And let us turn to this threefold
text here in these two Psalms that we've read, Psalm 42 and
Psalm 43. And we have it there at verses
5 and 11 in Psalm 42, and again, verse 5, the end of Psalm 43. Why art thou cast down on my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within me, hoping God, for I
shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and
my God." He did make some reference to these verses on the Lord's
Day evening. Here of course we have this threefold
soliloquy in which the psalmist is addressing himself addressing
his own soul and on the Lord's Day we were looking at the words
of Psalm 62 verse 5, my soul says David wait thou only upon
God for my expectation is from him. And we thought then of that
expectation of the child of God as He looks to himself and his
needs and then lifts his eyes up and looks to the Lord God
in heaven, who is his blessed expectation. And I thought it
might be profitable. I know we've looked at the verses
on a previous occasion, but it is a threefold text. It bears
considering again and again and again. We know there's no vain futile, empty word in all of
God's Scriptures. And so when the Lord God is pleased
to repeat Himself, we do well to take account of those things. So looking at these three verses,
and there are slight variations in each of the verses, although
principally it's the same pattern that we have in each of them.
Why I now cast down O my soul, why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of
his countenance." We read there verse 5 in Psalm 42. But I want us, as we consider
the verses, to deal with some three headings. First of all,
the believer's conflict, his comfort, and then his confidence. first of all the soul's conflict
and that conflict in this present life is of course a threefold
conflict there is conflict in the world now the godly man is
one who is taunted by the ungodly whom he sees on every hand as
at times he feels himself at some distance from his God And
so the unbeliever comes with his taunting. And we see it here
in Psalm 42, verse 2, following, 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 them, for I have gone with the multitude.
I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy
and praise, with the multitude that kept holy day. And then he cries out again,
the end of that psalm, verse 10, As with the sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, Where
is thy God? Oh, we think of the words of
the Lord Jesus as He is preparing His disciples to depart from
them there in those three chapters in John's Gospel. The words at
the end of chapter 16, the Lord tells them plainly in the world,
ye shall have tribulation. And how those words are echoed
by the Apostle in Acts chapter 14, we must through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God." Oh, there is that opposition
then that is experienced in the life of the believer, as he seeks
to live the life of faith in this fallen world, and has to
endure all the scoffings of the ungodly and the god-deniers.
And so at the beginning of Psalm 43, Judge me, O God, and plead
my cause against an ungodly nation, O deliver me from the deceitful
and unjust man." And then we see how the psalmist
calls to remembrance the fact, the blessed truth of the God
who is all his hope and all his confidence. in verse 6 of Psalm
42, Oh my God my soul is cast down within me therefore will
I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites
from the hill Mazar. And here David is calling to
mind something of his own experiences and also something of the history
of God's dealings with the children of Israel when he speaks of the
land of Jordan we wonder if he's referring to that sad occasion
when his own son Absalom rebelled against him and David had to
flee for his very life and yet God appeared God appeared and
the rebellion was overthrown and Absalom of course was killed
by Joab and yet we have that great lament of David as he thinks
upon his beloved son who had been so cruel to his father.
But he remembers the goodness of God, how his life was spared
and he was preserved in his kingdom. And then when he makes mention
of the Hermonites, is he thinking of that conflict in the days
of Joshua, the beginning of Joshua chapter 12, when the Children
of Israel gained a great victory over Zion. He is recalling then
past events in his own life in the history of the Children of
Israel. Therefore will I remember thee
from the land of Jordan, and of the Ammonites, and from the
hill Mizah. and when he mentions that hill,
literally the little hill, the little hill, is he calling to
mind even God's small mercies In another psalm, Psalm 65, we
read of the little hills rejoicing on every side. Oh, there's comfort
to be drawn when we remember the minutiae of God's mercies,
His many kindnesses, even in the small details of our lives. We have that word in the prophecy
of Zechariah, for who hath despised the day of small things, for
they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel." Oh, our spiritual Zerubbabel, the Lord Jesus, the
plummet is in his hand. He has said, I will build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And yet so often we complain
of the day of small things. We're not to despise that day.
What call we small things? since all counseled sumpt is
greater than all things, except things to come," says the hymn
writer. Oh, we're not to despise, it
is still the day of grace, and God has extended that day into
another year as we've come now into the new year, the acceptable
time and the blessed day of salvation. Surely we should be those who
would be observing these things, Whoso is wise, says the psalmist
in the 107th psalm, and will observe these things, even they
shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. And so, in spite
of all the oppositions that the psalmist experiences in this
present world, yet he's able to remember his God, and to praise
his God. I remember these. from the land
of Jordan and the Hermonites, from the hill Mizah. Deep calleth
unto deep at the noise of thy water specks. All thy ways and
thy billows are gone over me. Even in the midst of all his
trials he can have good and gracious remembrance of God. There is
conflict then in the world. There is of course conflict with
Satan himself. at the end of the first general
epistle of John we're reminded how the whole world lieth in
wickedness more literally the whole world lieth in the wicked
one he is the prince of the power of the air the whole world lieth
in the wicked one all that is in the world the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life we're told
he's not of the Father it is of the world and the world passeth
away and the lost thereof. Those are interesting words there
in 1 John 2.15. The lost of the flesh, the lost
of the eyes and the pride of life and we see it in the very
first sin in the Garden of Eden when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food. There was the lost of the flesh
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, there was the lust of the
eyes, and it was a treat to be desired, to make one wise. There
was the pride of life. All those things were there in
Satan's wicked temptation as he came to Eve in the paradise
of God. All there is to be a conflict
with that great adversary, he walketh about as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour with toll. And the devil's voice in his
temptation, what is it he calls us down? What was the consequence of Eve
and then Adam's disobedience? It was the fall, the descent
into sin. And the Puritan Richard Sibbes
says the devil's voice is constantly down, down to the ground. that how God in His mercy comes
and addresses this sinful world. Those words, that remarkable
verse in Jeremiah 22, 29, O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of
the Lord. Or that we might be those then
who, in all that conflict with Satan, all his temptations, all
his accusations, to hear that gracious word that comes from
the Lord even as he addresses us in the depths of all our despair. There's conflict then in the
world, there's conflict with Satan and of course there's conflict
with self and with sin. What does David say in these
three verses? He speaks of his soul being disquieted Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? How disquieted his soul is! Paul
can say, For I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwelleth
no good thing. David feels much the same. Look
how David speaks on another occasion, back in the 38th Psalm, and there
at verse 6, I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly, I go mourning
all the day long, for my loins are filled with a loathsome
disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh, I am feeble. and sore broken, I have wrought
by reason of the disquietness of my heart." He uses the same
word, the disquietness of his heart. His soul disquieted within
him. How the flesh lofteth against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and they are contrary
one to the other, and ye cannot do what ye would. The language in one of the hymns, it's not
really a hymn that we would sing in public worship, but one surely
we could read through and meditate upon, 780. The dialogue between
a believer and his soul, very much based of course on these
texts that we're considering. The believer speaks, the soul
replies. Come, my soul, and let us try
for a little season every burden to lay by. Come, and let us reason. What is this that cast thee down? Who are those that grieve thee?
Speak, and let the worst be known. Speaking may relieve them." And
the soul replies, Oh, I sink beneath the load of my nature's
evil, full of enmity to God. captive by the devil, restless
as the troubled seas, feeble, faint, and fearful, plagued with
every sore disease. How can I be cheerful? So long,
hymn. But it's well worth making use
of in our private reading and meditation. There is a conflict,
and it's here in the Psalms that we're looking at, but it's brought
out there also in that 780th hymn. But besides the soul's
conflict, what we have here is also the soul's comfort. The soul's comfort. Because here
we see really what we might describe as the mark of a living soul. Why art thou disquieted within
me? Surely such feeling as this is
the mark that there is spiritual life in this man's soul. Lamentations chapter 3 and verse
39, we have that question put by Jeremiah, Wherefore doth a
living man complain? By nature we're not living men,
spiritually we're dead in trespasses and sins. But when comes that
gracious work of the Spirit, that quickening in the soul of
a man, he feels something of what he is, he's troubled in
his own soul. Joachim Quicken says the apostles
were dead in trespasses and in sins. And I like the remarks
of one of the old Scots divines who makes the observation sin
itself, he says, is of the creature, but the sense of it is from God. And this man has a sense of it. And he feels it, he's troubled,
he's disquieted. There's a burden. And it is encouraging
in that it is the mark that there is life now. New life. New life from him we must receive
before for sin we rightly grieve. Oh, there's comfort there, even
in the fact that he is lamenting his sad condition. and there's
comfort in this that now he is made to hope in God the language that we have here hope thou in God that's a blessed spot to be brought
to when we are made to look to God and trust in God. Again, the words that we were
looking at only on the Lord's Day evening in Psalm 62, My soul
wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. We can expect something from
God and He is the only one who can meet with us and minister
to us. And yet, strangely, the psalmist is in such a sad state
when we think of the language that we have in the second verse in Psalm 43. Why dost thou cast
me off, he says? Thou art the God of my strength,
why dost thou cast me off? There are times when we misjudge
God, when God seems to be at a distance, when the ungodly
say, where is thy God? And we listen to their voice,
and we fail to do justice to the Lord God Himself. What does
God say? Well, look at the language that
we have in another Psalm, Psalm 94 and verse 14, the Lord will
not cast off his people. neither will he forsake his inheritance. That is a truth and there's repetition
there. That repetition that is such
a striking mark of the Hebrew poetry that we have in the Psalms.
Parallel statements. The Lord will not cast off his
people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Oh, there's
a certain emphasis. And of course the language of
the psalmist as he is addressing his own soul is so emphatic here. Look at what we have in the 42nd
Psalm in verses 5 and 11. He says, Hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. It's repeated. It's interesting
because when we look at the end of Psalm 43 it simply says, Hope
in God. But there in Psalm 42, the personal
pronoun, the singular pronoun is introduced as he speaks to
himself. He tells himself. In no uncertain
terms, hope thou in God. Oh, there's comfort here. The
mark of a living soul. He feels what he is and yet he
has hope because he's looking to the Lord his God. And so finally
here, We see some give the souls confidence. David looks forward.
David looks forward with hope and with confidence. Hope in
God, he says, for I shall yet praise Him. He's not going to
be always cast down. He anticipates that the situation
will will change I shall yet praise him he has hope and remember
the language of the Apostle there in Romans 8 at verse 24 we are
saved by hope says Paul we are saved by hope but hope that he's
seen is not hope for what a man seeth why does he yet hope for
but if we hope for that which we see not Then with patience
we shall wait for it, he says. With patience, with endurance,
we have to wait and wait upon God. And what are the sufferings then
of this present world? I reckon the sufferings of this
present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that shall be revealed in us, says the apostle. We look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. These seen things are but temporal. The unseen things, these are
the eternal things. This is the confidence of the
godly man, the man whose faith and whose hope is in the law
Well, what is it that David so desires? Well, he speaks of God
as the health of his countenance. Look at the language that we
have in verse 5 of Psalm 42 and then again in verse 5 of Psalm
43. He speaks of God is the health of my countenance. But then in verse 5 of Psalm 42, he speaks of the
health of his countenance. verse 11 of that psalm, I got
it the wrong way around, it's verse 11 of psalm 42 and verse
5 of psalm 43 where he speaks of the health of my countenance
but in verse 5 of psalm 42 it's the health of his countenance
it's one of those subtle differences he wants the gracious, smilings
of the face of God he wants God to look upon him to lift up the
light of his countenance upon him as we read in Psalm 4 and
verse 6 there are many that say you will show us any good Lord
lift up the light of thy countenance upon us now the Lord has to turn
and look the Lord turned didn't he and looked upon Peter after
Peter had denied the Lord And we have the record there in Luke
22, 61, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and Peter remembered
the words of the Lord when he said, before the cock crowed
twice thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitter
tears, it says. Oh, the Lord's look, you see,
it broke his heart. And yet, there was restoration
in that. When thou art converted, the
Lord said, strengthen my sheep. He had to go through that bitter
experience. Think of the couplets that we
have in the hymn of Samuel Medley. Oh, do not frown my soul away,
but smile my darkness into day, he says. The smilings of God's
face. This is what gives confidence
then to the child of God. And it's interesting when we
think of the closing words of each of these psalms. Three times
we have this soliloquy. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? He addresses his own soul, my
soul, but the end of each of the psalms He makes mention of
my God. It's the language of appropriation. It's the language of assurance. Not just God, but my God. I shall yet praise Him who is
the health of my countenance and my God. Or the blessing then of knowing
and trusting such a God as the Psalmist is directing us to.
May the Lord be pleased to bless his word to us. We're going to sing a hymn, another hymn that's
also based on these verses, number 333. The tune is Ruthland, but
I don't think that tune's in Companion Music Roots at all.
That's the tune we're going to sing to, a Welsh tune, Ruthlan.
The hymn is 333. O my soul, what means is sadness. Wherefore art thou thus cast
down? Let thy griefs be turned to gladness. Bid thy restless fears be gone.
Look to Jesus and rejoice in his dear name. 333. Lord Jesus. What for Satan's strong temptations
Begs and tees thee day by day? And thy sinful inclinations Often
fill thee with dismay? Redeeming love. Though the ten thousand ills
beset thee, Proud without a property, Jesus says He'll never forget
thee. The heart is safe from hell. His right hand shall set me free,
His right hand shall set me free. Therefore praise Him, therefore
praise Him, praise the great Redeemer's Name. Oh, that I could ever go in When shall I your chorus join?