Hope for the Despairing - Psalm 42-43

This article was first published in French at TPSG.

Suffering marks the life of every human in a fallen world. The question is how will we face affliction? Psalms 42-43, twin psalms of lament, provide a script for the believer of how to address God in the dark night of the soul. To those who are passing through the waters of affliction, Scripture’s powerful promise is this:

Because God decrees his loyal love in our despair, hope in him as we await his salvation.

 

Literary Context: Two Psalms in One

Most scholars believe that Psalms 42 and 43 forms one literary unit, much like Psalms 1-2. And that’s because, first, of all the psalms in Book 2 of the Psalter, Psalm 43 is the only one that does not have an attribution to its author. Secondly, Psalm 43 continues and completes the story through song that begins in Psalm 42. The repetition of key phrases from one psalm to the next lends weight to this argument. For example, the verse that begins with the line “Why are you in despair, O my soul…” appears in vv. 5 and 11 of Psalm 42, as well as v. 5 of Psalm 43. And the author’s quandary concerning his enemies, “Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?” appears in Psalm 42:9 and again in Psalm 43:2.

 

Historical Context: A Son of Korah in Exile

The title tells us that it is a song of the sons of Korah. Eleven psalms are attributed to the Sons of Korah. They descended from the cousin of Moses named Korah, and in time, this clan becomes doorkeepers and custodians for the tabernacle (1 Ch 9:19–21; 1 Ch 2) and great leaders in choral and orchestral music in temple worship. David formed an elaborate organization for song, instrumental music, and prophesying through these men.

 

In addition, a few geographic markers give us an indication of the author’s locality. He puts quill to parchment far from his native land. And although he once led the people of God in corporate worship, he is now in some sort of exile near Mount Hermon to the north of Israel, near the border with Syria, in the region of the Golan Heights. He is far away from God’s presence as centralized in the temple, the place where God’s glory resides. He longs to be back leading his people in worship. 

 

I. A Thirsty Soul (Psalm 42:1-4)

The Psalmist opens his lament with rich imagery drawn from the fauna of the Judean wilderness. The deer is a vulnerable creature that depends on streams of water for survival. When drought strikes, that wild animal in desperation desires, longs for, pants after streams of water. 

 

The psalmist thus describes his parched soul that has been deprived of God’s presence. So deep is his despair that he cannot bring himself to eat or sleep, but rather weeps day and night. 

 

As if his own separation from God’s presence and God’s people weren’t enough, the psalmist must endure the taunting of his enemies, who deride, “Where is your God?” If God is real, why are you separated from him? Why persevere in your faith in a God who seems to have abandoned you? 

 

Their derision provokes a flashback, in which the psalmist’s soul is overwhelmed with sadness, remembering the days of old when he pilgrimaged with a multitude of faithful saints to the temple, singing songs of praise along the way in anticipation of the holy feast they would enjoy once they arrived in Jerusalem. Can you picture it? Can you imagine the men, women, and children singing in joyful chorus? Can you see in your mind’s eye the sweet fellowship they must have enjoyed, laughing, playing, telling stories around the campfire at night, recalling God’s faithfulness to their forefathers? It must have been awesome!

 

II. A Depressed Soul (Psalm 42:5-8)

In v. 5 we see this core phrase that occurs three times in these twin psalms, forming a kind of chorus. To some, the author may sound a bit crazy here. After all, he keeps talking to himself! But this isn’t at all unusual in the Psalter, as Psalm 103 opens with the famous line, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.” 

 

So, sometimes, talking to yourself is the wisest course of action! The evil one whispers to us all the time. The evil world system seeks to squeeze us into its mold. When we sense the trials of life and the taunts of our enemies leading us to despair, talking to our souls may be exactly what we need! 

 

In v. 6, the author acknowledges once again that he’s depressed. But he doesn’t throw up his arms in defeat. No. He pushes through it. He commits himself to praise while in that distant land. 

 

In the next verse, this son of Korah beholds deep streams and cascading waterfalls, that feel like they are crashing directly on him, overwhelming him, sweeping him away in their current. What a contrast between these wild waters and the quiet, refreshing streams he longs for in v. 1! (1)

 

What amazes me is that despite how heavy his emotional distress is, he perseveres in praise. He manages to see past the blinding fog of his circumstances to the unchanging truth that the LORD is with him, covering him in his covenant love, even in the dark hours of the night when so often our spiritual darkness mirrors the world around us. He gives us a song, a prayer, a ray of light breaking past the shadows surrounding us. Isn’t that glorious?!

 

Listen to the words of Martin Lloyd-Jones on this subject:

 

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. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.

 

III. An Oppressed Soul (Psalm 42:9-11)

The psalmist just declared in v. 8 that God gave him a song and a prayer. But then, in v. 9, we read the content of that prayer: “Why are you ignoring me? Why must I walk around because my enemies oppress me?” Wait a minute. What? Is he allowed to talk to God like that? Apparently so! 

 

But notice the opening words of that prayer: “I will pray to God, my high ridge/rock.” He’s being honest but remains reverent. Faith endures despite his misery. And why is he so distraught? Because, in graphic terms, his enemies are breaking his bones! “Bones” denotes one’s whole physical structure, the person himself. To say that one’s bones are in agony is to say emphatically that his body is wracked with pain. (2)

 

He’s already feeling miserable. He’s already depressed because he’s in a distant land, estranged from his people and from his ministerial calling. But on top of that, he is forced to bear the mockery of cruel people whose words echo in his own mind.

 

But once again, he repeats this refrain that we saw in v. 5, this chorus that tells his soul to reject these blasphemous accusations, to hope in God, to give thanks to God while he awaits his deliverance. Because he is confident that it’s on the way. 

 

And while we wait, we can take comfort in the prayer of this saint of old. He was bold enough to articulate what he was truly thinking and feeling. Do you ever feel like you need to sanitize your prayers to make them sound pious? Do you squirt some gel on them the way we do our hands when leaving the grocery store? Do you wonder if you can really tell the Lord the honest-to-goodness truth of what you’re feeling without him getting mad at you? Without him striking you down in his wrath? That’s not the character of our God. He welcomes our reverent but honest prayers. And he already knows what’s in our hearts, so there’s no point in applying lipstick and mascara onto a downcast inner countenance thinking that we can fool him! 

 

IV. A Vindicated Soul (Psalm 43:1-2)

So far, the author has spoken to God in the indicative, meaning he has described his circumstances. In v. 1, he shifts to the imperative, firing off three requests to God: Vindicate me! Fight for me! Deliver me! There’s an urgency in his tone. He has had enough of his enemies and he calls upon God to take action against them. They’re ungodly, deceitful, evil! 

 

His confidence that God is willing and able to act stems from the fact that he is his refuge, his shelter, fortress, mountain stronghold. His enemies can come tumbling down on him like huge boulders during a rockslide. But he is safe under God’s protection. 

 

Having stated his trust in God, however, he once again inquires of the Lord, as he did in v. 9/10. Only this time, God is not merely ignoring him. He has rejected him! Woah. Really? Has God truly rejected him? Has he rejected us? We know he hasn’t, but it’s easy for us to assume so when our prayers go unanswered. 

 

The answer he awaits comes in the following imperative in v. 3: Send your light and faithfulness. May they serve as a search and rescue party for me in this place of exile. And send them ahead of me on my journey home to Jerusalem, to your holy hill, to the place where I will once again enjoy the glory of your presence, like twin beacons in the night.

 

Many of us have lived through moments of such thick darkness, in which enemies seemed to surround you, in which your only help was God’s light and truth. The psalmist certainly did, and many saints throughout history have as well. This psalm's invitation to us in these verses is simple: cry out to God! He gives us permission to use strong language: Vindicate me! Fight for me! Deliver me! Send your light and truth! It’s not plagiarism for us to copy and paste these words into our own script in moments of desperate need.

 

But what about this back and forth of the psalmist between belief and questioning? Is it hypocritical to hold in tension both faith and doubt? Can a believer wrestle with or question God? The psalmist confidently states that God is his only refuge one minute, and then accuses him of rejecting him the next! What is wrong with this guy? Absolutely nothing! He’s sure about God, but he’s been battered by life. (3) And the reality is that to live in God’s light and cherish his truth is the true way through life’s difficulties to a blessed outcome. (4)

 

V. A Joyful Soul (Psalm 43:4-5)

In these final words, the psalmist declares by faith that which is not yet. He concludes with hope in the midst of his lament. Faith triumphs. Darkness gives way to light as the sunlight of God’s presence breaks through the clouds of gloom that had settled over his soul previously. So great is his faith that he has pre-emptive joy! Even before his deliverance arrives, he’s already ecstatic with joy in God, whose name he repeats four times in one verse. His affection for and delight in God are so overwhelming that he can’t stop saying his name! Like a lover who names his beloved over and over again as he declares his love for her. With such hope, the final repetition of the refrain “Why are you in despair, O my soul?” has a positive tone. There is no reason for his soul to be disturbed.(5) Help is on the way!

 

Finding Christ in Psalms 42-43

In these twin psalms, there seems to be a progression in the action that parallels that of Christ during passion week. In v. 4, the jubilant procession to the temple of God, surrounded by the throng of worshippers, evokes Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, as Passover pilgrims welcome their king. 

 

Then, in the repeated refrain of “Why are you in despair, O my soul,” we hear echoes of Christ’s words on the eve of his crucifixion, when his own soul was in anguish at the thought of being separated from the Father while bearing the sins of the world.

 

Again, in v. 10/11, I hear a third echo from passion week in the mockers’ words, “Where is your God?” These words resemble the insults hurled upon our Saviour as he hung between heaven and earth on our behalf.

 

And last, Psalm 43:4 evokes the ecstatic joy Christ tasted when he triumphed over the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father (He 12:2).

 

Because God decrees his loyal love in our despair, hope in him as we await his salvation.

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^[1] Tokunboh Adeyemo, Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya; Grand Rapids, MI: WordAlive Publishers; Zondervan, 2006), 656.

^[2] Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 795.

^[3] J. A. Motyer, “The Psalms,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 513.

^[4] J. A. Motyer, “The Psalms,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 513.

^[5] Tokunboh Adeyemo, Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya; Grand Rapids, MI: WordAlive Publishers; Zondervan, 2006), 656.