\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Have you ever had one of those days when you are just not sure how you are going to make it?\u00a0 You know what I am talking about, right?\u00a0 School (or work) is just extra difficult.\u00a0 Every social interaction just seems to go opposite of how you want it to go.\u00a0 Your family seems to be pushing you to your limits.\u00a0 And to top it all off, you are extra clumsy and keep making stupid decisions.<\/p>\n
Or maybe it happens at the end of an incredibly long winter when all you want to do is where shorts and flip flops, but then that pesky weather guy informs you that you are going to need your snow boots and long johns.<\/p>\n
Where does your mind go when you are in the middle of these days?\u00a0 Do you start dreaming about what it will be like when you get home and kick back in your favorite chair and watch your favorite television show? Do you get lost in the thoughts of your favorite novel?\u00a0 Do you dream about that perfect spot in a hammock under two palm trees overlooking the beautiful ocean?<\/p>\n
The real question I am trying to ask is: where do you turn to find the refreshment for your soul when you are hurting?<\/p>\n
I recently was reading in the Psalms and came across one of the passages that has inspired one of my favorite reflective songs.\u00a0 As I read through Psalm 42, I began to notice a pattern that is established.\u00a0 The psalmist is saying: here are the reasons why I am so beaten down, but immediately he counters it with the hope that only comes from God.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just look at a quick breakdown of this chapter.<\/p>\n
I Need to be Refreshed<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalm 42:1\u20135 (NASB95)<\/p>\n
1\u00a0 As the deer pants for the water brooks,\u00a0So my soul pants for You, O God.<\/em><\/p>\n 2\u00a0 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;\u00a0When shall I come and appear before God?<\/em><\/p>\n 3\u00a0 My tears have been my food day and night,\u00a0While they say to me all day long, \u201cWhere is your God?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 4\u00a0 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,\u00a0With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.<\/em><\/p>\n 5\u00a0 Why are you in despair, O my soul?\u00a0And why have you become disturbed within me?<\/em><\/p>\n In verses 1-5a, we see the psalmist pouring out his need to be refreshed.\u00a0 He starts with the beautiful imagery of a deer that is driven by his need for water (1).\u00a0 He just needs to have some time before God (2).\u00a0 He is so weary of trying to satisfy his own longings through his tears.\u00a0 He begins to realize that every time he sends up the hopeless cries, he is really challenging his faith in God (3).\u00a0 He misses the days of joy in the presence of God (4).\u00a0 He begins to recognize that he is lost in this despair where he has lost sight of his hope (5).<\/p>\n Have you ever been there?\u00a0 Do you longingly remember and wish that you could just go back to that time when you had so much joy in the things of the Lord?\u00a0 Do you wish that you could stop crying out in need and instead see your Savior face to face?<\/p>\n The end of verse 5-6 offers the first piece of hope to help us through these tough times.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The hope comes from remembering the faithfulness of God.\u00a0 God has a track record of taking care of us even in our hardest times.\u00a0 God is faithful, and when we focus on the faithfulness of God, we are able to see our struggles from a different perspective.<\/p>\n I Need Sustaining<\/b><\/p>\n Psalm 42:7 (NASB95)<\/p>\n 7\u00a0 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;\u00a0All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.<\/em><\/p>\n In verse 7, the image of water is used again to describe the way that the psalmist is overwhelmed.\u00a0 The imagery is of the never-ending pounding that life seems to be piling on top of him.\u00a0 He feels like the swimmer in the ocean who is trying to reach shore, but is constantly being driven down by the waves that never end.\u00a0 He is going down quickly.<\/p>\n Psalm 42:8 (NASB95)<\/p>\n 8\u00a0 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;\u00a0<\/em>And His song will be with me in the night,\u00a0<\/em>A prayer to the God of my life.<\/em><\/p>\n All of sudden, in the middle of his despair, the psalmist remembers the love and kindness of the Lord.\u00a0 There is peace that comes from reflection on the way that God lovingly leads us.\u00a0 Suddenly, when we focus on the goodness of God, we are filled with the joy of singing to Him.\u00a0 Soon we are laying our struggles before Him in prayer.<\/p>\n I Need God<\/b><\/p>\n Psalm 42:9\u201310 (NASB95)<\/p>\n 9\u00a0 I will say to God my rock, \u201cWhy have You forgotten me?\u00a0<\/em>Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 10\u00a0 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,\u00a0<\/em>While they say to me all day long, \u201cWhere is your God?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The psalmist is now crying out to God asking Him, \u201cWhere are you in the midst of my struggle?\u201d\u00a0 Although life is difficult and it seems that God is nowhere to be found, the psalmist finds the strength to ask God where He is.<\/p>\n Have you been there before?\u00a0 Often in life, it seems as though life is just piling up and you are struggling to find God in the midst of it all.\u00a0 It is an incredibly lonely place, but the biggest need in the midst of this is to seek where God is in all of this.\u00a0 How can God be working even in the midst of this?<\/p>\n Psalm 42:11 (NASB95)<\/p>\n 11\u00a0 Why are you in despair, O my soul?\u00a0<\/em>And why have you become disturbed within me?<\/em><\/p>\n