Latest / Reformed Thinking / Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul? Thirsting for the Living God (Psalm 42) | Charles Spurgeon

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Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul? Thirsting for the Living God (Psalm 42) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to the Deep dive. Today we are opening up a topic
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that is, well, it's central to the life of faith, spiritual
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struggle specifically. We're talking about those times
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of dejection, anxiety, and feeling just utterly abandoned,
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right? We're going to be performing a
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deep dive into the 42nd song, and for that we're using the
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incredibly detailed and I think, experiential exposition from
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Charles Spurgeon in The Treasury of David.
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Yeah, and this is such a necessary deep dive.
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Psalm 42 is, you could argue, the most famous Scripture
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dealing with what we might call spiritual depression or drought,
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for sure. So our mission today is pretty
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targeted. We want to dissect David's
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specific discipline method for coping with these trials,
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especially when he felt removed from God's perceived presence.
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It's a method, not just an emotional outburst.
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Exactly the text, especially when Spurgeon illuminates it,
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gives us a very practical framework for understanding,
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perseverance, and sanctification within a reformed view.
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It pushes past just subjective feeling and really demands a
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reasoned. Faith OK, let's unpack this
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then, because this isn't just a lament.
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The Psalm itself has a title that sets it apart.
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So the Psalm is dedicated to the chief musician, My show.
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Now we talk about a Michelle. We're not just talking about any
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old song for worship. What does that label, an
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instructive ODE tell us about what this Psalm is tricked to
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do. Well, that word, Michelle, just
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fundamentally changes how we have to approach the text,
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right? It means this song, even though
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it was born from this place of deep suffering, is actually
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meant to be a manual. It's an instruction guide for
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other people. David isn't just, you know,
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venting his feelings. He's documenting a lesson.
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He is our source material really points out that the Meshell
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label suggests this Psalm is especially for those whose path
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to heaven is difficult. It's for people who need wisdom
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and perseverance. This is practical theology put
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to verse. David is showing a step by step,
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the kind of internal dialogue you need to have to move from
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despair toward hope. So the very structure is an act
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of spiritual discipline, and even though the title doesn't
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explicitly name David, we're pretty confident about the
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authorship. What, what circumstances does
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Spurgeon think led to this? Yeah, the source attributes this
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Psalm firmly to David. It has his distinctive style all
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over it, that intense introspection, the the rapid
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mood shifts. Yeah, you can feel it.
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You can, and the most likely historical setting, according to
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Spurgeon and many others, is when David was fleeing from
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Absalom. OK, now think about what that
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means. David the King is in exile.
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He's forced to cross the Jordan River and he's physically cut
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off from the public ordinances from God's house.
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The very place he wants to be. Very place he longs for
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communion. So yes, his enemies are after
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him. But the deeper wound, the real
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source of the pain, is that enforced distance from the ark,
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from Zion. So the song is giving
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instruction to a believer who is heartsick not because he lost
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his throne, but because he lost the enjoyment of God's presence.
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So the affliction is a physical exile, but the distress it
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causes is a purely spiritual thirst.
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That's it exactly. OK, now we have to turn to that
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dedication because it's it's unique.
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I'm a shill for the Sons of Korra.
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Why this specific group of singers?
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It feels a little strange to assign a song of such deep
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dejection to this particular family line.
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This is one of the most theologically resonant details
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of the entire Psalm, and Spurgeon draws immense insight
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from it. The identity of the sons of
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Korra. It anchors the whole narrative
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and the doctrine of sovereign grace.
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How so? Well, if you remember the story
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from Numbers chapter 26, Korra himself rebels against Moses and
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he's swallowed by the earth along with his whole company A.
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Catastrophic judgment. A huge one, but the text
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explicitly says, and this is the key verse notwithstanding, the
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children of Korra died, not ah. So they survived A miraculous
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preservation. Precisely.
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They are, as Spurgeon calls them, the spared ones of
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sovereign grace. They had no merit in their
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survival. It was nothing they did.
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It was God's mere good pleasure that preserved them from that
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judgment. And Spurgeon notes that their
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survival, their election to mercy, it filled them with such
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gratitude that they consecrated their lives, their entire
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lineage to sacred music, into the glory of God.
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Their whole identity became a living memorial to the freeness
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of divine love. So their very presence in the
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temple as musicians and singers was a kind of theological
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statement. It was It was a statement about
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grace triumphing over deserved judgement.
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And that connects back to the theme of the song.
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Connects directly. The people best suited to sing a
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song that starts in the pit of despair and ends in triumphant
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hope are the ones who know first hand that their rescue was
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completely undeserved. They're equipped to express this
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spiritual struggle because they know the worst judgement has
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already passed them by securing their final victory.
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Their entire history is proof that God rescues the
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undeserving. And the source material points
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out their roles were even broader than just singing.
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They were involved in service, even even defense.
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Yes, the Koro Heights were assigned these diverse,
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sometimes almost conflicting roles, which shows how
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comprehensive their dedication was.
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They were musicians, They were singers.
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Heeman, one of the famous ones, was a Korhite, and as Psalm 84
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alludes, they were keepers of the thresholds of the
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Tabernacle. Guardians of the Boundary.
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Right, the physical boundary of God's presence.
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But what's really interesting is that First Chronicles describe
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some of them as fierce warriors, men whose faces were like the
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faces of lions who could wield a sword.
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That's a fascinating combination, the musicians who
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are also lion faced warriors. And it perfectly reflects the
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nature of faith that we see in Psalm 42.
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It's both a lament, a song of struggle and sensitivity, and
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it's a courageous act of spiritual defiance.
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The sons of Korra were tasked with both praising God and
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defending his sanctuary. So the Michelle is instructing
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us that spiritual discipline requires both the tenderness of
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a singer and the grit of warrior struggling against despair while
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holding fast to the theological certainty of our preservation.
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All right, let's move into the heart of the Psalm.
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Verse one gives us that unforgettable imagery.
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As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
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after thee. O God, this isn't just a minor
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inconvenience. This is desperation defined.
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Yeah, and Spurgeon really urges us to look beyond just the
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general idea of being thirsty. The image is specific, and it's
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intense. OK.
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This is not just a deer in a dry season.
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It's a haunted heart, a deer that has been pursued by dogs,
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by hunters for a long, long distance.
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Its flanks are steaming. They're smoking from the
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desperate run. Its breath is ragged.
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It needs water, not just for a quick drink, but to leave its
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body, to cool its fever and to escape the dogs that will
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definitely overtake it. If it doesn't get to that water,
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It's a matter of life or death right now.
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That completely changes the analogy.
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David isn't just saying, oh, I wish I could commune with God.
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He's saying I must have God or I will perish.
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I'll perish at the hands of my enemies and my own spiritual
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exhaustion. It's an absolute necessity.
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The craving is portrayed as this almost animalistic, absolute
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instinct for self preservation. And when the desire for God is
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that visceral, that natural, and that desperate, the source
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material says it is well with our souls, however painful our
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feelings. This panting is a perpetual
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consuming appetite. It's a spiritual state marked by
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what he calls a sweet bitterness.
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The believer is unhappy until he possesses the enjoyment of God's
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presence, this deep, unquenchable desire.
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That intensity is held up as a verifiable mark of grace.
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And then David immediately refines the object of this
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craving in verse 2. My soul thirsteth for God, for
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the living God. He's very specific about who he
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needs. He clarifies the objective
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because a true Michelle has to be precise.
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The thirst is for God Himself. Not just for church or for
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religious services. Not at all.
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Not for the Tabernacle, not even for the comforting presence of
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other believers. David needs the perennial
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fountain of life, light, and love, and the source contrasts
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this true thirst with, say, the desires of the worldly man.
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The worldly man thirsts for dead idols, gold, honor, pleasure,
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things that can never really quench the soul, right?
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But the true spiritual man, even when he's dejected, finds those
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alternatives just loathsome. Now why does the source take
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such pains to distinguish thirst from hunger?
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Well, thirst is described as a condition that is more awful
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than hunger. A person can manage hunger for a
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long time. It's painful, sure, but it's
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sometimes bearable. Thirst, on the other hand, it's
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insatiable, it's clamorous, and if it's not quenched, it's
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deadly, and quickly. So the analogy confirms that
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this craving for God is an optional it's a life
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requirement. It is, and if we claim to be
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believers but we don't feel any of that intense clamorous
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craving, we should probably question the authenticity of our
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piety. And this leads to his question
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about participation. When shall I come and appear
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before God? This really touches on the
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Reformed appreciation for public ordinances.
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It does, and raises a critical point about ritual versus
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reality. True piety longs for the public
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assemblies because they are appearances before God.
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Not before the minister. Not just before the minister or
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the music or the comfort of friends.
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The question for us, you know, for you listening, is whether we
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seek the face of God in our assemblies or something less
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compelling. David saw coming before God in
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the assembly as the highest good and urgent life sustaining need
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and this longing for visible communion.
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It really acts as a critique of any words up that prioritizes
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the outward form over that inner experience of seeing and being
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seen by the living God. That intense, unquenched desire
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then clashes immediately with the affliction he describes in
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the first part of verse 3. My tears have been my meet day
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and night. Yeah, the physical manifestation
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of his grief is just extreme. David Sorrow has completely
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replaced his physical appetite. His tears are constant.
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The source describes him as his meat filling his cup and his
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plate continually. They're described as salt meats,
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but healthful to the soul because they signify the
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earnestness and the authenticity of his distress.
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This open, pouring out of grief, while it's painful, is suggested
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to be better than what he calls dry grief, that silent,
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internalizing sorrow that finds no release.
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His soul is just melting because he's physically separated from
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God's house. But the real pain, the spiritual
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dagger, comes in the second-half of that verse.
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While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
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And this is the critical spiritual attack.
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It's incessant, They say it daily, and it's calculated with
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pure malice. The wicked know exactly where to
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strike a servant of God. They recognize that the worst
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possible misfortune for a believer would be the loss of
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God's favor. So they don't attack David's
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health or his political standing.
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They go right for the jugular. They impugn God's faithfulness
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and by extension, David's character and his faith.
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It's an attempt to shake his foundational confidence in his
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covenant relationship with God. Absolutely.
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The taunt is designed to cause division, to labor, to separate
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David's heart from God. It's the same ancient strategy
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used against Christ. You know if they'll be the Son
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of God. The enemies are trying to
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provoke David into calling God's faithfulness into question, and
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they show their own ignorance of divine Providence by assuming
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that suffering must mean abandonment.
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God often shows himself most intimately, most certainly in
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exactly these contrary conditions.
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But the taunt is continuous, and it cuts deeper than any physical
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injury, as David himself confirms later, verse 10.
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It's as with a sword in my bones.
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It's aimed to destroy the very root of his hope.
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So faced with this constant spiritual warfare, David then
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turns inward. In verse four he says, When I
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remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had
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gone with the multitude, with the voice of joy and praise.
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And here we see the pain of memory.
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David is recollecting the exhilaration of past seasons of
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grace mingling with the pious throne, that joyful ascent of
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Mount Zion, collective songs of praise during the holy days.
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But tragically, in his present state of exile, these memories
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only serve to intensify his current gloom.
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The contrast is just too stark. Where there was Zion, there's
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now a wilderness. Where there a song, there's now
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the sneer of the enemy. And where there was joy, there's
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just lament. Exactly the recollection.
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While it's an understandable reaction, it's not providing him
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any solace. And the source material offers a
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big caution about this, doesn't it?
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Describing the result as pouring out the soul in me.
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What's Spurgeon's critique of this inward turning?
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Yes, Spurgeon identifies this as the trap of useless
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introspection. When David pours his soul out in
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himself, he's essentially turning his heart inward.
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He's melting into self pity, just continually harping on his
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woes. And this, the source says, is of
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no value. It's like a prisoner on a tread
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wheel. You expend immense effort, but
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it achieves nothing. It doesn't move the prisoner any
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closer to real consolation. So self pitying recollection,
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while it's a natural reaction, is totally insufficient for
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spiritual rescue. The remedy has to be active and
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outward looking. So the soul needs something
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external to cling to, and this leads right into the active
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spiritual discipline in verse 5, which is really the heart of the
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Michelle's instruction, this self expostulation, right?
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Why art thou cast down on my soul, and why art thou
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disquieted within me? This is the vital transition.
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He moves from weeping about his soul to talking to his soul.
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He treats himself as, Spurgeon says, as though he were two men.
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One anxious, one faithful. Exactly 1 is the anxious,
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dejected man. The other is the man of
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discipline, faith, who is reasoning against his own fear.
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This movement, this chiding the soul out of the dumps, is
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defined as the best surgery for grief.
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It demands the heart give an account for its agitation.
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And the source also gives us that critical insight into the
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Hebrew phrasing here, which changes the emphasis completely.
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Yes, this is huge. The Hebrew active voice allows
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the question to be read not just passively why art thou cast
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down, but actively? Why bowest thou down Thyself, my
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soul. And that insight is central to
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the Michelle's teaching. It implies that we are often not
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just passive victims of trial, but that we actively participate
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in creating or deepening our own deedless trouble and distress.
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How so? Through an undue focus on our
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fluctuating circumstances or our feelings, David is holding his
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own heart responsible for its unnecessary tumult.
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So the core of the discipline is recognizing that the causes for
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alarm are often magnified by our ignorance or or our failure to
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apply theological truths that we already know.
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And then David immediately issues the command, the
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prescription. Hope thou in God.
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And that is the necessary spiritual surgery.
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Hope is the grace that is commanded.
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Spurgeon calls it the grace that swims though the waves roar and
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be troubled. And the foundation for this hope
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is entirely external to David. It's God himself who is
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unchangeable. And therefore this hope remains
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unshaken regardless of the external storm.
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It's not sustained by physical comfort or immediate relief, but
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by the secret visitations of God which sustained the Spirit.
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Even if every earthly evil were loosed, hope anchored in God's
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immutability remains. And this command is then
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followed by this assertion of future certainty.
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For I shall yet praise him. That's a powerful statement of
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perseverance. It's a declaration that the
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current loss of the sense of God's love is not a loss of the
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love itself. That's a key distinction A.
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Critical One hope anticipates the future and knows it's title
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to salvation is secure even when the deed feels, you know,
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unreadable. In the present gloom, David is
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anticipating the exchange of his present size for future songs,
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his lament for a triumphal pan. This down straights true
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sanctification, the ability to look past the immediate feelings
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of dejection toward the promised certainty of future glory.
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And the specific object of this anticipation is salvation
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through the help of His countenance.
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Why the focus on the countenance on the face?
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The countenance signifies the propitious face of God.
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It means God's smile, his visible approval, his favor.
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This is David's main hope in chief desire.
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He isn't just hoping for rescue by some distant hand.
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He is hoping for the intimate return of God's favor.
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When God's face shines on him, his low spirits will be restored
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and his enemies will be put to scorn.
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The source rightly hails this as an act of heroism to assert such
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confidence in the very hour of your greatest gloom.
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It confirms that the greatest blessing is the return of the
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Lord's visible favor. But Despite that robust self
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expostulation, the struggle immediately returns.
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And the Mosul acknowledges this reality of the Christian life,
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that internal peace is not always permanent.
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Verse 6 opens right back on that base note of dejection.
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Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me.
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The spasm of despondency is back.
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This is such a crucial point for the learner.
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If self expostulation is a spiritual discipline, how does
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Spurgeon reconcile its necessity with the fact that David's
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dejection just comes right back? He has to start the argument all
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over again. Yeah, it illustrates the
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difference between assurance and feeling.
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The discipline works, but the human heart and the external
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pressures are relentless. David recognizes the if he looks
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inward for comfort, all he finds are fickle frames and poor
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provender. So his response this time is
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immediate and disciplined. He says.
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Therefore, why remember thee the downcasting?
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Though it's painful, it immediately drives him to fly to
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the rock, away from self pity. And this memory is tied to
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specific deliberate locations from the land of Jordan and of
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the Hermonites from the hill Mazar.
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Why the insistence on geographical memory?
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He's practicing what we could call the cordial of past grace.
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He is strategically recalling specific occasions of past
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choice, communion with God for a fainting spirit.
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Storing up these memories of conversing with heaven acts as a
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necessary medicine. The places themselves, Jordan,
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Herman, Moozar. They become sacred not because
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of the land itself, but because God met him there.
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So he's creating an internal spiritual map.
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Exactly. The Hermanites.
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Historically, that's where God had given great victories, like
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the defeat of Sion and Ogg and Mizar, which was probably an
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insignificant low hill. It likely represents a time of
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the nearest, most intimate fellowship for David.
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So not always on the great mountain tops.
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No, often in the quiet, humble valleys.
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The wisdom here is that a true heavenly heart will count any
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place, no matter how humble, as sacred as Zion if God chooses to
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manifest himself there. David is using God's
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faithfulness in the past as a guaranteed promise for the
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present. OK, now the imagery in verse 7.
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It just ratchets up the sense of danger, describing the totality
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of his affliction. Deep calleth into deep at the
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noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows
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are gone over me. This is a graphic depiction of a
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total deluge. The master class in conveying
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overwhelming woe. The waterspout imagery, which
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was a known and terrifying phenomenon on the coast of
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Judea, suggests the billow is following billow, just
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incessantly. It's not.
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One single thing. No, he's not experiencing one
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single affliction, but a confluence of woes.
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It's as if heaven, earth, and hell are all conspiring against
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his peace. The deeps above and below class
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pans uniting all his afflictions.
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Bodily pain, mental fear, Satanic suggestions, outward
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tribulation, they're all merging into this one dreadful
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conspiracy against the quiet of his soul.
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He feels completely submerged, like a lonely mariner caught in
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an Atlantic roller with no chance to catch his breath.
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It's a profound, deep experience, often unknown to
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those new in grace, but it's common to those who do business
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on the great waters of affliction.
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However, in the midst of this terrifying description, David
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immediately finds his theological anchor.
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He shifts the ownership of the storm.
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With that one small phrase, all thy waves and thy billows are
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gone over me. Why is that shift in ownership
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so critical for him? That phrase highlights the
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absolute, unassailable sovereignty of God over every
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single trial. David doesn't attribute the
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waves to chance, or to the enemy's malice alone, or to
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random misfortune. He attributes them to God.
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They are thy waves. They are, and that recognition
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means every trial is sent, it's measured and it's directed by
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him. They were achieving his designs
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for the afflicted believer, especially operating within a
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reformed view of Providence, knowing that his troubles are
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confined within the bounds of a sovereign loving decree.
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It leads to quiet resignation. It changes the nature of
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suffering from meaningless chaos to targeted, purposeful
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discipline. Exactly.
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Now we should acknowledge that, according to the source, David
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exaggerate slightly. Only Christ has truly had all
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the breaking waves of Jehovah Passover him in the fullness of
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divine wrath. But for the believer, the fact
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that the trials are his sis means they are ultimately
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beneficial. The knowledge that God directs
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the waterspout is the key to endurance.
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And the certainty of God's intention is immediately
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declared in verse 8, which speaks of a sovereign decree of
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mercy. Yet the Lord will command His
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love and kindness in the daytime.
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This concept is incredibly powerful.
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God doesn't just grant mercy passively, He issues a sovereign
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decree. His loving kindness is a noble
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life built in a rough sea. The idea of God commanding it
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implies it's a royal donative, ordained of old for the elect,
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ensuring that no air of grace is ever entirely forsaken.
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The day may darken to midnight, but God will with authority
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command mercy to be reserved and manifested for His chosen
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people. And this decree extends beyond
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just the visible comfort of the day.
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It continues into the darkness. And in the night his song shall
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be with me. God is the God of the night
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season as well as the day. No amount of stress or trial is
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capable of preventing this special commanded love, even
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when the external world is dark and frightening.
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The song, a song of praise for blessings received, a song born
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of assurance. It wheelchair the gleam.
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And David describes his spiritual practice here.
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And my prayer unto the God of my life.
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This teaches us that prayer has to be yoked with praise, and
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it's directed toward the God of my life, meaning the author, the
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sustainer, and the object of his entire existence.
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To know that both our painful size and our confident songs
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have free access to our glorious Lord.
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That is the ultimate reason for hope, even in the most difficult
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spiritual condition. So having found his stability in
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God's command over the storm, David then channels his renewed
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strength into this direct inquiry in verse 9.
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I will say into God my rock, why has thou forgotten me?
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He doesn't stop questioning the affliction, but he retains this
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absolute grip on his confidence. He calls God his rock is only a
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refuge, his only true confidence, even when he can't
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feel any present sense of that refuge.
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And that is the crucial balance of faith.
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It's a language of feeling, not the language of judgement or
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disbelief. OK, Faith is permitted to
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inquire of God about the cause of His perceived displeasure.
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David holds fast to God as his rock while asking the difficult
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question and the inquiry. Why go?
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I'm mourning because of the oppression of the enemy.
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It's pragmatic. The Lord condescends to be
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pleaded with. He allows this question so that
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the believer can search out the causes of the severity.
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To know the reason for the sorrow is in part to know how to
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endure it as the trial unfolds. God's specific design for your
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sanctification. And his inquiry immediately
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reminds him of that most persistent affliction in verse
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10, bringing the tot right back into focus.
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As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me, while they
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say daily unto me, Where's thy God?
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The psychological cruelty of this is just.
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Relentless. It's a deep wound.
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The source stresses that these cruel mockeries cut deeper than
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the flesh. They reach the soul as though a
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rapier were pricking the hearts of vital center.
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And the continuous daily repetition of Where is thy God
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is the unkindest cut of all, because it reflects directly on
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the Lord's faithfulness. His enemies are completely
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ignorant of the mysteries of divine Providence.
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They just assume that if David is suffering, God must be
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absent. David's resort to prayer, using
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these very persecutions as a plea to God, is the only escape
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from what would otherwise be madding despair.
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So having fully traversed this abyss, questioned the causes,
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weathered the taunts, David returns to the self exploitation
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one final time. In verse 11.
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He's echoing the instruction from the beginning of the
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mashal. Why art thou cast down, O my
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soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?
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And this final repetition isn't redundant.
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It's definitive, the rehearsal of his sorrow when it's finally
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looked at squarely by disciplined faith.
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It shows him that there is no sufficient ground for yielding
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entirely to despondency. His fears dwindle when they are
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looked in the face. The self chiding is repeated
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with authority, demanding that the heart cease its internal
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tumult, and the command is issued again.
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Hope thou in God the anchor still keeps its hold because God
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is faithful and God is love, regardless of David's current
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spiritual feeling. And that final declaration
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signals a growth, a deeper assurance than the first time
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David spoke the phrase back in verse 5.
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The closing assertion is, Who is the health of my countenance and
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my God? That edition, and my God is the
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triumphant closing note. It shows that the writer has
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grown in confidence, in conviction.
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It provides a direct, defiant and immediate reply to the
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enemies incessant taunt. Where is thy God?
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He's answering. Them.
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He's answering them directly. David is declaring he is here,
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even here now. I'm not ashamed to own him amid
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your sneers and your taunts. This is faith closing the
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struggle, proclaiming victory by anticipation.
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The final lesson is that the health and the life of 1's grace
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lie not in the grace itself, which as we saw could be fickle,
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but in God, who remains his covenant of God.
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So the knowledge that salvation, the respiration of the
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countenance, is secured by an unchangeable God that provides
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the ultimate theological stability against all this
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psychological and spiritual turmoil.
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Indeed, the saddest countenance shall yet be made to shine
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through a firm reliance on God's salvation.
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He's a skillful physician who simultaneously comforts and
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strengthens nature while evacuating the disease.
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The perseverance of the Saint is maintained not by the strength
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of the Saint, but by the decree and the command of the Sovereign
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Lord. This deep dive into the mussheel
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of Psalm 42 has provided such essential instruction for anyone
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facing spiritual drought. The major Nuggets of knowledge
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we've pulled from a Spurgeon's exposition today are, while
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they're very clear, the desperate, absolute necessity of
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thirst for the living God, a thirst that is itself a mark of
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grace. Then the requirement to move
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past useless introspection and to engage in that discipline of
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chiding one's own heart, asserting theological certainty
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over unstable feeling. And finally, the deep comfort
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that comes from knowing God maintains sovereign command,
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labeling every single waterspout and billow is His.
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And for you, the learner, I think you should carry this
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provocative thought forward. Spurgeon notes that David's
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dejection was often self-imposed, as suggested by
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that act of translation. Why bowest thou down thyself?
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So consider how much of modern spiritual struggle and
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disquietude that internal chaos is not a necessary God inflicted
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trial, but is actually self-imposed trouble.
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Trouble stemming from prioritizing our fluctuating
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subjective feelings over the objective, unchangeable title of
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hope we possess in God, our sovereign rock.
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The discipline of faith requires us to stop bowing down ourselves
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and start commanding our hearts to hope.
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That is an essential distinction between feeling and faith to
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meditate on. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive into the instructive ode of Psalm 42.
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We invite you to continue that meditation.