We're going to be in Psalm 42. Psalm 42, if you
want to turn there and kind of just introduction
to this. What we've been doing this year in these
evening services is to look at what I'm calling
shepherding sermons. We are looking at passages
of scripture that really speak to heart issues.
that many of us, if not all of us, have experienced
at one point or another. We began the year looking
at anger, and the next month we looked at anxiety,
and then the third month we looked at courage,
our need for courage. Tonight we look at discouragement
and depression, and we see this very plainly
in Psalm 42. This is a very important psalm for
us, and so I would ask that you give attention
to this reading again from Psalm 42. To the Choir
Master, a Maskel of the sons of Korah. As a deer
pants for flowing streams, 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 say to me all the day long, where
is your God? These things I remember as I pour
out my soul. How I would go with the throng and
lead them in procession to the house of God with
glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude
keeping festival. 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. My soul is cast down within me, therefore
I remember you from the land of Jordan and of
Hermon, from Mount Mazar, deep calls to deep,
at the roar of your waterfalls, all your breakers.
and your waves have gone over me. By day the
Lord commands his steadfast love and at night
his song is with me. A prayer to the God of my
life, I 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 deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me while they say to me
all the day long, where is your God? Why are
you cast down on my soul? And why are you in
turmoil within me? Hope in God for I shall again
praise him my salvation and my God and This is
God's word Let us pray Father in heaven We give
you thanks that your word your Bible meets us
in our needs addresses the very things that we
go through and so I pray Lord that if there be
any here in the sanctuary who are dealing with
depression or just severe discouragement Lord
this would be a song that ups lifts our souls
this would be a psalm of encouragement for us
indeed would it encourage all of us Lord to be
able to say my salvation and my God Would you
grant us, oh Lord, understanding? We pray in
Christ's name, amen. All right, so we are talking
here about Psalm 42, and I've mentioned depression.
Now just to disclaimer here, I'm obviously no
doctor. I'm speaking of spiritual depression,
which may manifest in our lives physically, right?
Also, by way of introduction, If you were to
keep reading in Psalm 43, you would see that
Psalm 43 appears to be an extension of 42. Indeed,
many believe that Psalm 42 and 43 were initially
one Psalm together. And I think there's good
reason for that because you can see that 42 begins
in this way with this bit of an introduction
about the sons of Korah. But if you look at 43,
there is no such introduction. But even more
than that, if you were to look at verse five
of Psalm 43, you would see that it's the same
thing as in 42 -5 and 42 -11. So there are good
reasons to believe that these go together, but
for the sake of time, I'm gonna keep it to just
Psalm 42 for this evening. Now, when you hear
that kind of first line there. This picture that
you see as a deer pants for flowing streams,
I wonder if that's the picture that you have
in your heads. Just a beautiful scene. You've
got a deer maybe standing in the water next to
it lapping up. water from a babbling brook. You've
got the evergreen trees in the background. You've
got the sun just peering in through the trees.
And it's just a beautiful scene. Matter of fact,
the ESV here has these scripture journals. And
on the scripture journal for Psalms is this picture.
And I don't know if you can see that, but that's
a deer standing in water with beautiful evergreen
trees in the background. And so I wonder if that's
the image that we have. I think this is the image
that the psalmist wants, but I don't think this
is the reality for the psalmist. The psalmist
may desire such beauty and such serenity and
peace, but in all actuality, as we read through
the psalm, you see that he is lacking peace.
Additionally, when you see that word pant there
as a deer pants for flowing streams, well, when
we see this used elsewhere, in scripture, sometimes
it's not in the best light, especially in the
book of Joel, Joel chapter one, verse 20. Even
the beasts of the field pant for you because
the water brooks are dried up and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness. And so I think
that's appropriate to read because again, while
the longing of the heart of the psalmist may
be for something as peaceful as that, what he
actually has is something closer what's pictured
in Joel, of drought, of heat, of no water, right?
The picture that is here in 42 is this psalmist
needs God like a deer needs water. just to survive.
When I read this Psalm, I get the feeling that
the psalmist feels like he's on life support.
He needs God that much. Do you remember, you
remember that story of Jacob and Esau? Where
Esau comes in and he is absolutely famished and
he says, give me some of that red stuff. He wants
some of the stew, right? And Jacob says something
in effect of, well, you can have some if I can
have your birthright, right? He's like, well,
what good is a birthright when I'm dying over
here, right? He is so incredibly hungry. He's
famished. He needs this. And this is the way
the psalmist sounds to me. He needs God. But
friends, we should consider who he is. And the
text doesn't tell us. very concretely, but we
do see that he is one of the sons of Korah. Now
who were the sons of Korah? We know this from
other locations that the sons of Korah were professional,
professional temple musicians. And so this particular
psalmist, as he is writing this, he's showing
us that he feels very far away from God. He feels
far away from the tabernacle or the temple. He
feels far away from the very worship of God.
And this is painful for him because he's not
only a worshiper of God. But this is what he
does. He is a temple musician, right? He helps
lead the people in worship, and now he's not
able to do this for whatever reason. We're not
told this psalmist here. He's like a preacher.
without a pulpit. It sounds like he is some distance
away, again, from the worshiping people of God.
We don't exactly know where he is or why he is
taken away from those people, but he indeed longs
to be worshiping God. And you can see the effect
that this has upon him. Look in verse 3. My tears
have been my food day and night. I wonder if
you've ever felt like that. I wonder if you have
ever felt like, I can't eat, I can't drink, and
the only thing that I'm subsisting on are my
tears, right? And you can see why this is so
impactful and so heavy for him, because he is
being taunted for his faith in the one true God.
Look in verse three. While they say to me all
the day long, where is your God? He cannot escape
their words. The psalmist feels like they're
always with him. Do you ever have that happen
with you where somebody says something that hurts
you in some way and you just keep replaying it
over and over in your mind? This is the psalmist
here just replaying their taunting in his mind
and it is overwhelming for him. Look in verse
7. Deep calls to deep, at the roar of your waterfalls,
all your breakers and waves have gone over me.
He feels like he's, have you ever been underneath
of a waterfall before? Maybe you've been underneath
of a small one, but to be underneath of a huge
waterfall, he's just being pressed down, the
breakers and the waves going over him, this almost
feels like he's about to drown. And so the question
that we may have is, what do we do when we feel
like we're drowning? What do you do when you're
in such a tailspin? What do you do when you can't
eat, can't drink, can't sleep? What do you do
when the tears run out? What do you do when you
feel like you're drowning? I believe this Psalm
helps us in at least two ways. What do you do?
You remember and you hope. Remember and hope.
Specifically, he remembers worship. He remembers
in verse four, the atmosphere. He remembers the
people. He remembers his official function at
the festival. He remembers worship that is characterized
by joy and by gladness. John Calvin says here,
the observance of external ceremonies cannot
of itself bring us into favor with God, but they
are religious exercises that we cannot do without
because of our weakness. Friends, I'm so glad
you're here tonight. I think that you would agree
that worship waters our souls. Worship is like
the best, healthiest meal for us. It is what
we need. And so this psalmist here, he's reflecting
upon this, he's remembering this kind of worship.
It's almost like, do you ever look at old photographs
of maybe just your loved ones who have passed
on? And you ever look at those and maybe you
cry a little bit, but at the same time you recognize
those tears are good for you, right? It's good
to remember, isn't it? The tears can almost have
this healing quality to them. But for him, what
does he got the tears about? Again, he feels
distant from God and he feels distant from God's
people. And I wonder if you've ever been there,
done that. Have you ever been providentially
hindered from being in worship for maybe a long
period of time or even maybe a brief period of
time? Maybe you've battled an illness that's
kept you out of worship for many weeks or even
months. Have you ever moved to a new community
and you've had to leave behind your church and
you miss it and it takes a while to find a new
church? Have you had that experience? I know
I've shared this before, but many, many years
ago I moved to Warsaw, Poland for six months.
and I was worshiping in a Polish church and they
didn't speak a lot of English there. And at first
I thought that was kind of neat, but then I began
to really miss my home church. I began to miss
worshiping in my own native tongue. And after
about a month, I just couldn't take it anymore.
Even with people in the church trying to help
me, people sitting behind me, whispering things
into my ear, which I mostly found just to be
creepy, not helpful. And so one day, a man in
the church, recognizing how difficult that was,
said, can I take you to an English -speaking
church? I said, yes, please. And we got there,
and I think it was the first hymn that we sang,
if it's even called a hymn, Jesus Loves Me, have
you heard of that one? and I felt like I had
never heard something so beautiful as that. Being
able to sing that song in my own language, oh,
I felt restored, I felt rejuvenated, I felt nourished,
right? My thirst was quenched. But here, the
psalmist is dealing with something more difficult
than just language barriers here. His soul is
truly cast down. And it's affecting him in incredible
ways, right? And that's really what depression
does. Depression causes us to lose sight of God.
Depression causes us to be at this point where
we cannot see past our circumstances. Depression
focuses on the difficult things and we can't
see past them. Maybe it'd be a job loss. Maybe
it'd be a breakup. The loss of a loved one, a
horrific diagnosis. Maybe it's our own sin. And
within these things, as we deal with them, it
just crushes us, it weighs us down, and we begin
to feel like Jonah when Jonah's cast over the
boat into the deep. And do you remember as Jonah
is sinking down and down in the weeds wrapped
around his head? But then we get Jonah 2 7 when
my life was fainting away. I Remembered the Lord
and my prayer came to you into your holy temple
This indeed is the very grace of God that God
would work in us to have us to recall who he
is Martin Luther said God grants us the grace
and spirit to cheer the heart by reminding us
of his Mercy Within our severe discouragement
We must remember God But there are also reasons
that that's hard for us Some of the reasons that
we struggle to remember God is because when things
are going really well Sometimes we ignore The
very things that are good for us We ignore the
means of grace until a serious crisis arises.
We neglect prayer. We neglect worship. We neglect
scripture. We neglect service. We neglect fellowship.
And what all of that does is it amounts to a
very weak faith. Friends, we ought not wait until
the moment of crisis to commit ourselves to God.
Do it now. Now, I wanna say this is not always
the cause. depression and discouragement. Many
faithful Christians still attend to the means
of grace and yet face deep depression, that is
true. But it's also true that what can lift us
out of these things when our souls are downcast
like the psalmist is to remember God and to remember
specifically who he is, his attributes. Look
at verse eight. By day the Lord commands his
steadfast love and at night his song is with
me, a prayer to the God of my life. Friends,
is there anything more encouraging than to remember
that you are loved by Yahweh? Is there anything
better than that? To know that you are loved
by the immutable, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent,
triune, true God who created the universe by
speaking it into existence. There's nothing better
than that. There's nothing better than knowing
that that God loves you so much that he gave
up his only begotten son that you would have
everlasting life. And so in your discouragement,
remember Jesus. Remember what Jesus' name means,
right? Yahweh saves. Remember the atonement and
remember that the love that you have for God
was initiated by God. He loved you first. So
even when you feel far from God, you can know
that God is with you. He has implanted his spirit
within your very hearts. And considering location,
let's understand maybe where the psalmist is
geographically. Look at verse six. My soul is
cast down within me, therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan. and of Hermon from Mount
Mazar. Where is he? Well, seems to tell us. And
if he is indeed by Mount Hermon, this is probably
the northern tip of Israel at the time. And commentators
have said that if he is there, that's like one
of the last spots from the north that you can
look back and see the holy city. Some have even
said that this could be the psalmist being one
of those exiles from Israel being taken away
to exile. And if so, maybe this is his last time
to look back and see the city, see his home.
Others have said this could be David. David perhaps
gave the psalm to the sons of Korah. And you
know David, he would seem like he was always
on the run from a member of his family. from
Saul, but either way this psalmist is In a situation
and he cannot fix it himself But he remembers
God and he doesn't remember God just once Look
in verse 9. We continue to see his struggle He
says I say to God my rock Why have you forgotten
me? And so it's not just that he must remember
God. At times he feels totally forgotten by God.
And yet he does confess God as his rock. And
when scripture uses this kind of, this imagery
of a rock, we're supposed to think of maybe a
fortress, an immovable solid rock. And yet even
as he affirms this is who God is, he still feels
unshielded. And the reason for that is because
sometimes, being a follower of God leaves us
vulnerable. It leaves us vulnerable to the attacks
of others, Christians who are criticized, Christians
who are ostracized because of their faith in
Jesus. But friends, while we may be vulnerable,
we're also victorious, and not by our own determination,
but by the cross of Christ. You see, Jesus knows
what you're going through. He knows everything
about you. Jesus knows what you're going through,
and he went through it himself. Matthew 26, 38,
Jesus's words, my soul is very sorrowful, even
to death. John 12, 27, now is my soul troubled.
What shall I say? Father, deliver me from this
hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this
hour. And of course, Isaiah 53 shows us that
he is the suffering servant. He is the one who
is called the man of sorrows. Do you see? That
as you experienced sorrow, you can lean upon
Jesus who knows exactly what that is like. We
sing this hymn called Man of Sorrows. It says
Man of Sorrows, what a name. For the Son of God
who came ruined sinners to reclaim Alleluia what
a Savior bearing shame and scoffing rude in my
place condemned he stood sealed my pardon with
his blood Alleluia what a Savior And so we must
remember this Savior But this Savior also gives
us something else that we need Look at verse
5, and it's the same thing in verse 11. We must
hope. We remember and we hope. Let me read this
part again, 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. We must hope in God. But
here's the thing about depression. Depression
can rob our strength. And this is why our only
hope is in God, not in ourselves, right? Think
about this psalmist, he sounds weak, he sounds
overcome. The only way he's gonna get through
this is with God on his side, right? And so what
does he do? He begins, it sounds like he's preaching
to himself. Why self are you cast down? And why
are you in turmoil? He's not belittling his discouragement.
He is putting it in its proper place. You see
friends, something else we need to understand
about depression is that depression is a liar.
Depression lies to us. Depression tries to make
you feel like your feelings are the measure of
truth. Depression says that if God feels absent,
he must be. but it's not true. Depression says
that if you feel unloved, you are unlovable,
but it's not true. Depression says you cannot
be forgiven, but it's not true. Christ died for
this very fact. Friends, Ed Welsh said, our emotions
are loud, but they do not tell the whole story.
And our feelings are fickle, aren't they? Especially
when we're dealing with depression, especially
when we're discouraged, we might not feel anything
at all. But scripture, now that's something that
doesn't change. That is something that's solid.
That's something you can depend upon. This word
here contains the encouragement that a depressed
soul absolutely needs. If God is for us, Then
what? Who can be against us, right? Or consider,
since Psalm 42 sounds so much like this, Psalm
27, verse one, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold
of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? And then
down to verse four, it sounds so much like 42.
One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will
seek after, that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his
temple. The psalmist there just wants to be back
in the very presence of God worshiping. He loves
it. He needs it. And this is the same desire
as in Psalm 42, to be back in God's house with
God's people. But friends, if I can lift our
hearts and our minds above our feelings right
now, I want to say the true reason for worship.
Yes, worship absolutely helps with our depression.
It helps with our discouragement. That is a pressing
need. But there is an even deeper reason for
us to gather for worship because God is rightly
to be praised. We were created for worship. When
you feel homesick for your church family, when
you feel homesick for worship, that is intentional
because you were made to worship. It is your
chief end. We were made to praise Him, to say
along with the psalmist, my salvation and my
God. And so saying all of that, I recognize,
one, how good it is for us to be together. But
also I recognize this, and you do too, I'm sure,
that some people will continue to struggle with
depression for their whole lives. They will.
God's word, though, encourages our hearts through
the depression. Because our hope is not in our
feelings. Our hope. is in Christ. Ed Welch says,
depression can't rob you of hope because your
hope is in a person and that person, Jesus, is
alive and is within you. And so friends, be lifted
up by the good news of the gospel. It is the
medicine that we need when we are depressed and
discouraged. Take heart, friends. God loves you.
Let's pray.