notes

Main point summary

In my desperation, I cry out to God for deliverance with confident hope.

Arc

OT

Psalms 42:1-43:5

esv

t As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

comparison

u My soul thirsts for God, for v the living God.

series

When shall I come and w appear before God? 1

x My tears have been my food day and night,

y while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

temporal

These things I remember,

as I z pour out my soul:

a how I would go b with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

actionmanner

c a multitude keeping festival.

ideaexplanation

d Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you e in turmoil within me?

f Hope in God;

for I shall again praise him, my salvation 1 and my God.

ground

questionanswer

bothand

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I g remember you h from the land of Jordan and of i Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

inference

Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;

j all your breakers and your k waves have gone over me.

By day the Lord l commands his steadfast love,

and at m night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

progression

I say to God, n my rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

o Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

p while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

q Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God;

for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

r Vindicate me, O God,

and s defend my cause against an ungodly people,

from t the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!

For you are u the God in whom I take refuge;

why have you v rejected me?

concessive

Why do I w go about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

x Send out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your y holy hill and to your z dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

actionpurpose

a Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

b Hope in God;

for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

My soul is desperate for God.

When will God help me?

I remember the joyful days of worship in the past.

Because my soul is depressed, I remember and cry out to God, the one who is faithful.

I am desperate for God, but I'm also confident that he will deliver me.

I remember and cry out to God; therefore, he will surely deliver me.

I cry out to God to vindicate me and guide me into praise, because my confident hope is in him.

"Vindicate me and lead me to your presence, so I can praise you."

discourse

Notes

"In my desperation, I cry out to God for deliverance with confident hope." COMBINATION I combined the two psalms into one arc because I saw that there is a threefold refrain in 42:5-6a, 42:11, and 43:5. Here is more support for combining the two psalms into one: " Not only does one title serve for the two psalms, but the soliloquy ‘Why go I mourning …’ is heard in both ( 42:9 ; 43:2 )... " (Kidner, 182, emphasis mine). " There is extensive agreement among the majority of interpreters that Pss 42 and 43 should be interpreted as a single psalm, for the following reasons: (a) many Heb. mss present the psalms as a single unit; (b) Ps 43 has no title, which is surprising in Book II of the Psalter; and (c) they are joined by a common refrain (42:6, 12; 43:5)" (Craigie and Tate, 325, emphasis mine). Boice asserts that "[t]he chief reason for taking the psalms together... is that both deal with spiritual depression" (Boice, 367). INTERPRETATION In the first two sections, the refrain follows the psalmist's talking to himself (even in verse 9 ). In the third section, the refrain follows the psalmist's talking to God . APPLICATION The threefold refrain teaches us how to respond to situations when we feel distant from God, longing to know him and enjoy his presence (v. 1-6a). It teaches us how to respond to feeling overwhelmed and depressed by our suffering (6b-11). It teaches us how to respond to injustice and oppression against us (1-5). In each case, our response should be the same: to talk to ourselves, reminding ourselves to hope in God, to remember our certain future of praise and joy because of the reality of God being our Savior.