A FINAL LOOK AT PSALM 42

Psalm 42:9-11 

New Living Translation

9 “O God my rock,” I cry,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I wander around in grief,

oppressed by my enemies?”

10 Their taunts break my bones.

They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”

11 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 my God!

            Taunts and ridicule can be very debilitating to any person, even a believer in Christ.  Depending on how strong their faith is, it can become quite crippling. Our mind is a battlefield and the enemy knows this all too well. If he can cause a believer to disengage from the Lord, even for a brief time, he has succeeded in making him or her less effective for the kingdom of God. 

            The Sons of Korah use very descriptive language to tell the reader how they are feeling in the face of the taunts they are experiencing. “Oppressed”is one word they use, “break my bones”is another way they put it. Oppression is a feeling of being weighed down in your mind and/or body by an individual or events. Broken bones are very painful, to say the least. We heal from both, but bear scars that could last a lifetime. To their credit, the Sons of Korah always come back to their one hope and that is God. 

            Just because we are forgiven of all our sins, we willbecome discouraged at times. Our hearts will become sad. Believers in Christ are not immune to it.  We are not immune to depression or doubt or worry either. We are human and with that comes ever little nuance of our personality that makes us who we are. God made us the way we are and it is good. Therefore, while we will find ourselves in the doldrums from time to time, we don’t have to live there. Our hope has been, is and always will be Almighty God. He is our Savior and needs to also be our Lord. We must praise him for who he is, not necessarily for what he has done, even though he is to be praised for that as well. When you are down, look up and remember who God is and the second chance at a better life he has given you. Then rejoice, for his return is inevitable. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible, www.biblegateway.com, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language.