HOPE IN GOD
PSALM 42:6-11
Introduction:
In the first part of this psalm David expresses his thirst of the House of God. He had been prevented from fellowship in the House of God because of Saul’s attempts to kill him. David was discouraged and felt forgotten by the Lord.
However, in the last half of the psalm David not only remembers his persecution, but also how God had saved him from other situations in the past and encourages himself in the Lord.
I. DAVID REMEMBERS HIS DIFFICULTIES
A. David remembers when he had to flee earlier and God had met with him in the wilderness, v. 6; Psalms 77:7-8, 10-11, “Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8- Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 10- And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 11- I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”
1. It is easy to think that His mercy is gone, Psalms 85:5, “Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?”
2. We need to remember God’s rescues, Deuteronomy 15:15, “And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.”
a. I remember thee from the hill Mizar where he had escaped from Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:14, “And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.”
b. The valley of Trouble, Achor, where Achan cause trouble for Israel, Joshua 7:24, 26, “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 26- And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.”
c. This valley because a “door of hope” for Israel later, Hosea 2:15, “And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.”
B. David’s soul was OVERWHELMED by the flood of difficulties, vv. 7-8; Psalms 69:2, “I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.”
II. DAVID FELT AS IF GOD HAD FORGOTTEN HIM
A. I will say unto my ROCK, Why hast thou forgotten me? vv. 9-11; Psalms 18:2, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”
1. Why am I MOURNING? v. 9; Psalms 62:6, “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7- In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
2. Apparently his ATTITUDE had caused others to REPROACH HIM, Proverbs 12:18, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.”
III. DAVID PUTS HIS HOPE IN GOD
A. WHY am I cast down? Psalms 43:5, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
1. ENCOURAGEMENT comes, v. 8; Psalms 133:3, “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
2. In the night His SONGS will be with us, Psalms 32:7, “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”
a. He is our “HIDING PLACE,” Psalms 119:114, “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”
b. He TURNS US about by His MERCY, Psalms 32:10, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.”
B. Our HOPE is NOT IN our FLESH, Psalms 78:7, “That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:”
1. Our HOPE IS in NOT FORGETTING the WORKS of God, Psalms 77:11-12, “I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 12- I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”
2. Our hope IS in NOT FORGETTING His WORD, Deuteronomy 5:29, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!”
C. Our HOPE is in GOD,
1. He is the HEALTH of my BEING, Jeremiah 30:17, “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.”
2. The Lord’s CURE BRINGS an abundance of PEACE and truth, Jeremiah 33:6, “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.”
CONCLUSION
Discouragement is bound to come, but the Lord is the Great Physician who can heal our every woe, Mark 2:17, “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”