Second Psalm. Get this thing
on and I'll get there. Psalm 42. As the heart, the female deer,
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 saying to me, where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For
I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God. with the 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? Let me stop reading for just
a moment, and I want us to think about the fact that he's talking
to himself. Why are you cast down my soul? He's not letting
himself talk to him. He's not listening to what his
self says to him. He's speaking to himself. Somebody
says, what in the world does that mean? Well, if you listen
to what you have to say, it's bad. You need to correct what
you're saying. And that is what he's doing.
He's questioning himself. Why are you cast down on my soul?
Why are you disquieted within me? He sees these things in himself. And he's calling himself into
question. He's correcting himself. It's
interesting, isn't it? And I think that we can learn
something from that. If we listen to the things that come from
our heart, they're going to stump us every time. And he says, why
are you cast down? He was. You can't take away from
that. This is reality. He was cast
down. His soul was disquieted. That's talking about inner turmoil,
turmoil. And he's asking himself, why? Now let's go on. 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. O my God, my
soul is cast down within me. Brutal honesty. You know, when
you pray, be honest. You know, really, the Lord's
the only one you can be honest to anyway. And he is practicing
brutal honesty with the Lord. He said, my soul is cast down. It's brought to the bottom. 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 Miser. Deep calleth unto deep at 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'll 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, mine 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. Now notice verse seven, deep
calleth unto deep, At the noise of thy water spouts, all thy
waves and thy billows are gone over me. Do you remember reading
that anywhere else? It's in Jonah chapter two. And that's the prayer
of Jonah from the whale's belly, which represents the prayer of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you read Jonah chapter
two, that is the prayer of Jesus Christ. And he's talking about
all of God's waves of wrath and billows of wrath going over him. And that's what he experienced
on the cross. He experienced the fullness. What do I know
what I'm talking about when I say this? He experienced the fullness
of God's wrath on the cross. And so we see just from that
is in all these Psalms. First, we're going to look at
this as the words of the Lord and then as the words of David. Now, it's believed that David
composed this Psalm. while he was fleeing from Absalom. And verse four states, when I
remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had
gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude that
kept holy day. Now what he's talking about is
public worship. While he was in hiding, while he was fleeing
from Absalom, He was not allowed to participate in this thing
of public worship, and it grieved his heart. Public worship, it's
the gathering of God's people together to hear the gospel,
and I know this. The best private worship I've
ever had, in my experience, has been in public worship, when
I hear the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. There's nothing
like that. And he was grieved over the fact that he was not
able to because he was in hiding from Absalom, his son. Now, verse one, I want to read
these verses rather quickly. First, as the words of Christ. As the heart panteth after the
water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, my soul thirsts
for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before my God? Now the picture is a deer being
chased, thirsty. Oh, how that deer thirsts after
the water brooks. And how my soul, the Lord Jesus
says, thirsts after God. Is there anybody that's ever
thirsted after his father like Christ? You know, when I've read
these verses quite often, what I think about is how weak my
thirst is compared to what it ought to be when I read these
words. But first of all, these are the
words of the Lord thirsting after his God. You see, he had been
banished from God's presence on Calvary Street. He was alone. What all that means, I have no
idea. I just know it's so. And he thirsted after his God. He said in verse three, my tears
had been my meat day and night. While they continually saying
to me, Where is thy God? Think of the things that were
said to Christ from the cross. He trusted in God. Let him deliver
him, seeing he says, I'm the son of God. They were making
fun of the Lord from the cross and saying, God doesn't have
anything to do with you. They were pretty much implying
you're there because of your sinfulness and so on. That's
why they were making these reproaches against Christ. And now deeply
they hurt because the Lord was going through this without the
presence of His Father. He knew because my sin became
his sin, he knew it's all his fault. He wasn't thinking, oh,
I'm just bearing the sins of somebody else and it's not really
my fault. No, he knew that everything was his fault because my sin
actually became his sin. No, he never committed sin. Don't
anybody even think that. But he experienced all of the
guilt and the shame and the horror of sin. He says, when I remember
these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had gone with the
multitude. I went with them to the house
of God with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude
that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down on my
soul? Now somebody says, how could
Jesus Christ be cast down? He's the son of God. Well, he
said from Gethsemane's garden, my soul is exceeding sorrowful. even unto death. Now that's the Lord's testimony
of his own cast downness. He knew being cast down infinitely
more than you or I do. And we know something about it,
but he knew much more. But yet he continues to believe,
even though he's been left to himself. 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 will I remember."
He remembers his past, if you could say that, with God. He
remembers his past with God. Therefore will I remember thee
from the land of Jordan, from the Hermonite, from the hill
miser. David is talking about particular times. And then he
says in verse six, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy
water spouts, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. And that is the Lord speaking
from the cross, feeling. the perceived feltness, feeling
of God's wrath, all of His waves and His billows going over Him
on the cross, yet the Lord never stopped believing. Yet the Lord
will command his loving kindness. I love the way command is used.
The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. 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? That's
the Lord crying, why have you forsaken me? Why go I mourning?
because of the oppression of the enemy, as with a sword in
my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto
me, where is thy God? And Spurgeon suggested that this
is him referring to when Shemai said, you're getting what you
deserve, when he was leaving and fleeing because of Absalom. And Shemai was saying, you're
a bloody man, God's bringing all this on your head, you're
getting exactly what you deserve. And David was feeling the depths
of that, but this is the Lord feeling he was getting what he
deserved. And that was the shame and the feeling of it all from
Calvary's tree. And then he repeats, why art
thou cast down on my soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. I love that scripture. Though
he slayed me, yet will I trust him. There's nobody that's ever
trusted God like the God man. He trusted him completely, even
when he had nothing to hope in as far as the way he felt. Trust
thou in God, for I shall yet hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God."
Now let's read these as the words of David. Yes, they're the words
of Christ. But David says, 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 my God? Now David, the man after
God's own heart, panted for God because he felt like he didn't
have Him. Now that is what is being experienced
at this time. He felt the absence of God. He felt like he did not have
an appearing before God. You know, when you hunger and
you thirst, it's because of an absence of something. That's
always the way that is. Hungering and thirst after righteousness
is because of a perceived absence of it in yourself. And it's got
to come from somewhere else. You know that. Now, David, at
this time, as far as the way he felt, he felt an absence of
God. Should he have felt that way?
I suppose not. But should you feel that way?
Yet this is every believer's experience at one time or the
other. One of the things I love about the Psalms, the Psalm tells
how it is. If you want to read a believer's
experience, read the Psalms. And this is what's going on at
this time. He says, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God? I feel banished.
I feel alone. I feel like I've been left to
myself. He says, my tears have been my
meat day and night. After one trial's over, another
begins. While they continually say unto
me, where is thy God? He's obviously not working in
your behalf. You've been left to yourself. He's not doing anything
for you. And how painful David felt, because
that's the way he felt. He goes on to say, why have you
forgotten me? Verse, and let me say this too, with regard
to these Psalms, David is talking about the way he felt. And you
know, you're allowed to do that with the Lord. You can tell him
exactly how you feel. Now, if you tell me how you feel,
I'll think, what's wrong with you? And if I tell you how I
feel, you'll think, man, I'm not gonna listen to him preach
anymore. We're all such hypocrites. But you can be brutally honest
with the Lord. And that is the way David is
at this time. He's brutally honest with the
Lord. I pray the Lord give us grace
to be that way. My tears have been my meat day
and night while they continually say unto me, where is thy God?
Verse four, when I remember these, I pour out my soul in me in grief,
For I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude that
kept holy day. Now this is to be our attitude
toward public worship. As he says, this is the way it
was. And the thing that is, our hearts
have become hardened if that's not our attitude. And it was
David's attitude at this time. And then he asks this question,
and I love the way he asks this question. He sees himself, he
sees these attitudes of unbelief, and these attitudes of fear,
and all the different things that are going on through his
heart. The turmoil, and that's what it is, turmoil, that disquietness
is an inward raging turmoil within. And he speaks to himself. I love
the way he does this, because he knows if you listen to yourself,
Rather than speak to yourself, what's going to happen? You're
going to go down, aren't you? You're going to be carried away
with the unbelief, the emotions of fear and doubt and distrust. And so instead of listening to
himself, he speaks to himself. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted in me? Hope thou in God. Is there not always a reason
to hope in God? He's altogether glorious. Hope
thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his
countenance. And my marginal reading says,
for his presence is salvation. His countenance, his face, his
favor, his presence is salvation. And I could take that, that deserves
a big message. His presence. His presence is
my surety before the foundation of the world. There's my salvation.
That's my salvation. His presence is my surety before
time began. His presence when he walked upon
this earth and kept God's law. His life is my only life before
God. His presence on the cross When
he put away my sin, that's my salvation. That's all my salvation. His presence when he's raised
from the dead, there's my assurance of salvation. He was raised from
the dead. Don't tell me to look within for assurance. You tell
me to look to what he did. That is my salvation. His presence
as he ascended to the Father with the church with him as the
Lord of hosts. His presence right now is my
intercessor. That is my salvation. Salvation. His presence is salvation. I
love what John Newton said. When blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. His presence is salvation. Verse six, oh my God, My soul
is cast down within me." Now there, once again, is his brutal
honesty with God. Now this, he's really the only
one we can be brutally honest with. As a matter of fact, if
we're brutally honest with somebody else, what we're being is jerks.
I'm just gonna be truthful. I'm gonna tell the truth about
you. No, don't. That's not brutal honesty. That's unkindness is what that
is. But with the Lord, you can be
this. Oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. Now there's so many different
things that causes this. You can't separate depression
from sin, can you? There's always sin involved in
depression. But there's so many other things
involved. You know, our bodies, you can't separate the soul and
the body in our experience. If your body is hurting, you're
gonna get depressed. You can have a chemical imbalance
that can screw up your way of thinking. I mean, there's so
many different things that are involved in this thing. Circumstances
can become so wretched and so troublesome, and they can cause
somebody to say, oh, my soul is just cast down. There's so
many reasons, and they're real. They're real. And when someone
is depressed like that, they can't pull themselves up by the
bootstraps. You ought to believe God. Well, I know you ought to,
but I'm dealing with what I am. And that's what he's doing at
this time. He says, my soul is cast down within me. So here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna remember thee from the land of Jordan, from the
Hermonites, from the hill Mizer. Now he's talking about some events
that took place in his past. He's remembering where the Lord
had mercy on him and revealed himself to him. And he's saying,
he'll do it again. He'll do it again. Though I don't
presently have any light, he will do it again. And then he
talks about his experience. Deep calleth unto deep, but the
noise of thy water spouts All thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me. Now, David is letting us know
how he felt. He's letting the Lord know how
he feels. All your waves and your billows
have gone over me yet. In spite of all that, 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." Now, why can he say yet when all the waves and billows
as far as his experience goes, yet? I can tell you why he can
say yet, because salvation is by grace and he knew it. That's
the only reason, but that's enough of a reason, isn't it? Everything
God requires of me, he looks to Christ for. So I have everything
God requires of me right now, even though I don't feel it.
Even though I don't feel it yet, this will take place. You know,
when you are at your lowest, what is your hope? Salvation
is of the Lord. When you're at your highest,
what's your hope? Salvation is of the Lord. You know, there's
nothing as therapeutic as hearing the gospel, as believing the
gospel. Nothing so therapeutic as that.
That's better than anything else. He says, yet the Lord will command
his loving kindness, the command of sovereign grace. Yet the Lord
will command his loving kindness in the daytime and in the night. His soul shall be with me. Yeah, that's a song of joy. That's
what that's talking about. It's a song of happiness. Even though
I'm in such pitiful conditions right now, his song's coming
back. You say, how can you say that
with assurance when you don't feel any assurance? Because salvation
is by grace. I really do believe that. I really
do believe that. And so does every other believer.
And even when you are in the, whatever David is at this time,
salvation is still all of grace. And you know that and rejoice
in that. Yet the Lord will command his
loving kindness in the daytime. And in the night, his song shall
be with me in my prayer unto the God of my life. I love the
way he calls God, the God of my life. He is the God of my
life. His life is my life before God,
and he is the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock,
why hast thou forgotten me? David, how can you say something
like that? Because that's the way he felt. He's not talking
about how he ought to be, he's talking about the way he is.
And he felt forgotten of God. He felt all alone. But you know,
you can talk to the Lord like this. Every believer is called
upon to pour their soul out to the Lord. You know, he knows
anyway. You know, we project an image before everybody, but
we can't do that before the Lord. He knows how things really are. I will say unto God, my rock,
why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning? Because of the oppression of
the enemy. I have an enemy, my sin, myself,
and how this enemy oppresses me. And I think that is exactly
what the Lord's talking about when he says, blessed are they
that mourn. A believer is never okay with sin, in any respect. It's never okay, and it always
brings him mourning, and he feels oppressed, oppressed by sin,
by unbelief. Fighting's within, fear's without,
Paul said, oppressed. Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy as with a sword in my bones? Mine enemies reproach me while
they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Well, Satan can say
that to you, can't he? Why, your sin? Where is your
God? You claim to be his servant,
and yet you're sinning. Where is your God? I don't believe
it. The accuser of the brethren constantly, your own conscience.
How can I be a believer when sin seems to have such mastery
in my life? How can I be a believer? All kinds of things coming like
that, and that's always looking within, looking within. As with
a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me. Why they say daily
unto me, where is thy God? Some believer you are. Verse
11. He repeats the question that
he gave in verse five. Why art thou cast down on my
soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. Nowhere else I hope is there. Nowhere else to hope. But what
a hope he is. hope thou in God for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
Now look in verse five once again at the last line, I shall yet
praise him for the help of his countenance. I believe it's coming,
but now he says, I shall yet praise him who is the health
of my countenance. That's talking about more of
a, not he will be, but he is, but he is. For I shall yet praise
him for the health of my countenance and my God. Now, here's why I shall praise him.
Colossians 2.10 says I'm completing him. I'm completing him. And no matter how wild my feelings
and thoughts go down and up and all over the place, and that's
what David is expressing in this psalm. And everybody in here
that knows the Lord knows themselves in that light. But I shall yet
for sure praise him because he is my salvation. His countenance,
his presence is my salvation. And that's why I can say this
with confidence even in the midst of my being cast down and disquieted. Okay.