As the hart 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 say unto 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 holyday.

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: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and 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? 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. Psalm 42

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14


Ponder these quotes from fellow saints of God.

How often we judge the Lord by our own feeble sense. We determine that God cannot possibly be responsible for anything unpleasant and so we diminish His sovereignty and make Him a slave to free will, the forces of nature, or other powers outside Himself. By this we assume we have gotten God “off the hook.” But God’s own Word never once belittles His power in such a way as to cast Him as impotent in the face of suffering and pain. Indeed, God makes it plain that both sweet and bitter providences come from his wise hand – Todd Prutt 


Oh, fearful saints new courage take,
The clouds that you no dread
Are big with mercy and will break
With blessing on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face – William Cowper


He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best – 
Lovingly, it’s part of pain and pleasure
Mingling toil with peace and rest – Wilhelmina Sandell-Berg

Psalm 42 is well understood in the context of the words of these wise believers. The experience communicated by the writer of this Psalms speaks to the appointment of the days of prosperity and adversity in the life of a believer. Obviously, a worship leader and a worshipper (vs.4b), there came a time when things turned sour for him. Worse still, the grievous circumstances around him were judged by those who knew him and his faithful service to the Lord, but questioned why God was not stepping in to help him!

Have you been in such a situation? Or are you in one right now? Beloved, is not the Lord Sovereign? Is He now a man like us that His timing and reasoning must fit into ours? Dear one, question your prevailing discouragement and sadness over your hard circumstances; let the questioning lead you to remembrance of testimonies of past deliverance and pick up hope of a greater future. Jeremiah 29:11-14. Selah

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