“I shall yet praise Him.”

Psalm 42 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

⁵ Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
⁶ O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
⁸ The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?                                   Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

The psalmist says:  As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  The longing and the desire that the psalmist expresses is the desire and the need that exists inside each one of us. What is important, what is necessary is that we, like the psalmist recognize that only God can quench our thirst and satisfy our desire. Many turn to the things of the world and the desires of the flesh and are never satisfied. Anything but the living God leaves us wanting more. Addictions are born from the attempt to satisfy our need for God through anything other than Him. The psalmist says: My soul thirsts for God. In Psalm 23:1-3, David says:  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.  When we turn to the Lord not only are we not left wanting, not only are we satisfied, but we are actually restored.  In the garden, God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. We were created for that kind of fellowship with God; a daily walking and talking with Him. That’s what our soul thirsts for.

The psalmist says:  Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.  There is help in the presence of God. In Psalm 91:1-10 David says:  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.  You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.  You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.  That’s the help of the Lord’s presence. That the protection and security we have in abiding and dwelling with Him.  Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   Jesus, through the cross, is the one who has restored us to God so that we can abide and dwell in His presence, so that we can obtain mercy and find grace in our time of need.

The psalmist says: I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”  As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”  Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.  The truth is that God does not forget us. He never leaves or strays from us. In Deuteronomy 31:6 He says:  “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”   If God is not with us, then it is because we are the ones who have strayed from Him. We are the ones who have forgotten to walk with Him and talk with Him. We have become distracted by other things; things that neither satisfy or protect us. The psalmist is right when he says “I shall yet praise Him.”  That is the answer to our need. Psalm 22:3 says:  You are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.   Praise of God brings the presence of God. Regardless of the circumstance or situation, if we will praise Him, He will be there. In Matthew 14:29-31 it says:  When Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him.   When we cry out to Him, He responds immediately. Sometimes He will quiet the storm. Sometimes He will hold us through the storm. Sometimes He lifts us up so that we can stand. Other times He carries us.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; You restored my soul through the cross. I long and thirst for Your presence. Thank You that You have chosen to dwell and abide in me so that I may dwell and abide with You. As David says in Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.  Amen.