Good morning. We are going to the rest of the summer in the psalms. The psalms are a collection of songs or poems. I think that is fascinating. The largest book in the bible is a song book. I think that speaks volumes about what God thinks of music and singing. And there is a range of types of psalms. John Calvin said that the psalms are “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul”. The psalms are written to help awaken and shape and express the inner life of God’s people. And we certainly see that in the variety of psalms.  

There are some psalms that are joyous praise. Psalm 100 - “shout for joy to the Lord all the earth!” There are psalms of confident trust. Psalm 18 - “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, my rock in Whom I take refuge.” 

There are battle psalms, militaristic. Psalm 144 - “Blessed be the LORD my rock who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.” There are psalms that are called imprecatory psalms that actually call for God’s judgment on the wicked… on God’s enemies (Psalm 3). We struggle with these psalms… we aren’t sure what to do with them. But we have to affirm that they were good and in a world of massive injustice, we should long for the God who is just and righteous to bring down the unjust and exalt righteousness. There are psalms of lament… complain… weeping. There are clear messianic psalms - songs that point to the coming Messiah (Psalm 2). And then a lot of the psalms are a combination of these, like Psalm 42.

God’s people have been singing these divinely inspired songs for over 3000 years. The Israelites certainly did in the period of the kings, the ups and downs of those years, the years of exile - these were their songs. The psalms were sung, no doubt, by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And he probably sang them with his disciples. And throughout the church age, the psalms have been the songbook for the people of God. Today and next time I teach (two weeks), we are going to look at Psalm 42 and 43. In our English bibles, they are split into two psalms, but originally they were just one. And it’s not hard to see. The same refrain is seen in Psalm 42:5, 11 and Psalm 43:5. So let’s jump into Psalm 42. 

We see in the introduction that this psalm was written by the sons of Korah. The sons of Korah were priests, tasked with the ministry of singing in the public worship. These men would have been like the worship leaders, leading the congregation in singing. You also see in the introduction that this psalm is called “a maskil”, which is a liturgical term that means instruction or a song to make someone wise. This psalm is meant to not only give expression to our souls, but also to instruct our souls. Which is good because the instruction gained from this psalm is life changing. BIG IDEA: How to deal with discouragement. How a discouraged Christian can moved toward a renewed encouragement, hope, and confidence in the Lord. 

Do you ever struggle with discouragement or depression or despair? If so, this is for you. Whether your discouragement stems from the grief of loss, bad news received, abandonment, or even your own sin, this psalm is for you. It shows us how to deal with it. It is a lament that ends with confident trust, and I have come back to the truths of this psalm again and again over the years. 

That the psalmist is discouraged is not hard to see. (step through the psalm and draw out discouragement, absent from Jerusalem, God’s love, sovereignty, oppression of the enemy, sin)

It begins in verse 1 where the psalmist compares his soul to that of a deer who is desperately panting for water to drink. I have heard Psalm 42:1 used to describe deep and intense love for God. But that is not the point here. The psalmist is desperate for God, just like a deer would be desperate for water after running from a predator for miles. The deer needs something to drink… it desperately needs something to drink. In the same way, the psalmist thirsts for God. And it is because God seems distant (v. 2). 

In verse 3, he describes his steady diet both day and night have been tears. Rivers of tears have been shed. The kind of discouragement that cannot be shaken. No amount of “cheer up” helps. And right here… it is important to understand that this can be the experience of a Christian. It can be. It shouldn’t be the entire life of a Christian. But it is our experience at times. I remember reading about Spurgeon who had deep bouts with severe depression throughout his adult life. And once he was sitting in his study weeping, and his wife came in and asked him, “What’s wrong?” His answer was “I don’t even know.” 

So there are the tears and then there is the taunt of scoffers who say “Where is your God?” If your God is truly a good and gracious Father, where is he in this mess?” Verse 10 repeats this phrase “Where is your God?” and connects with the taunt of enemies. The psalmist uses helpful language when he describes the taunt “where is your God” as “a deadly wound in my bones”. 

But even as he pours out his soul to God, the psalmist remembers the good old days. In verse 4, he remembers a time when he was not just a part of the joyful worship God, but was leading the procession to the house of God with gladness and joy. Now God seems distant and life is dark, but he reminds himself of former days… and we will see how this is important later. 

It’s fascinating. In verse 7-8, the psalmist affirms that even in the present day of darkness and discouragement, God is still sovereign. Verse 7 says, “At the roar of your waterfalls, all your breakers have gone over me.” The discouraging circumstances that are crashing over him like massive tidal waves of trouble are God’s waves crashing over him. God is sovereign in the midst, even of deep discouragement. I get it! This is a mystery. We do not and cannot possibly completely understand how this all works, but the bible affirms it over and over again and so we must as well. Brothers and sisters, this is ballast in our boats in the stormy sea of life. God is sovereign. I find no encouragement at all in a God who does not rule the wind and waves. He does the wind and waves. He is sovereign.

But the psalmist also affirms the faithful, covenant love of God. Verse 8 says, 

By day, the LORD commands His steadfast love…

And of course, this goes together with the fact that God is sovereign. Even when his diet is tears, day and night, there is a flicker of trust that the LORD commands his love by day. The God who is sovereign, Whose waves are crashing over me… he still commands his steadfast love through them. He is faithful in love toward his people in and through the crashing waves of adversity and loss and trouble. 

And then see this refrain in verse 11 (repeated from verse 5). I think this is the key for us… to not just sit back and let our discouragement rule our lives… not just let depression steamroll us… but to fight for hope and encouragement and renewal. Let me read it and then tell you how this is the key to fight discouragement:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise, my salvation and my God. (v. 5,11)

This is the key for fighting discouragement. Notice just two things:

1. He speaks to himself
2. He anticipates the breakthrough (this is faith!)

He speaks to himself 

Look at what he does. The psalmist begins speaking to himself. We actually see this in the psalms often. “Bless the LORD, O my soul” (Psalm 103:1). Listen… twice in this psalm, he stops listening to himself and begins speaking to himself. Now, I was helped quite a lot several years ago with this idea of listening versus speaking to yourself. Martyn Lloyd Jones in a series of sermons (turned into a book Spiritual Depression) develops this idea. He said the following:

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.” (Spiritual Depression)

We need to do this. Maybe on a daily basis. I don’t know about you, but what he said about waking thoughts, I get that. That is a battle for me. Notice the first thing he does. He interrogates himself. He acts like a prosecuting attorney with his own soul and says, “soul, why are you discouraged? With all you know about your God and his grace and love toward you, why are you downcast? Why are you anxious?” He questions the legitimacy of his depression.

Do you ever do this? Do you know what confirmation bias is? It’s when you look for information or input that confirms what you already believe or think. How does this work with discouragement and depression? You only look for input from those who will confirm how bad things are, how dark life is, how depressing the news you received is. And when that person who confirms all of this is your self thoughts speaking to you, you need to take your soul by the scruff of the neck and say, “Wait a second… soul, why are you cast down?” What does that do? It breaks the cycle confirmation bias. 

But then the psalmist does something amazing. He preaches the gospel to himself. What does he say, “Why are you cast down…”

Hope in God!

He turns the eyes of his soul away from himself to God. Some here are so tied up in knots… you think things will never get better. Listen, I have a wonderful life, but I’ve been there before. Where you cannot see beyond this wall of discouragement. We need to learn to preach the gospel. We really do. This is the KEY to battling against discouragement and battling for renewal in our hearts! And I think it is not only a battle we fight in the privacy of our own hearts, but is also a community project. 

** So what do I mean by preaching the gospel to ourselves?

This is not just flattery self-affirming nonsense. I am not talking about the Stuart Smalley thing, which might help for about 30 seconds. Rock-ribbed, solid truth. 

Make sure it is God’s truth and not just your idea of what you think God may say to you in a given situation.

Be specific - I find it much more helpful to be specific. Let me give you a couple of examples. Instead of saying, “Soul, don’t be discouraged, God is on your side” say,

Soul, if God is for you, who can be against you? If God did not spare his own Son, but freely gave him up for you. How will he not also with him freely give you all things. 

Or instead of saying, “Josh, the God of the universe loves you”, I want to say, 

Josh, who shall separate you from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword or cancer or loss the estrangement of a loved one or financial hardship or disappointment? No, in all these things you are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you!

That’s how we do it. Be specific. Preaching vague spiritual platitudes may help in a vague way. Preaching specific, God-inspired and God-appointed words to our souls in season hit the bullseye and give the deep help we need. 

This, of course, supplies a good reason for storing up God’s word in your mind and heart. I just don’t know how a Christian can fight effectively without the sword of the Spirit. Well, you can’t! You must get the sword out and sharpen it through daily deposits in your. 

Don’t wait another day!

Because he has directed his attention to God, the psalmist anticipates the breakthrough he desires. 

He Anticipates the Breakthrough

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

This is no wishful thinking! It is not mere bluster. And it is not presumption. He knows God! He is proclaiming the truth of God, the gospel to his own soul… and he is confident that the God of hope will deliver him. Now some of your translations say something a little different that I think is worth noting. I don’t think it should cause any confusion. The solution is quite simple I think. 

Some translations say, “For I shall again praise him…”

for the help of his presence (NASB)

for the help of his countenance (NKJV)

Which is it? Salvation, the help of his presence/face? In the context, what is the psalmist longing for? God Himself. The nearness of God. The salvation for which the psalmist longs is that God himself would gloriously draw near. He has seemed distant. But his anticipation as he lifts his eyes from his soul to God in hope is that His salvation and God would come near. 

And that is our greatest need in discouragement… the nearness of God. This is the KEY for dealing with discouragement and the source of renewal.