MAIN IDEA || When God feels distant, the reading and rejoicing in the Psalms are a practical way in which he makes himself near to us. Psalms 42-44 Psalm 42:1-6 (NLT) 1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? 3 Day and night I have only tears for food, ... 4 My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! 5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and 6 my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, ... 7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. He writes a desperate prayer about his agonizing problem: separation from God’s . (Ps 42:1-7) 3 Day and night…, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” 6 ..., even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. His attendance at public worship is by his enemies & circumstances. 8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. His comes from an everyday singing of these poem songs.(Ps 42:8) Expresses himself. Remembers & rehearses God’s favor & faithful salvation. Talks to himself & tells himself the truth. (Ps 42:5,11,43:5) Romans 8:1 (NLT) Romans 8:31-39 (NLT) Psalm 44:17-22 (NLT) Mark 14:34 (NLT) Romans 8:31–39 (NLT) Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. The psalm teaches us “the revolutionary thought that suffering may be a battle-scar rather than a punishment, the price of loyalty in a world which is at war with God” (Derek Kidner, Psalms, Volume 1, page 170) CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION 1. If there was ever any phase of your spiritual life where you felt dry, distant, discouraged or depressed; what did that feel like? 2. What’s your favorite part of this passage ? Why’s that? Romans 8:31–39 (NLT) 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 3. If you routinely added an everyday reading to stir up your spiritual affection and a sense of God’s nearness, do any of these uses of the Psalms seem useful to you? Express yourself. Remember & rehearse God’s favor & faithful salvation. Talk to yourself & tell yourself the truth.