Q2. Psalms 42-43

[paulajean]

Q2. (Psalms 42-43).A.) What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle?

B.)How does he combat his spiritual depression?

C.)Have you ever felt this way?

D.)How did you reach out to God at this time?

A. I believe this psalmist is feeling depressed and lonely. Missing the times he could be in the temple and worship and feel close to God.

B. He talks to The Lord to help battle his depression and loneliness.

C. & D. I have been there. Felt alone, isolated from God, but is is usually after I have sinned and am ready to repent and find my way back to Him. Praying and talking to God help to get me back to being right with God.

[Clarence]

Q2. (Psalms 42-43). What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle? How does he combat his spiritual depression? Have you ever felt this way? How did you reach out to God at this time?

 

The psalmist is desperate here as he compares his spiritual thirst to the physical thirst of the deer urgently in need of water (from the notes Psalm 42:1-2). Tormented by self doubt and people trying to drag him down, even further, the psalmist remembers back to the time where he was able to rejoice in the goodness of God (Psalm 42:3-4).

In addition to recalling the good times, to combat the depression the psalmist immerses himself in prayer and selftalk. It is like he is forcing himself, picking himself up, desperately calling out "...Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him..."  (Psalm 42:5b, 11). The psalmist, finally appears to win this battle (43:5b).

[Barbiemac]

The Psalmist is feeling far away from God and his temple worship, the joy of the festivals and fellowship. He laments and then he starts talking to himself, encouraging himself. It brings to mind the idea of taking every thought captive. I know for myself I have done this and sometimes reciting special scriptures over and over have finally drawn me out. God's Word is a powerful healer!

[abbygail15]

What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle?

The writer is expressing his deep depression and frustration over his separation from God. The psalm uses as a example the separation from the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was where God was so a physical separation from the temple was separation from God. I think this psalm can be applied to every believer who lets the thinks of this world come between himself and God. The believer yearns to be restored  restoration only happens when we turn away and fix our focus on God. 

 

How does the psalmist combat his spiritual depression?

The psalmists uses three methods: Self-talk, deliberate remembrance and singing and praying.

 

Have you ever felt this way? 

As a true believer I feel the tug of God's spirit every time I start to move away from him.

 

How do you reach out to God doing this time?

I never really thought about the method I used to return to God's presence but after studying this psalm I realize that I am using the same approach as the psalmist.  

[MrsPepper]

What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle?

He believes that God is his *refuge, but God. is not doing anything.   The *psalmist is asking God to be his *judge. A judge is someone that decides who is right and who is wrong. The *psalmist believes that he is right and he asks God to tell everyone. God will do this by making him free so that he is not a hostage any more. 

 

How does he combat his spiritual depression?

He prays for God to send light and *truth. He believes that they will take him back to Jerusalem. That is where the *holy mountain and the house of God are. 

 

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[Ms. Joanne]

The psalmist is is feeling useless.  " bone dry" as if God is faraway from him.  He is struggling to keep his mind on God and praising him even while he is depressed.  I so often have experienced that struggle.  What's the use, nothing will change.  Then I have rallied and cry out to the Lord to rescue me.  Asking what is the purpose of this suffering, why are others so close to the Lord and I am not.  Yet my heart and my mind continues to seek Him.  To continue to rekindle my closeness.  In the desert God is so faraway.  I feel like that Psalmist reaching down deep to find my joy

[Paulhoward]

His feelings in the Psalm are one of loss, of all that he once had in his relationship with God. He is no longer able to go with others and join in the praise & worship. He no longer feels God's Presence close to him, he feels that it is God who is letting all these things happen to him. To top it all others, particlurly enemies of God are mocking him and asking "where is your God now?" He wonders how long it will go on for.

He seeks to combat this spiritual depression by "going over" all that God has done in the past. He rehearses it as we would a lines in a drama, recalling all the occasions of his "testimonies" of God's Presence in his life in the past. This is an important part of "faith", when we can't "see"! He talks to his own soul, he questions himself, self talk and/ or talking to others is an important antidote to depression. He also gives himself hope , that this season won't last forever and he will yet "praise God in the future even in the company of others.

I have felt this way and when I was younger suffered depression, I felt there was no hope for me spiritually and even worried I had committed the "unpardonable" sin!!!! It was by learning some of the principles of these Psalms that I came through it . I had to learn the value of self talk, of not "bottling" it all up? I also found that I had to learn to put on God's armour including praise and thanks even when I least felt like it and it always did me "good". I had to choose "hope" over "despair" and choose to belief that God had a "good" future ahead and He could bring me through it and that I had to believe He wasn't "against" me? Discovering Biblical meditation was a great help as were letting those who knew how to pray with authority, to pray against deep fears I had.

[Godswriter]

Q2. (Psalms 42-43). What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle? How does he combat his spiritual depression? Have you ever felt this way? How did you reach out to God at this time?

I believe that the psalmist is feeling discouraged and disheartened in the psalm. Why I say this is because of the fact he is saying that his tears are constant and never ending. He has enemies taunting him asking him when God will come and save him? He knows that God is there but He can’t feel His presence near him. He combats it with praising the Lord and learning to remember things of old. He chooses to hope in God. By putting his hope in God, he is realizing that God is all he needs. Yes I have and I currently feel that way right now. I reach out to God through writing poetry and praying in my prayer journal and saying exactly how I feel.

[Lottie]

Q2. (Psalms 42-43). What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle? How does he combat his spiritual depression? Have you ever felt this way? How did you reach out to God at this time?

I believe that the psalmist is feeling depressed because he is far from the temple and misses the worship there. He misses spending time with God and feeling His presence. He is crying out saying that his soul is dry and parched and that he needs God. He is feeling doubt and he yearns to be back in the temple again. He longs for it with his whole being. He is feeling doubt because he doesn’t know how long the exile will last and he is crying out to God as others around mock and ask where God is.

The psalmist combats his depression by talking to himself and asking questions. He tells himself to keep on hoping in God. That God is his Savior and will come to his aide. He reminds himself of how God was with him in other places before. He comforts himself by singing praises to God.

Yes, a lot of times I have felt like God was not around and I allowed myself to get depressed about my circumstances. The more I thought about my circumstances the more depressed I got. I failed to remember what He had done before.

Often when I feel this way I sit down and write out a song to God; telling Him how I feel. I would remind myself that He promised never to leave or forsake us. I would remind myself of all the times he used others to help me out. Or the time after my husband died when he was especially close to me. Sometimes I would sing hymns or praise music out loud to cheer myself up. Then after a while; I would hear from God and He would tell me that it was I who drew away not Him. I often keep on doing it because I tend to only see what is in front of me and not what God sees.

[Rosesam]

Q2. (Psalms 42-43). What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle? How does he combat his spiritual depression? Have you ever felt this way? How did you reach out to God at this time?

The psalmist is feeling deep anguish in his spirit and he compares it to a deer longing for water. He is far away from the presence of the Lord and the familiar things that used to be his comfort and joy. He is getting more depressed when men say that God has forsaken him.  He is even oppressed by the enemy. The spirit within him is anguished and the circumstances around him is bleak. He cannot see the silver lining in the black clouds that are looming ahead of him.

The method that he employed to counter his depression is something that we too can learn to apply in our situations. He is talking to himself, reminding him to put his hope in the Lord. He’s reminding himself of who God is – the Rock, the One who commands loving kindness in the daytime and song in the night- and thus he’s being strengthened in the Lord. Then he is deliberately fixing his focus on the Lord. After he fixes his eyes on the Lord, he’s choosing to sing and praise the Lord. He’s raw in his emotions to the Lord, for he does not hide anything from the Lord. But he knows his deliverance comes from the Lord and he is absolutely certain that deliverance will come and that the Lord is his defender.

Yes. Many times. But hearing the psalmist, I realize it is not just enough to say all is well. But to open up to the Lord and express our deep anguish to the Lord. I realize that it absolutely okay to approach God as we are for it is He who has made us. He knows our frame and that we are dust. In the past I did not express my deep anguish to the Lord, but chose to suppress it deep within. But now I express it to Him but I am assured deep within that God will turn it around for my good. It may be difficult at the time of anguish to see any good coming out of it but the knowledge that God is on the throne and He is in control of all things has been a great comfort to me.

[Gloria Jean]

At the beginning of Ps. 42 there is a desperate longing for God as for water when one has been in a desert without it for a long time. The ongoing plight of refugees readily come to my mind. Those who cross the barren land through Mexico, risking their lives so desperate for safety, security and hope for better life in America.

Questions, real and rhetorical....The Psalmist cries out to God and lays bare his feelings of abandonment, he also goes inside himself and questions himself and answers with self talk....somewhat like an internal dialogue with God...and finally he comes out of the questioning and dialogue with his awareness that "what has worked/been in the past remains"....God is with him, he must trust in God's continued presence and guiding.

Yes, I have felt far from God at times in my life...I went to God in prayer, struggled with God in prayer and went to scripture, confessed what I know to be true..."when you feel far from God, God isn't the one who moved!"  Confessed my weakness, asked God to help "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief".  I also asked others for their prayers.  

 

[artempathy01]

He feels changes of heart throughout the psalm.  He continues to put his love in God at the conclusion or very last of how he feels. Yes I have felt this way more than once.  Through hopeful understanding. 

[Rwarner22]

  Q2. (Psalms 42-43).  What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle?  How does he combat his spiritual struggle? 

He is feeling alone but he is determined to continue on with God as he expresses his feelings. He controls his struggle by being honest, stating what he is feeling and remembering who God is and what God promises.  The he restates what he believes to be true and ends with a uplifting words of faith.      

 

        How does he combat his spiritual depression?

He pours out his soul and remembers who God is.  He knows who God is and he reminds God and himself of God’s promises.

        Have you ever felt this way?

Yes but honestly I am more inclined to stay away from the Word when I need it most.  If I don’t feel like it, I often don’t read the Word.  I need to go there consistently — when I feel like it and when I don’t.

        How do you reach out to God at this time?

You do it whether you feel like it or not.  I need a relationship and devotion to God that is real and vital where I reach out to God in good times and bad.

[Francine Douglas]

What is the psalmist feeling during this spiritual struggle? The mood of the Psalmist reelects a sense of dryness and emptiness based on the sadness he feels evident in the tears and his question directed at God asking if He God had forgotten him (42:9). The Psalmist seem to also feel like a cast away by his circumstance in his asking when can he go and meet with God (42:2) and certainly by the negative view of his friends concerning his relationship with God, when he recounts their ridicule questioning about 'where is his God'.

How does he combat his spiritual depression? The Psalmist pulls on his hope in God connected to a knowing that God's light is truth over the darkness of depression and that God's faithful care is sure(34:3). From this knowing, the Psalmist encourages his soul to hope in the God of his joy and delight (43:4). He further reminds his soul that God is his Saviour (past tense) which points to a testimony of his encounter with God deliverance in the past.

Have you ever felt this way? Absolutely! I can recall a very lengthy period of trials that seemed to relay from season to season spanning 10 years.

How did you reach out to God at this time? During this time the word of God, especially the Psalm, prayer, fasting and letters to God was my anchor mixed in with tears and lamenting. In the midst of each storm, God's deliverance was sure, and His love and faithfulness clarified where I doubted him as a child growing up. 

[Krissi]

Thank you for these responses. Many here have suffered deeply yet speak of suffering in the past tense. God was there for them. They grew spiritually by becoming closer to God;  their characters were deepened through the horrible experience. Most importantly, however, their time of suffering actually ended.

God takes us home or brings us through. Either option is fine with me.