As a deer pants for flowing streams, 7 Deep calls to deep

so pants my soul for you, O God. at the roar of your waterfalls; 2 My soul thirsts for God, all your breakers and your waves for the living God. have gone over me. When shall I come and appear before God? 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, 3 My tears have been my food and at night his song is with me, day and night, a prayer to the God of my life. while they say to me all the day long, 9 I say to God, my rock: “Where is your God?” “Why have you forgotten me? 4 These things I remember, Why do I go mourning as I pour out my soul: because of the oppression of the enemy?” how I would go with the throng 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, and lead them in procession to the house of my adversaries taunt me, God with glad shouts and songs of praise, while they say to me all the day long, a multitude keeping festival. “Where is your God?” 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God. my salvation 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.

It’s an honest, human experience to assess your life, consider the world around you, and especially when things are difficult, ask why? Why am I experiencing this hurt? Why does God seem unconcerned? Why can’t I shake this sense of loneliness? Why do I feel unfulfilled? Why, if I’m doing the things I’m supposed to be doing, does God still feel distant? The author of Psalm 42 knows that query. The unfettered emotions present in this psalm invite us into an experience of theology with hands and feet. This psalm reflects the process of speaking truth to your heart even as you are enticed by the lies of despair. It demonstrates the flow of the joys of experiencing a confident trust in the Lord one day, or one moment, only to feel the ebb, with joy sliding away, as you receive another bit of bad news or some previously unconsidered challenge makes its way to the forefront of your mind. But this is the dance of discipleship as we, partnered with the Spirit, learn the steps of the Christ-life and live them out in our own day-to-day lives. As you engage Psalm 42, then, consider the invitation of the Lord to bring your doubts, your hopes, and your disappointments to him, and allow the words of this Psalm to give voice to the cries of your heart. And then learn from him, through these words, what it means to practice the application of truth as you trust the Lord each moment of each day. Questions for Reflection

1) How am I actively pursuing biblical community? In what ways might I need to grow in that pursuit? 2) In what ways might you be spiritually dehydrating yourself? What you are looking to for hope that cannot provide spiritual refreshment? 3) How are you actively preaching the hope of the gospel to your own soul? Are you speaking truth over your heart and mind more than you are listening to your emotions, fears, and the lies you might be tempted to believe? 4) What is one concise truth from Psalm 42 (either a verse, verses, or a paraphrase) that you can commit to memory so that you might be armed with truth to combat lies or spiritual dryness in your life?

Monday, May 4 | 42-43 Many scholars posit that these two psalms were originally written as one. You can see this in the repetition of the refrain in 42:5; 11; 43:5 (“Why are you cast down…”), as well as the broader thematic links and the fact that is the only psalm in this section without a unique title. Psalm 43, read in conjunction with 42, helps provide an even broader understanding of this practice of speaking truth to a wayward or worried heart. Whereas Psalm 42 offers a dialogue about the psalmist’s wrestles, the language shifts in Psalm 43 to a direct address of the Lord in prayer. This serves as a reminder that we aren’t intended to simply speak truth to ourselves in a vacuum, fighting alone to cling to the raft of hope amidst an expansive sea of doubt or uncertainty. We do so in relationship with the Lord who loves us, delights in us, who is our hope and joy, who promises to provide peace in Christ, and who calls us sons and daughters.

Tuesday, May 5 | Deuteronomy 16 Deuteronomy serves as the final words of Moses to the Israelites before they are set to enter into the promised land. In these chapters that close the Pentateuch, Moses interacts with the Law and encourages the people to remain faithful to the covenant promises that they had made to the Lord. As we approach Deuteronomy 16, Moses’ exposition of the Law engages the specific pilgrimage festivals that require Israelites to journey to Jerusalem for their observance. It is these festivals, Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths, which “commemorate God’s historical salvation of his people, so attendance helps form national identity. This trio of festivals began the new year on a note of salvation, and the year was to be continued on the notes of harvest and joy.” As our psalmist recounts the faithful goodness of God, as he longingly recalls an intimate nearness with the Lord, these festivals serve as the backdrop for that reminiscence. These are not merely memories of parties with friends, rather they are reminders of the Lord’s covenant love for Israel, even in the dark and difficult seasons.

Wednesday, May 6 | Psalm 46 Psalm 46 exists in the same section as the previously considered Psalms this week, and in many ways serves as a response to their expressed lament. Martin Luther, the great reformer, penned the hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God in response to the words of Psalm 46. Consider these verses from that well-loved hymn:

That word above all earthly powers— No thanks to them—abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours Through him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also: The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is for ever.

We have, this week, entered into the back and forth of hope and despair evident in Psalm 42. Now consider the exhortation found here in Psalm 46. God’s powerful presence in our lives should lead us to a place of rest. As we see in verse 10, while we may not always receive the answers to our questions, God invites us to be still, and know that I am God.

Thursday, May 7 | Romans 5 Perhaps you found that the call to be still in light of our knowledge of and confidence in the Lord from Psalm 46 was especially daunting because this season of distance and isolation has revealed some things about yourself. Maybe there are sin patterns that you had ignored or failed to address, despite knowing full well the Lord’s call to action. Maybe there are specific areas of your life in which you know you’re refusing to submit to the Lord’s call to obedience. Maybe you are struggling to believe that this God who we’ve read about this week, this God who is praise-worthy, actually loves you. Would you take some time to meditate on Romans 5 today? These words from the Apostle Paul are a stark and sweet reminder that we are not beloved by God because of any good that we might bring to the table or because we were finally able to get ourselves cleaned up to the point of being acceptable and put together. No. It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. And just as the psalmist yearns for a renewed communion with the Lord, would these gospel truths serve as a balm of peace and rest for your hearts and minds in Christ.

Friday, May 8 | Romans 8 One of the simplest principles when constructing anything is to insure that you have a stable foundation to provide the necessary bedrock of support for the rest of the structure. And if we think of hope, as the psalmist speaks of it, as a structure, then we must ask the question — what is the foundation of our hope? The answer for the psalmist is simple: my hope is founded on the Lord. And if we might continue that notion further on in Paul’s letter to the Romans we see, in chapter 8, a beautiful picture of all that it means to be adopted into the family of God. May we celebrate our hope in Christ today. May we rejoice in the confidence that this foundation is ever and always secure. May the words at the end of this powerful chapter shine light into the dark corners of our lives: “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ our Lord.”

Saturday, May 9 | Revelation 21-22 When babies are handed gifts, often they are far more enamored with the wrapping paper or tissue paper than the actual gift presented inside. And while we smile and laugh and make jokes about the unnecessary nature of the things that we buy our children because they are content with things other than the gift itself, that same is all too often true of our pursuit of hope. We look for hope in the fleeting, temporal promises of happiness in this life. Though many of these things — sports and children and coffee and friends and a great many other things — are not evil at all, our hope must not terminate on these things alone. They are invitations to look beyond, to see in them the goodness of God that points us toward the promised, final hope that is to come when Jesus returns and finally marries his Bride. Read these words from Revelation, confident that these are intended to be joy and hope-inducing promises that remind us that this off-kilter and broken world will not always be so. Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Ideas for Children and Families • As we consider engaging the topic of being good stewards of all of life, consider exercising together as a family (going for a walk, a bike ride, etc) and utilizing that time (assuming you can talk) to collectively reflect on God’s faithfulness. • What is the one verse/idea from Psalm 42 that you are committing to memory (see above)? Consider making that something that you can do together as a family and creatively weave that phrase/verse into your week. For example, from Psalm 42: Even in hard times, God is my hope. • Ask your children how they are doing with the felt absence of community. Be creative in providing opportunities to continue to connect with others from their church family on FaceTime/Zoom so that they might also feel connected to this community.

Songs to Consider • “Satisfied in You (Psalm 42)” by The Sing Team • “Psalm 42” by Tori Kelly • “My Help, My God” by Sandra McCracken • “Living Waters (As the Deer)” by Shane and Shane • “Psalm 42” by The Corner Room • “A Mighty Fortress” by Heartsong