When downcast, draw close
Sermon date: 21st June
Reading: Psalm 42

Icebreaker
Can you remember a time when you were so thirsty that all you wanted was a drink to slake your thirst? What emotions did it bring to the forefront of your mind?  What were you willing to do in order to get your drink?

Psalm 42
The Psalms are the songbook of the Jewish nation and as a result many of the Christian Songs we sing are based on the Psalms. There are many songs based on Psalm 42. If your house group likes to sing and you are using Zoom, why not share your screen with a song, carefully muting everybody so that they can sing to their hearts content!

I would suggest using the You Tube recording by Robin Mark of ‘As the deer pants for the water’ to encourage your group into worship and consideration of what this Psalm means.

Please reads Psalm 42 together
Maybe one person could read as reading in unison on Zoom doesn’t work!

Background to the Psalm
The heading of the psalm is: “To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.” The sons of Korah were a group of priests who were charged with the ministry of singing. So the heading implies that this psalm was probably used in public worship and was sung. The second thing to notice in the heading is that the psalm is called a Maskil. It’s not clear what the word means. That’s why most versions don’t translate it. It comes from a Hebrew verb that means to make someone wise, or to instruct. So when applied to psalms, it may mean a song that instructs, or a song that is wisely crafted. So the psalms are instruction, and the psalms are songs. And Jesus taught that they were inspired by God. They are intended to shape what the mind thinks, and they are intended to shape what the heart feels. When we immerse ourselves in them, we are “thinking and feeling with God.”
 
A quick overview of the Psalm:
 
For the Psalmist, externally, his circumstances are oppressing. Verse 3 says that his enemies “say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” And verse 10 says the same thing, only it describes the effect as a deadly wound: “As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” And the taunt “Where is your God?” implies that something else has gone wrong too, or they wouldn’t be saying, “Where is your God?” It looks to them like he has been abandoned.

The internal emotional condition of the psalmist is depressed and full of turmoil. In verses 5 and 11, he describes himself as “cast down” and “in turmoil.” In verse 3 he says, “My tears have been my food day and night.” So he is discouraged to the point of crying day and night. In verse 7 he says that it feels like drowning: “All your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” In all of this, he is fighting for hope. Verse 5: “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.” Verse 11: “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.” He is not surrendering to the emotions of discouragement. He is fighting back.

His external circumstances are oppressing. His internal emotional condition is depressed and full of turmoil. But he is fighting for hope. And the really remarkable thing is that at the end of the psalm, he is still fighting but not yet where he wants to be. The last words of the psalm — and the last words of the next psalm — are “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.” He leaves us still fighting for the joyful experience of hope and freedom from turmoil. He is not yet praising the way he wants to.

Some Questions to think about:
The Psalmist is obviously depressed with his situation.  For many of us that might be the case as we see no end to Covid-19. 

The questions in bold are ‘quick’ questions – answers easily found in the text – I have put suggested answers.  The discussion may be a direction in which the group wants to go or not, no answers, but an opportunity to build each other up.

Q.1 how does the Psalmist deal with his situation? Look at verse 9.
Answer: he asks God why he has forgotten him.
Discussion: In what ways have you experienced God forgetting you? How did you feel? How did you respond? Is it ok to ask God why?
 
Q.2 what does the Psalmist say about God in v.8?
Answer: that he knows with his mind that God loves Him and is always with him.
Discussion: Is it easy to hold these truths about God in your mind when all your feelings go the other way?
 
Q.3 so how does the Psalmist reconcile feelings and what he believes? See v. 5-6
Answer: He almost preaches to himself, reminding himself of the good things of God.
Discussion: How do we deal with depressive feelings when they begin to overwhelm us?
 
Q.4 what, though, is the Psalmist really longing for in this Psalm? v.1-2
Answer: He is longing after God. In v.4 he remembers going up to the house of God, which we assume he can no longer do – but he longs for God.
Discussion: Has this time of Covid-19 given you a greater longing for God – to be near him, to know him better?
 
Q.5 is the Psalmist’s situation solved in the last verse v.11?
Answer: No! but he balances his feelings with hope in and praise to God
Discussion: If we are finding it impossible to be upbeat in our current situation how do we maintain some sort of equilibrium?

Following the study you may want to pray together or you may want to play the song again. Most of all you may want to encourage each other to come closer to God.