Aliel Cunningham

One of my favorite songs starts out with the words of Psalm 42, “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after You”. The song goes on to say, “You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship You”. For as many years as I have been singing this song, I never thought to connect the song’s theme of pursuing God as our heart’s desire with the the rest of Psalm 42. The Psalmist is writing about a time when he feels downcast to the point that he described his tears as being “my food day and night” and others look at his desperate situation and ask sarcastically, “where is your God?” In the midst of his crisis, he feels a deep aching need and longing for the presence of God.

The Psalmist does not currently feel the close presence of God and has no ready response to those who taunt him, but what he chooses to do in this moment is interesting. He does not try to “pull himself up by his bootstraps” and figure it out on his own since God seems so distant. He does not try to cover up for God and say that he is fine with the situation as it is. He does three things that we can learn from in this crucial hour when we too may be feeling desperate for God to show up in our story.

He first chooses to remember the times when he has experienced the joy and closeness of God’s presence. When we are feeling downcast about the state of our country, our church, or our own hearts, we need to shift our focus away from all that seems to have gone wrong and all the things we wish were different and look up in remembrance of who God has shown Himself to be. To take time to rehearse and remember the the times when did experience God’s goodness, faithfulness, and closeness. Have you written down some of these times so that you can recall them readily when you need to be reminded of the words of promise that God has spoken and the words of fulfillment you have already seen. I would encourage you to take time to record these moments in a gratitude journal or on index cards. There is something powerful about writing down these experiences that have shaped and confirmed your faith so that they can be anchor points for you in the midst of the storms that suddenly begin to swamp your boat. Jesus was able to sleep during the storm because He knew who His Father was and had rehearsed His faithful love many times.

“By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.”

~Psalm 42:8

The second thing the Psalmist did was to be honest with God. He is honest about his feelings and his questions. He says, “I say to God my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” This week we celebrated 4th of July in the USA – our “Independence Day”. Culturally, we often think about “independence” as being a good thing. We never want to be in situation of needing others or dependent on others in a way that inhibits our freedom. But what does it really mean to be free? Freedom from all cultural, societal and relational ties is not the kind of freedom that we were made for. From the Garden of Eden we were made to be in relationship with God and with other humans. True freedom means having the freedom to share our hearts vulnerably with one another, knowing we are loved, forgiven and accepted, growing in knowledge and intimacy with one another. This kind of open and unashamed relationship must begin with our relationship with God. Whether we feel that God is close to us or not, we need to be honest with Him about our perspective, our doubts, our questions, our hopes, our desires, our frustrations, our pain, our thoughts and emotions. He is the One who made us and so only He can heal the wounds in our hearts.

“My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

~Psalm 42:10

The one thing that the Psalmist repeats more than once highlights his desire to pursue God’s heart through praise. Whether he feels like praising God or not, whether God seems close to him or not, whether his situation looks like it will change or not, the Psalmist chooses by an act of his will to put his hope in God. He remains honest about how he feels in an open dialogue both with himself and before God but he concludes that whatever happens, he will choose to praise God with titles of bold declaration that tie his life to God’s character and saving presence.

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

~Psalm 42:11

This reference is the second time the Psalmist has said these words which seem to imply that the first time he choose to praise God as His Savior and His God did not automatically change his feelings of doubt and discouragement, but he reiterates this refrain like a stake being pounded into the ground. He will not be moved from this declaration. He has chosen to pursue God’s heart with praise of God’s faithful character and His promises no matter what the circumstances or those around him whisper in his ear. This kind of stake-in-the-ground faith blesses God’s heart. This is how we pursue God’s heart – We remember with thanksgiving the times of His faithful presence in the past, we are honest about our feelings, thoughts and questions in the present moment, and we choose to praise Him for being our God and our Savior – tying all of our hope for the future to His character and words of promise. Amen. May you teach us how to pursue your heart, Adonai.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 

~Hebrews 13:15