WHERE IS THY GOD?–PSALM 42:1-11
Introduction:
This psalm is “called, Maschil, or an instructive ode; and full as it is of deep experimental expressions, it is eminently calculated to instruct those pilgrims whose road to heaven is of the same trying kind as David’s was.
It is always edifying to listen to the experience of a thoroughly gracious and much afflicted saint.” —C.H. SPURGEON
The psalm is addressed to the sons of Korah, a choice band of singers. “Korah was he who was at the head of a conspiracy against Moses and Aaron, for which sin the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed alive him and his company, and fire devoured two hundred and fifty more; the history of which is recorded in Numbers 16:1-50; yet all his posterity were not cut off, Numbers 26:11, “Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.” —John Gill’s Expositor.
The subject “is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and worship of God, sighing for the long loved house of his God; and at the same time it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions, longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling with doubts and fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God.” C.H. SPURGEON
I. MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR GOD vv. 1-5
A. Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick, vv. 1-2; Psalms 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
1. Fellowship in God’s house was abundantly satisfying, Psalms 36:8, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.”
2. David thirsted after the Lord, John 7:37, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
B. When shall I appear before God? v. 2; 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1. David was a dedicated Believer, Psalms 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”
2. To forsake the house of God was far from David’s mind, Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
3. David loved the house of God, vv. 2-3; Psalms 84:10, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
a. David’s appetite was gone and he was discouraged, Psalms 3:2, “Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.”
b. He wept in his loneliness for the fellowship of God’s house, Psalms 80:5, “Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.”
C. The House of God was the Joy David’s life, vv. 4-5;
1. David was quite overwhelmed with distress and anguish, Job 30:16, “And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.”
2. Wait a minute, why am I cast down? v. 5; Psalms 61:2, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
II. HOPE IN GOD vv. 6-11
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.”
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.”
1. Yet 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 song will be with me, Psalms 32:7, “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”
C. 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 62:6,7; “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.”
D. Hope in God, v. 11;
1. He is the health of my countenance, 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 bring 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.”