GETTING THE MESSAGE/Psalm 42:1-5

God made man body and soul. We were made to be spiritual creatures. God breathed life into man (Genesis 2), not just air into his lungs, but life into his soul. He made man to glorify him in body and soul, enjoying the blessedness of God in both, in knowledge and righteousness. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

When man sinned against God, he rejected the blessedness of God. There is no life apart from God. Man didn't become a soulless creature, but he became like the beasts of the field, lacking understanding, a right knowledge of God. He died to the glory of God and sought glory in his shame.

The existence of God is still plain to fallen man, but he suppresses the truth of God. He is captive to sin and the devil. The Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came into the world to take man's nature in order to restore him to God. He took the curse of sin upon himself and destroyed death upon the cross. His resurrection declares his victory.

When the resurrected Christ met with his disciples, he breathed on them (John 20). This obviously pointed to the Holy Spirit whom he would pour out on his people, but it also sends our minds racing back to Genesis 2, where God breathed life into man. Now we see the Son of God breathing life into man. New life. Eternal life. And with more knowledge of God (how great a salvation) than Adam ever had in his sinless state. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

What you have described to you in Psalm 42, is a man with God's Spirit. He is born again. His hunger and thirst is for the living God. Some circumstance has barred him from going to the worship of the Lord, and it depresses him. His soul longs for God. This is the description of a blessed man. It is good to evaluate your soul in being barred from the worship of the Lord because of this virus.

The psalmist is cast down (verse 5). His soul feels like the body when it falls and is breaks bones. It is a painful event. It is just the opposite of peace and quietness. He hasn't forgotten the truth of the Lord, nor does he doubt his salvation because of his dismal circumstances.

He has good "complaints" to God and his soul. Enemies around him exacerbate his misery. They taunt him. Undoubtedly, he has told them he worships the Lord, the only living God, who made the heavens and earth. Well, they say, where is he? Why are you in the condition you are in? Maybe you should join us. We seem to be doing much better than you.



Such is the foolishness of men, seeking to be filled in a fallen world apart from God, and mocking those who rest in the word of God. The taunts are like a sword piercing the soul of the psalmist (verse 10). He feels like he is in the depths of a stormy sea, wave after wave crashing down on him.

We learn that it is not any sign you are not a believer if you are cast down in your soul. It is not a new thing for a believer in Christ to be filled with anguish and pour out tears day and night, feeling at times he is alone. The most joyful Christian, the next day, may be plunged into deep distress.

Remember the Lord Jesus, when he contemplated the cross, was troubled in his soul; "What shall I say, save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I came into the world." His steadfastness assures us of his promise that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

We also learn that it is no unusual thing for men of the world to mock Christ, and for the Christian to be depressed over the mocking of God's Anointed One. We must remember the Lord Jesus bore those insults on the way to the cross and upon the cross, men challenging him to call on God.

And the Christian remembers he bore those insults for us. We too were disobedient, slaves to passions and pleasure, passing our days in malice (Titus 3). We were once with hope and without God (Ephesians 2). If we are insulted for Christ, we are bearing witness to his suffering for sinners.

The psalm, like all Scripture, depicts for us the value of salvation. Not only do those in Christ have an inheritance from the Lord, a hope and a future, but we will see Him, whom we've longed for.