teach us how to live tenderly ¡V his emotional needs. (Victor Yap quote)
Psalms 42-72 is also titled as Book II, one of 11 songs attributed to or associated with the sons of Korah. In David¡¦s time, he requested the chief of the Levites to appoint from among them singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals to raise sounds of joy. The Levites duly appointed three leaders: Heman, Asaph and Ethan(1 Chron 15:16-17), and The leading singer Heman¡¦s genealogy can be traced to the son of Koran (1 Chron 6:33, 37).
What kind of relationship do you have with the Lord? Where do you go when your resources are depleted and your reservoir is dry? What is the cause of physical, emotional and spiritual wasteland and waterlessness, what are the consequences and what is the cure?
Tap into the Source
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. (Psalm 42:1-4)
What animals pant and which ones sweat, and how can you tell the difference? Best Answer: Horses, cattle, sheep, goats and many more I'm sure sweat. Pigs, rabbits, rodents, cats and man¡¦s best friend dogs (many others also) do not sweat. Dogs have fur that they can¡¦t take off after running around, so they look for something to drink.
My wife in her weakened state of cancer gave me a perfect understanding of the verb ¡§pant.¡¨ When she gasped, gulped and gaped to breathe in deep air, her veins are thick, her collarbone juts out, and her neck is a sunken hole.
Psalms 42 begins what we call Book 2 of Psalms. Why is it called so?
The deer (v 1), making its debut in the Bible, is also translated as ¡§young hart¡¨ (Song 2:9, 17), so we are talking about an active, animated and agile deer drinking greedily to their delight. The verb ¡§pants¡¨ appear for the first time in the Bible, occurring one more time elsewhere as ¡§cry¡¨ (Joel 1:20). In that instance the same verb describes the beasts of the field that cry to God because the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness (Joel 1:20).
How do dogs pant? With tongue hanging, heart thumping and mouth gaping. The English dictionary for ¡§pant¡¨ includes breathing short, hard and fast from exertion, exhaustion or excitement, sometimes even loudly. It is a craving, longing, hunger, thirst, or desire for something. It is a requirement, a requisite, a respite, a relief and a rest. A deer
is capable of running at speeds up to 35 mph for several miles and leaping obstacles 8.5 feet in height and covering as much as 30 feet in a single leap.
To the fleeing and flying deer, no water means no habitat, no haven, no home and no hope, especially when they are followed, fearful or fatigued.
http://animals.mom.me/whos-faster-horse-deer-6644.html
The English version for ¡§water¡¨ and ¡§streams¡¨ (v 1) are mild and moderate in contrast to its Hebrew counterpart. Water is plural, not singular, in Hebrew. Streams is mild in contrast to elsewhere translated as channels (2 Sam 22:16), mighty (Job 12:21), strong pieces (Job 40:18) and rivers (Song 5:12). It is surplus, strong and swift, not slow, steady and short.
The noun ¡§soul¡¨ (v 1) is mentioned six times in the chapter (vv 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11), and more critically, each time is accompanied by the personal pronoun ¡§my.¡¨ The translation ¡§my soul¡¨ (v 2) occurs less than ten times in the Bible before the book of Psalms but more than 100 times in Psalms. The soul is a man¡¦s relationship with His Creator, including a person¡¦s basic, barest and bottommost self, not his blood, brain or behavior but his being, breath and beginning. Man¡¦s soul is different from other moving and living creatures or soul (Gen 1:20) in that God breathed to activate the soul (Gen 2:7). The personal pronoun ¡§my¡¨ underlines David¡¦s dependence, deliverance and devotion to the Source and Supply of the soul. Our soul calls for God (v 2), connects with Him and chases after Him. We are different from animals who are creatures but not children of God, whose soul pleads for God, pursues after Him and persist in God.
The pictorial and picturesque deer is replaced by the present and practical picture. The verbs ¡§go and meet¡¨ (v 2) are ¡§enter and see the face of God¡¨ in Hebrew. My tears day and night means continuous and conspicuous tears. The verb ¡§pour out¡¨ shed (Gen 9:6), cast (2 Sam 20:15), gushed (1 Kings 18:28) and slipped (Ps 73:2). There is no holding back, hiding inside or half-hearted measures. The outcome is joy and praise (v 4), or thanksgiving to be precise. The translation is thanksgiving (18x), praise (6x), thanks (3x), thank offerings (3x), confession (2x).
Taste His Loving Kindness
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¡Xfrom 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¡X a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:5-8)
A certain farmer had an unusual weathervane on his barn. Inscribed on the arrow were these words: ¡§God is love.¡¨ A passerby turned in at the gate and asked the farmer, ¡§What do you mean by that? Do you think God's love is changeable; that it veers about as that arrow turns in the winds?¡¨ ¡§Oh, no,¡¨ replied the farmer, ¡§I mean that whichever way the wind blows, God is still love.¡¨
The verbs ¡§downcast¡¨ and ¡§disturb¡¨ (v 5) are contrast, the ¡§in¡¨ and the ¡§out.¡¨ The verb ¡§downcast/cast down¡¨ (v 5) is translated as couch (Job 38:40), humbleth (Ps 10:10), bowed down (Ps 35:14), brought low (Ps 107:39), bring down (Isa 25:12) and bending (Isa 60:14). So downcast means being humiliated and humbled. The corresponding verb ¡§disturb¡¨ is the external, translated as uproar (1 Kings 1:41), disquieted (Ps 39:6), raged (Ps 46:6), cry aloud (Ps 55:17), make a noise like a dog (Ps 59:6), troubled (Ps 77:3), make a tumult (Ps 83:2), and loud (Prov 7:11), clamorous (Prov 9:13), moved (Song 5:4), sound (Isa 16:11) and mourning (Ezek 7:16). One (downcast) is the shame, the other (disturb) is the sound. David finds there is no help, hope or happiness for him.
The first outcome was joy and thanksgiving (v 4); the next is hope (v 5). Unlike most Psalms, the psalmist ends a question with an imperative - ¡§hope,¡¨ translated as stay (Gen 8:12), tarry (1 Sam 10:8), wait (2 Kings 6:33) and trust (Job 13:15). It is a verb, not a noun; it is an attitude, an action and an anticipation. Hope must be strong, stable, spirited and steadfast, not for the soft, squeamish, skeptical, or scared. What are we to hope for? We hope in his mercy (Ps 33:18, 147:11), hope in His judgments (Ps 119:43) and repeatedly hope in His word (Ps 119:74, 81, 114, 147). True hope is hope in God, His presence, promise and power. There is no such thing as hope in self in the Bible. It is always hope in God or the Lord, to be replaced by hope in Christ in the New Testament (1 Cor 15:19, 1 Thess 1:3). True hope is based on obedience, not optimism, His faithfulness and not our feelings, His assurance and not our ability. In the New Testament the noun ¡§hope¡¨ did not make its debut until after the resurrection (Acts 2:26). In the new Testament our hope is is more forward and future looking: hope in the promise (Acts 26:6), hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2), hope of righteousness (Gal 5:5), hope of salvation (1 Thess 5:8), hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2) and hope of resurrection (1 Peter 1:3).
Praise (v 5) is more with the mouth rather than the heart of joy and thanksgiving in verse 4. It is a confession, an acknowledgement before others, a testimony or witness to others. Hope is not lifeless and dead but living and active. The word most associated with hope in the New Testament is rejoicing or joy (Rom 5:2, 12:12, 15:13, 1 Thess 2:19, Heb 3:6).
What is chesed? It appears more in the Bible (247x) than the words righteous (205x) and love (209x). One word does it no justice. It is translated as lovingkindness (PS 26:3, 63:3, 88:11, 89:33, 92:2, 103:4), in KJV, steadfast love in RSV and ESV (Ps 5:7), unfailing love (Exo 15:13, Psa 6:4, 13:5, 18:50, 21:7, 26:3, 31:16, 32:10, 33:22, 36:7, 52:8, 62:12, 77:8, 85:7, 94:18, 107:8, 15, 21, 31, 109:26, 119:41, 138:2, 143:8, 12, 147:11, Pro 20:6), unfailing kindness (2Sa 22:51, Jer 31:3), great love (Psa 5:7, 89:49, 106:45, Lam 3:22) in NIV. True hope is assurance from the Scriptures, accompanied by the Spirit (Gal 5:5) and accomplished in the Savior. It is covenant love, ceaseless love and compounded love. It cannot be covered by one word.
Thirst for an Audience
Take it to the Lord in Prayer Tell it to Jesus
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 42:9-11)
When Pope Francis visited Manila in January 2015 , Glyzelle Palomar, a tearful abandoned girl who was once homeless before being sheltered by a church-run community, wept as she asked the Pope: ¡§Many children get involved in drugs and prostitution. Why does God allow these things to happen to us? The children are not guilty of anything.¡¨
The pontiff could not read from his pre-prepared speech in English anymore and took the 12-year-old in his arms to comfort her as he responded to the child in Spanish, his native language. The Pope said: ¡§She is the only one who has put forward a question for which there is no answer and she was not even able to express it in words but rather in tears. I invite each one of you to ask yourselves, 'Have I learned how to weep, how to cry when I see a hungry child, a child on the street who uses drugs, a homeless child, an abandoned child, an abused child, a child that society uses as a slave'?¡¨
In the Philippines it is thought that 1.2 million children live on the streets and 35.1 per cent of children were living in poverty in 2009, the last year such figures were collated, according to the Child Protection Network Foundation.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/pope-francis-embraces-girl-after-she-asks-why-does-god-allow-children-to-become-prostitutes-9985855.html
Two books ask the most ¡§why¡¨ in the Bible: Psalms (66 times) followed by Job (63 times), and there are more whys in this psalm than any psalm in the Bible (vv 5 twice, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?, 9 twice: Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?, 11 twice: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?). Shockingly, the two earliest and only clause : ¡§I will say to God¡¨ (v 9) are found in Job 10:2 and Psalm 42:9 but not elsewhere in the Bible, which is different from ¡§Will say of the Lord¡¨ (Ps 91:2), also from Psalms.
In the Lord we can reflect, reason, reply Him, anything short of rebuking, refuting and resenting Him. A psalm does not always end with reverence, resolution, remedy, repair and revival. The Psalms is an open-hearted, open-minded and open-ended approach to faith. In the Lord we can debate, differ and discuss, but we cannot defy, distant or despise Him.
The psalmist would not have as any problems if it were not because of the enemies. The phrase ¡§my foes/mine enemies¡¨ (v 10) is unique to Psalms. They are the source of grief (Ps 6:7), rage (Ps 7:6), shame, and my dishonor (Ps 69:19) and most of all reproach (Ps 31:11, 42:10, 69:19). How does the Psalmist express his fears, frustrations and feelings dealing with his enemies? Who (Ps 42:9 my rock, v 11 the health of my countenance, and my God, v 2 the living God, KJV), how (v 9, mourning), when (v 10, daily), where (v 10, in my bones), what (hope) why (v 11, for I will yet praise him). Why can we express out? Because it is rhetorical, reasonable, relational, and a release, not rude, rebellious, rage. The second hope in God (v 11) is confirmation, commitment and confidence in Him. Hope always ends with praise (Ps 42:5, 11, 43:5).
Conclusion: Do you still pant for the living God? Do you pour out your problems and your heart to Him? Do you praise Him through up and down, thick and thin? Do you hope in God and hold to Him? Don¡¦t throw in the towel, take it all in or toss in your bed. Learn to turn over the load, talk it out loud and tell it to Jesus.
