Thoughts for the Day

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
when people say to me continually,
'Where is your God?'....

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

My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I will remember you.

(Church in Wales, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

At some stage the Psalms were organised into five books, and Psalm 42 is the beginning of the second book, which has a different feel to the first section. It has less attributes to King David, and other author's names appear, for example Solomon, and Asaph. This Psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah, who seemed to have been Levites and musical leaders in the Temple.

Psalm 42 speaks of someone aching to find God, as a deer is totally desperate to find water to quench their thirst. We might wonder what would cause this separation from God. A number of things comes to mind - possibly a serious illness, or sorrow for a death of a loved one, or even sin. All of these can make us feel depressed and separated from God.

But verse 5, reminds us that we don't have to give in to this, we still have hope. If we desire to have fellowship with God, we can hope, because we remember how things were in the past.

Lord God,
when we are depressed,
or feel separated from You;
when we long for Your
presence but feel far away;
help us to remember
that You are always close,
and give us hope for the future.
Amen.