I please God to bless the reading of his holy words to the prophet of our souls this evening. We'll turn to the book of Psalms and we'll read together Psalm 42. The book of Psalms and reading Psalm 42. This is titled, To the Chief Musician, Masculine for the Sons of Korah. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I'd gone with a multitude. I went with them to the house of God with a voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God. for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore while I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites and the hill Mizer, deep calleth unto deep and the noise of thy water spouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Well we can be very thankful really that God in his love toward his church has granted that there should be an account like we have here in this 42nd Psalm to really be an encouragement to us and to recognise the position of a true believer A true believer doesn't always live on the mountaintop. There are many valleys, dark valleys sometimes, that a believer has to go through. And yet this psalm starts with a very wonderful illustration. It speaks about a heart panting after the water brooks. And we can understand what that means. A heart, or as we would think more perhaps as a deer, after a run it would be panting and it would be pretty desperate to have a drink. And so here we have this statement, as the heart panteth after the water brooks He then says, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Now perhaps we don't demonstrate in the same way that a deer would, but nonetheless it's good to realise that if we do come into situations where we are truly thirsty for God, as the second verse tells us, my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, When shall I come and appear before God? Well, it's a great blessing if we understand we have a thirst and we thirst for God. We thirst for the knowledge of God. We thirst that he will come and remember us in our need. And as we pass through life, it's a race. And there's many times when we become thirsty. It's not an easy race. It's a hard race. And it's a race which we are to run. And so what a blessing it is to have a statement like this, to realize that, well, here was somebody recorded in the Word of God that understands and therefore wrote down under the influence of the Spirit of God really what I feel. in a spiritual way, and it's good if we do, and I hope we do understand what the psalmist is saying. We're not left to just be satisfied with being, as we might say, far off from God, but we would come into that position where we are. thirsty for God, and not any God, but the living God, the true God, the great God, the ruler of the universe, for the living God. We don't want anything short of that. And to be blessed, therefore, to have that water of life, which the Holy Spirit gives. We think, perhaps, of that fourth chapter of John, when the Lord Jesus was on the earth and we're told you must needs go through Samaria and he must needs go through that there was a purpose he had to meet with that woman of Samaria we're not told her name it doesn't matter but there she was, she came and she was drawing water come to draw water, add to the well And Jesus had a conversation with her. And it was a blessed conversation because he told her that he would give her the water of life. And how you and I need that same blessing. The water of life. We have the illustration of water, we understand that. But to realize the water of life is that spiritual blessing which will do our eternal souls eternal good. And so what a favour it is to have a true desire after spiritual, the things of God. And the psalmist continues. He tells us, My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually sound to me, where is thy God? You see, there must have been a very clear demonstration in his life he was longing for his God. Indeed he says that it's just like panting as a deer does, our heart does, after the water brooks. Must have been evident in his life. You know if you and I look at our own lives we may perhaps be thirsty but is it really evident in our life? Or do we just carry on in a in a lukewarm state and perhaps never mention the real spiritual situation we're in. And therefore there is no evidence that we're lacking that spiritual union with Almighty God. Where is thy God? Do people say that? Do we demonstrate? We're looking for God, we need God, and we're praying for God. Well, what a blessing if that shows forth and therefore people question our position, question our seriousness of our spiritual life. And so we're told, when I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. true prayer. He poured it out. It was a real burden to him. It wasn't just something casual, something irrelevant. No, he says, I pour out my soul in me, for I'd gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God, with a voice of joy and praise, with the multitude that kept holy day. There he was with the multitude, and they were joyful and pleased and happy. And therefore, he then tells us his situation. Having been in the midst of an assembly like that, yet he looks at himself and he asks the question, why art thou cast down, O my soul? And, why art thou disquieted in me? And then there's these encouraging words. Same words as we end this chapter with, more or less anyway. Hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. We can believe that God will not fail us. And what a blessing if we're thirsty. And where are we looking? We're looking to God. Hope thou in God. And he had a humble confidence, and I always think that's a wonderful sign of the truth of religion, when although we may be feelingly far off and away, yet we hope. We hope. Although we're disquieted, hope thou in God with that confidence that God will hear God will hear. You know, we don't want to be found praying with a heart of unbelief, do we? We want to pray as God gives us grace, fervently, that He will hear. He will hear our cry. For I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. That means when God looks upon us, looks upon us, he knows where we are, he knows our situation, but he brings us into these times of need so that we truly then pray earnestly to our God and with our hope nowhere else but in our God. And he comes and says then, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me, therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and the Hermonites from the hill Mizah. It's good to remember, look back in our lives, perhaps it's a beginning, perhaps we never felt like it before, but perhaps we have felt like it before, and we can therefore remember the faithfulness of God, how he has heard, and come to us where we are. What a blessing. Deep calleth unto deep, The noise of thy waterspouts, all thy waves, and thy billows are gone over me. It gives the illustration here, you see, of a rough sea. And if we're on a boat in a rough sea, it's not very easy to make any headway. And that's sometimes the case in our spiritual life. Everything may seem to be against us. The wind's against us. Yes, and the sea is rough. We can't seem to make any headway. And therefore we feel cast down. And here we have an illustration. Deep, calleth unto deep, at the noise of thy waterspouts, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. It's not easy is it? To imagine we know there was that case when Jesus was on the earth and his disciples were on the boat and yes it came so rough and the boat was full with water and they came and awoke the Lord and called and asked him and he calmed the sea. Well he can still do that in our spiritual life. We may be cast down, we may feel far off, we may wonder whether there's any life in us at all. But if God gives us that cry unto our God, to believe that he will hear. And so, the confidence again we see coming back to the psalmist. Yet the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime. A time when we're spiritually alert. And in the night his song shall be with me, nor does it leave us at all, and my prayer unto the God of my life. The psalmist tells us quite clearly he was dependent upon his God, the God of his life. A personal statement, wasn't it? Although he was cast down, although he had much hardship and difficulty, yet we see his hope. His hope was still in his God. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and in the night. His song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life. Well, what a mercy it is if we come to this same God. the God of our life, not a false God, not a vain God, but the true God. And we come to Him and are able to say, as the next verse tells us, I will say unto God, my rock. That's a confidence, isn't it? His rock, that one upon whom He relied, solid, unmovable. I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me. Well God hadn't forgotten him but it just seemed as though he'd forgotten him. And sometimes we might feel like that. We might feel God's forgotten us. Well the reality is God brings us into these situations to revive perhaps prayer. Prayer may have got very cold and yet you see when we become in a desperate situation our prayer then comes back to a time of reality, a time of need, a time when we really need our God to look upon us and say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Don't forget, we have a great enemy, the devil, who always tries to oppress us because If he could, he would take our life or make us take our own life. And that's why, you see, he never gives up. It's a battle through life. The devil never gives up this side of the grave. So don't be surprised if there's a continuance of opposition. As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Where is thy God? Comes back, doesn't it? To that earlier question. Where is thy God? It's an important question, isn't it? We want to know that God is with us. We don't just carry on in a vain form. And so he comes and says, why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Well, that's a good question. And we do come there. And in one sense it's an evidence of life because we realize we're in that situation and we need God to come and to deliver us. There's no one else. No one else. Vain is the help of man. But what a mercy to have faith in God for hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him again. It's lovely to be able to look forward in faith, in a humble confidence that in God's time, in his way, he will come, he will bless, he will deliver our soul. And that's why he's able to conclude with these words, who is the health of my countenance, And my God, it's a wonderful closing comment, isn't it? And my God. Yes, we've had a description of how he felt in his soul. And yet the reality was, here he was praying, coming and explaining. And who was he coming to? His God. Well, my friends, may we be encouraged and strengthened in our life and be able to come in with this last verse, even if we are cast down, and say, why are they disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. Hope in God. Believing we will yet praise him who is the health of our countenance and my God. Amen.