Psalm 42: Deep calls to Deep

​As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul 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 the day long,   “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember,  as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise,  a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and 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 do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Meditation
God’s covenant faithfulness cultivates worship when God’s providence sends us into deep, wavey, waters. When Jonah was tossed into deep waters during a storm (Jonah 1), today’s Psalm described his desperation before he rediscovered the depth of God’s steadfast love (compare 42:7 with Jonah 2:3). In God’s covenant care, His people are secures to sing in stormy seas.

“Deep calls to deep” is language describing the difficulties of our days (7). The waves of God’s providence pass overhead (7) drawing out desires of our soul for security and strength. 

The soul of the Psalmist longs for God (1), thirsts for the living God (2), is poured out (4), and cast down within him (5, 6). The external waves of God’s providence lead to internal interrogation- Why are you downcast, oh my soul? (11)

When waves toss us in life, God’s people preach the gospel to ourselves- Hope in God (11)! God is our Rock and He has not forgotten us (9). The steadfast love of God still controls the days and nights (8) and His song is within us (8). We must remind ourselves to hope in our God, to praise Him and trust Him for rescue (5). When tears are our food (3) we must intentionally turn our hearts to feast on the Lord’s covenant faithfulness.
 
Jesus is the greater Jonah (Matthew 12:41) who was taken to the depths of death, resurrecting to life so those of us who are drowning in difficulties of God’s providence can have concrete confidence in God’s covenant care, secure enough in His steadfast love to preach to our souls until we can worship in the waves.

Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially in regards to the depth of desperation and the psalmist’s priority to preach to his soul?

-How do the waves of God’s providence reveal the longings of your soul? Are you taking your soul to your Savior?

-Preach the gospel to yourself, reminding your soul of the steadfast care of our Savior. Feed on hope in the Lord, the Rock. He will not forget you. Christ was forsaken so that you can have security- that you NEVER will be abandon when you trust in Him. Where do you need to turn your waves into worship by trusting God’s covenant care? Be specific.

Key Verse
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.