Monday, February 11, 2008
PSALM Souls Will Be Set Free ...

Psalm 42, the first psalm in book II of the book of Psalms. I have finally caught up with the devotions on psalms.

I thought that this psalm was pretty interesting as it gave an idea of doing some soul searching. Not only that, it is interesting to know that psalms 42 and 43 constitutes one psalm. I shall look into psalm 43 tomorrow. Let’s look at psalms 42.

It can be seen that there is a repetition in v5 and v 11:
‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

This repetition really prompts you to do some soul searching and check whether that you are putting your hope in God, whether you will continue to praise Him despite the times where your soul just feels so downcast.

We can see in v 1-2 that the psalmist’s desire was to meet God. For he says, ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?’
Great was the desire of the psalmist for he was eager to meet God. I was reminded of one of the verses of psalms that I have previously memorised.

‘God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.’ Psalms 63:1-3(NASB)

We will praise Him because His lovingkindness is better than life. How many of us are actually eager to meet God? Some may say that they are too ashamed to even see God, let alone meet Him. But know that Jesus says come as you are, for the Father is eager to meet His children and he will forgive those who truly choose to repent.

I am not ashamed of the gospel and my lips would praise Him for His power and His love has saved my soul. My soul indeed thirsts for Him, just like a deer that pants for streams of water. He is a necessity in my life and He will always be here in my life.

Labels: Devotion, PSALM devotions