TUESDAY 29th
Psalm 42
NIV (v1) – ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.’
ESV (v1) – ‘As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.’
The words of this psalm are familiar to us as we often sing the song based upon it:
As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.
You alone are my strength my shield.
To you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.
The heading of this psalm says that it is ‘To the Choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah’ (Also found at the commencement of other psalms) A Maskil means a well-crafted song, whoever wrote or composed the song originally, is painting a picture of a deer that is thirsting and panting as it seeks out water to satisfy its thirst. Goldingay comments that the nuance for the word ‘pant’ is ‘to stretch the head in a certain direction’, giving the implication of going in that direction to satisfy the thirst. The psalmist realises that he needs to raise his head in a direction that is toward God to satisfy the thirst in his soul. It is a psalm that reminds us that the only genuine source to satisfy the thirsting soul is to be found in God himself.
The author of this psalm was obviously going through a period of spiritual dryness and barrenness, he was in despair because of his predicament, and he wanted to get back to the place of refreshing and satisfaction, he remembered the joyful and pleasurable times when he had gone to the house of the LORD with others (v4), but this was temporarily lacking, and it caused him to be downcast in his soul. (5) and he knew that the cure was to hope again in God, to be restored again to a place of satisfaction deep in his soul, and so he pants, he sets his head toward the LORD God determined not to stop, but to persevere till he came back again to the living God. (v2)
We can attempt to satisfy our spiritual hunger in many ways, but deep, lasting satisfaction will never be found until we set our heads and our hearts toward God, anything else will be the dirty, polluted waters of this world that will seem to satisfy until the ‘poison’ they contain begins to damage the soul.
Twice in this chapter the composer says, ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul’ (vv5&11 and again in Psalm 43:5) and this will be the verdict for everyone who seeks to get soul satisfaction from any other source other than the true and the living God, the psalmist knew this and continued, ‘Hope in God’, for the only hope that is genuine and eternal is to be found in him, the only hope that can bring satisfaction in the here and now and for eternity is found in the living God.
Where are we setting our desires, where or to whom are our heads turned toward?
Turn toward the living God, thirst for him, pant for him, come to the source of living water and know that in coming to him we will be satisfied.
I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,
But, ah! the waters failed!
E’en as I stooped to drink they fled,
And mocked me as I wailed.
Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me!
There’s love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus found in thee.