July 31, 2022
Psalm 42
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
Psalms 42:1 NIV
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
Psalms 42:2 NIV
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"
Psalms 42:3 NIV
"My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'"
Psalms 42:4 NIV
"These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng."
Psalms 42:5 NIV
"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."
Psalms 42:6 NIV
"My soul is downcast within me; therefore, I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar."
Psalms 42:7 NIV
"Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me."
Psalms 42:8 NIV
"By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life."
Psalms 42:9 NIV
"I say to God, my Rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?'"
Psalms 42:10 NIV
"My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'"
Psalms 42:11 NIV
"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."
"…emotional tears (which flush stress hormones and other toxins out of our system) potentially offers the most health benefits. Researchers have established that crying releases oxytocin and endogenous opioids, also known as endorphins. These feel-good chemicals help ease both physical and emotional pain." - Leo Newhouse, Health.Harvard.edu
When a friend is grieving, your greatest resource is your presence.
Job 2:11-13 NIV
"When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was."
The Christian community has profound healing power.
Psalms 42:4 NIV
"These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng."
The problem for most of us is we lack the confidence to be vulnerable.
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." - C.S. Lewis
The key is to preach the gospel to each other and to ourselves.
Psalms 42:11 NIV
"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."
"Tune my heart to bless your name." - Shane and Shane, Psalm 42: Loudest Praise
"Father, thank you for your goodness and faithfulness to me. Today, I remind myself of your presence. You are with me. You are always with me. In the same way that Jesus felt isolated on the cross and under the weight of condemnation by his enemies, I feel the weight of life right now too. Oh God of my life, direct your love toward me as I put my hope in you and know I will rise to praise you again! Help me to remember this truth throughout today and into tomorrow. In Jesus’ name, Amen"