“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” Psalms 42:1-2 NLT
Some have been able to witness this beautifully simple moment as a deer timidly approaches a stream for a drink of water. I’ve only been able to see it on some nature show with a videographer capturing the moment while the narrator, maybe Morgan Freeman or Dylan Dreyer does the voiceover. The deer makes it’s way to water knowing that it’s a tenuousness moment. The deer has to, wants to drink but it’s enemy also knows it’s the best time to catch its prey while the deer is distracted. It’s likely that David watched this kind of scene many times in his life – he was practically born and raised as a nature boy, living life in the hill country of Judah.
David repeats a thought about his life and where he stands with God watching, controlling everything that happens around him. He speaks to his own soul and asks, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?” These are amazing questions to ask ourselves when things get dark and difficult. Yeah! Why, exactly, am I down? What is it? Can I name it? The answer will likely come to us if we take some time to stop and have a conversation with our soul and with God!
David doesn’t write the answer in the text, but we know from history there was a lot going on in his life. A quick search on www.blueletterbible.org will show that David was running and hiding again, this time from his own son Absalom (his third son). If your a parent, it’s not too hard to imagine one of your adult kids coming after you to kill you and take their inheritance – especially if that inheritance is the kingdom of Israel. So one answer his soul might kick back to him is, “yeah your sad… because your kid is trying to kill you!” Legit, right?
David follows up his question with more than just an answer from his soul, he writes, “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.” Whoa. David flips his thoughts to a far more reliable and powerful outcome in his situation – his HOPE in God. Hope is not a wish or a squishy, wispy fantasy. Hope is a carabiner, a stick-clip, attached to a climbing anchor that saves your life should you fail and fall. And that anchor is imbedded in the rock, THE ROCK, in our case. David’s psalm teaches us that when we feel we are starting to free fall in our feelings of despair, hope clipped into the anchor then catches us. No matter what my soul answers back when I ask (and asking is the best way to get some kind of clarity) “why am I so sad?” I must be quick to clip my hope into the anchor and let God catch me.
Prayer
Dad,
David’s response, at least how it was written, was almost immediate. Maybe there was a pause, a moment or two as he reflected on the questions he asked his soul. I’m trying to be faster at realizing that my feelings, along with my crazy thoughts are running away, dragging me to horrible outcomes. I just want to catch my soul at the earliest possible moment and force it to answer – “why are you discouraged?” If I can catch my soul before it spins and my mind runs, maybe I have a moment to listen to the answer and then securely “clip in” my hope to the Rock of my salvation! Sounds like a plan – I just need to get better at it.