Verse: Psalm 42
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. 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. I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
Devotion
There are some aspects of Christmas that leave me feeling like I need to retreat to my Grinch cave with my “reindeer” dog and sulk. The shopping, preparing, baking, wrapping, traveling, and expectations leave me empty and exhausted. This is my 35th Christmas, I should know better right?
David knew that we live in a dry and thirsty land. He says that His soul longs for the living God. The only one who can satisfy. He misses communion with God, meeting with Him in the sanctuary, worshipping Him face to face. Psalm 22:3 says that “God inhabits the praises of His people.” I miss that too.
So, where is our hope when we have the post holiday blues, when the enemy of our soul tries to discourage us and when we are all dried up and thirsty? (Disquieted.) Our hope is in Jesus. David says he looks to His countenance. When was the last time you stared deeply into someone’s eyes? There is something about being in love that causes us to do that. It is so simple yet so intimate. What if we looked into His face like that? Our countenance would change.
David gives us another way to encourage our downcast souls. He remembers all that the Lord has done. All the ways He has been faithful. Count your blessings right? For me it’s watching my children read with their Daddy, the tree lights reflecting in their eyes. The wonder of snow. The beautiful faces and voices singing during a candlelight service. Health and safety.
But, if I were to have absolutely everything stripped away from me, my ultimate and only hope is that my soul is secure through Jesus. In my darkest night His presence was there, singing over me. Jesus knows our pain. He joined us in our suffering, experiencing every aspect of the human condition. We remember His sacrifice, we also remember His resurrection!
The tree will be taken down, presents will be used, broken or forgotten, the lights will be turned off, this entire world will fade, YET His love remains! “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Prayer
Jesus, you are our only hope. You are the light in the darkness. Your love is better than life. Let us experience your love like a waterfall and your peace like waves of the ocean. Amen
Author: Michela Brownell
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