My Soul Thirsts For God
As the deer pants for streams of
water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for
God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My
tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where
is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how
I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with
shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why
so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my
Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the
heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the
roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By
day the Lord directs his love, at
night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock, “Why have you
forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My
bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where
is your God?”
Why, my
soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I
will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm
42:1-11
We may face serious illness and be tormented by the pain
of deep depression. We long to feel less alone. Many times
we find comfort in the words of Psalm 42. The psalmist knew a sadness that felt
like it never went away, leaving times of pure joy merely a distant memory. As
consuming waves of chaos and pain swept over the psalmist, he felt abandoned by God and
asked, “Why?”
And as the words of the psalms wash over us, assuring us
that we are not alone, we feel the beginnings of a quiet peace enter in alongside our pain. We
hear a tender voice surrounding us, a voice assuring us that even though we
have no answers, even though the waves still crash over us, we still know we are
loved.
And sometimes hearing that quiet song of love in the
night is enough. Enough for us to quietly cling to glimmers of hope, love, and
joy. And enough for us to wait patiently for the day when all our longings will
finally be satisfied.
While
we wait for the morning, we can rest in God’s song of love in the night.
Our
Daily Bread – January 15, 2019