The Heart's Cry: Psalm 42

Psalm 42

There is a phrase that is twice repeated over the course of this Psalm, the first we have come to that is not attributed to David. This phrase is where I would like to spend our time together today.

Hope in God

Hope is something that can be in short supply in our world today, too often we stay focused on the negative aspects of the world around us and we fail to cling to the hope that we have as followers of Jesus. But it is that hope that we have from Jesus that the world so desperately needs.

for I shall again praise him

What's interesting is that the author seems to be in a place where he is clinging to hope while he is also somehow separated from a place of praise. That's sometimes how we can find ourselves, hoping even when we've been cast off or wandered off. The thing about hope is that it is not reliant upon our current circumstances, it rises above them.

my help

Especially in our western society we have been sold a bill of goods that tells us that we have to accomplish things on our own or we are unworthy of what we have. In contrast the Bible tells us that only those who rely on God will fully find the purpose that we are in search of. There is a very real need for dependence upon God, for God to be our help, for God to be the one who pulls up our bootstraps.

and my God

As we begin with hoping in God, we end with remembering who we are talking about and to in the first place. This is not just a friend, not just a help, not just a savior, but the one true God who is all those things and so much more. God who provides the sacrifice that is required. God who does the work for us to cross the finish line. God who reaches down into our darkness to pull us into God's light.

+ In what ways can you cling to hope in whatever circumstances you are currently facing?

+ Take this moment to remind yourself that your hope is in God and that God is your hope.