Daily Double: Psalm SeriesНамуна

WHY PSALM 42?

Psalm 42 is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for a lament psalm. It's up and down. The writer shares his strong love for God and then lets God know his emotional struggles - over and over again.

We learn the importance of asking for God's help to understand our emotions. There are lots of questions that the writer asks God.

Sometimes we don't have to leave our moments with God with all the answers or with our emotions fixed. In this psalm, we end with someone who is very sad but chooses to put their trust in God regardless.

VITAL VERSE

Verses 5 & 11- Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Saviour and my God!

Repeated refrains are like choruses in songs: they make it easier for us to know what the whole psalm is about

SUB SKILL: ANSWERING RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

We’re breaking the rules! Rhetorical questions are common in poems. They are there to make you think, so why not think! Flicking through multiple psalms and looking for rhetorical questions is a good way to get a feel for the big ideas of the psalm too!

SOLO GO: ANSWER RHETORICAL QUESTIONS FOR YOURSELF OR OTHERS

You can answer the rhetorical questions in the passage for yourself, or you can prayerfully build compassion for others by considering their experiences and answering on their behalf. You can even intercede for them with God (intercession praying to God on behalf of someone else)

For example:
Why am I discouraged? - I feel like there’s been a lack of love expressed towards me at home this week, friendship tension, world events, poor sleep, bad health, etc.

Why is ________ sad? - I’m noticing... fear of others, stressful responsibilities, lack of wisdom in decisions, and lack of love from others that is hardening their hearts.

PRAYING THROUGH EMOTIONS

Our days are filled with emotions. Sometimes we’re fully aware of our feelings. Other days we may feel numb to emotions because our mind works to suppress emotions to help us get through the day.

Prayer is a beautiful gift for us to understand the emotions (or lack of emotion) we encounter every day.

Take some time to ask God to reveal your emotions. Write them down or talk about them to God. You might like to explain why you feel the way you feel, or you can acknowledge that you simply don’t know.

Don’t stop there though. Speak out some truths to God that might help to bring balance to your emotions. Often when we feel strong emotions, we find it hard to feel stable. But there are realities that remain constant that we can grab onto and hold on tight to get us through (just like grabbing onto a boat in stormy water).

Turn to God’s Word. Confess truth. Grab hold of it. Remind yourself of it.