God writes the lyrics of our souls in the Psalms Psalm 42:4 – These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Psalm 42:6 – …My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Mt. Hermon Lament is a season or experience of spiritual dryness Psalm 42:1-2 – As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Conviction is A reason but not the ONLY reason for lament Psalm 43:3-4 – Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. We need community because of our sensitivity Psalm 42:3 – My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” We need encouragement because of our enemies Psalm 42:3 – My tears have been my food day and night… Lament is emotional, spiritual, and physical Psalm 42:5a – Why are you cast down, O my soul… Psalm 42:6b – …My soul is cast down within me; therefore, I remember you… God allows dryness to teach us to walk by faith “When you go through one of these seasons, every morning you’re going to get up, and your heart is going to be talking to you. You can either spend the day listening to your soul, or you can spend the day talking to your soul. It’s up to you.” – Martyn Lloyd Jones Psalm 42:5b – …for I shall praise Him again… Jesus experienced the ultimate desert for us