Living toward the End: Psalms 42, 43 (3)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 42.6-8
O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.

Sing Psalm 42.6-8
(Nettleton: Come Thou Fount)
Oh my God, my soul is weary, therefore I remember You.
Let Your grace and goodness near be, and Your promise, firm and true.
Lord, when trials and fears surround me, Your commands will be my song;
When distresses sore confound me, Your great love will keep me strong.

Read Psalm 42.6-8; 43.3-5

Preparation
1. What were the psalmists feeling about their relationship with God?

2. How did they resolve to overcome that sense of separation?

Meditation
Throughout the course of Christian history, great leaders have written or spoken about times in their lives when they were uncertain concerning their relationship with God. They felt separated from Him and adrift in the darkness of their own soul. These “dark nights of the soul” are not uncommon. At such times we feel “cast down” or “disquieted” in our soul. We feel alone, forsaken by God, uncertain as to where to turn, and desperate – like a thirsty deer panting after the water of a brook – to reconnect with and be refreshed in the Lord. Our disquieted souls murmur, growl, and are filled with unrest (Hebrew: הָמָה‎. hamah).

The sons of Korah were experiencing such a situation when they penned these two psalms. They described their souls as “cast down” (Ps. 42.5, 6, 11; 43.5). They felt as if God had cast them off (43.2) and forgotten them (42.9). It was as if they were being swept along in a tsunami of judgment, like Jonah, sinking into the deep (42.7; cf. Jon. 2.3). All they could do was mourn (42.9; 43.2) for their condition, weeping and sorrowing in their souls because of the pervasive disquietude that overwhelmed them (43.5).

Jesus experienced this as well. We will see this in another of the psalms of the sons of Korah (88), and we know it from His crying out in isolation from the cross. So what can we say about such times of soul darkness? Two things.

First, they are not sin. It’s not sin to feel separated from God. It would be sin to settle for such a condition, but experiencing it is not sin.

And, as we shall see, such a downcast and disquieting condition need not be permanent. At such times, we have a choice. We can fall through our disquietude into self-pity, pouting, resentment, anger, and other sins; or we can choose to grow through such times by eagerly seeking the light of God and His Presence.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Being cast down and disquieted is a place of familiarity. For a multitude of reasons, I go there. I have filled all the margins next to and above the words dark and darkness in my concordance with extra verses pertaining to the same. Is it just my nature? Is it because of pain and sadness? Real or imagined? That information admitted, I identify with the sons of Korah.

God is not afraid of the darkness, in fact, He seems to go there too. He said to Moses, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me…” “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire” (Deut. 4.10-12).

“Then Solomon spoke: ‘The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud’” (1 Kings 8.12; 2 Chron. 6.1).

“He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies” (Ps. 18.11).

God shows His power in the darkness; but He is also full of great and abundant light. There is also a difference between the darkness of power and glory and the darkness of doubt and depression.

“Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons…” were encouraged to “give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two” (Ps. 107.10, 15). “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined” (Is. 9.2).

When we are downcast, disquieted, and in the darkness, we are not alone, “…even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” “…the darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Ps. 139.10, 12).

When we find ourselves dwelling in the wrong darkness, we, like the sons of Korah, have hope, for we have been called “out of darkness into His marvelous light…and have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2.9, 10) and have found grace “to help in time of need” (Heb. 4.16).

Reflection
1. What kinds of things can cause you to be cast down in your soul?

2. Why is being cast down or disquieted in your soul not a sin? What choice do we face at such times?

3. Why can we look with confidence and hope toward Jesus at such times?

If we cannot comfort ourselves in God, we may stay ourselves upon him, and may have spiritual supports, when we want spiritual delights. He never cast off any that trusted in him, whatever fears they may have had of their own state. We need desire no more to make us happy, than the good that flows from God’s favor, and is included in his promise. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 43

Closing Prayer: Psalm 43.3-5
Seek the light of God’s Word for the day ahead. Call on Him to keep you close, to praise Him and call on His mercy throughout the day, that His Presence and power may continue with you.

Sing Psalm 43.3-5
(Hyfrydol: Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners!)
Let Your light and truth precede me, bring me to Your holy hill.
To Your holy altar lead me, let me dwell within Your will.
Lord, my joy and consolation, You, Who grace to me impart,
hear my joyful adoration; I will praise You from the heart.

When my weary soul is troubled, when despair upon me falls,
let my hope in You be doubled, let me on Your mercy call.
God, my help, my great salvation, I will praise You to Your face;
In Your care my soul I station; let me know Your glorious grace!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.