Psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon-from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me- a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

If you’ve been a believer for any length of time, you’ve experienced God’s love in specific and tangible ways. You can recall times when He has obviously intervened on your behalf in some event or circumstance. You know He’s answered your prayers. And looking back, you have to admit that He’s been there through all the difficult times you’ve experienced, lending you strength and giving you hope.

Funny how easy it is to forget these things. When they happened they were clear, even intense, but somehow with the passage of time they became hazy, out of focus. Our mind calls for new proof when we encounter new problems, unwilling to accept the view that He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebr. 13:8)

The Psalm above describes David’s spirit in conversation with his soul. As his soul cries out, “Where are you God?” his spirit reminds him of God’s presence in his past, and says, “As it has been, so it will be.”

When we have doubts, it’s our soul (mind, will, and emotion) that expresses them. And it’s natural. Any new thing to which the Lord calls us will create doubt in our minds because we have no experience on which to build belief. Our response to this doubt should be to ask God to remind us of all the examples of His faithfulness in our past. His Spirit, speaking to ours, will bring them to mind as He tells us, “As it has been, so it will be.” Our belief is in Him, not ourselves.

Our Lord doesn’t abandon us. He always finishes what He begins, never leaving us in the lurch. In fact, the more impossible something seems to us, the more committed He’ll be to see it through. And when all’s said and done we’ll be prompted to remember, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty, (Zech 4:6) and give Him the credit He’s due.