The life of intimacy with God is not always a life of easy circumstances. Some of these psalms aren’t written from the perspective of the resolution of the hardest times, but in the midst of them. As difficult as spring is for me, I am at that place we read about in Psalm 142 last week, so sad that there are no words, and like the writer of Psalm 43, I can’t say the reason why. What do I do with that? Psalm 43 feels like balm to my soul; it gives me words: “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me, let them bring me to You,” in that set-apart place where you dwell. It reminds me that I do indeed have hope, and it’s a substantial hope, for it’s hope in God, the God who has already saved me from self and sin’s enslavement. Can you appreciate what a powerful thing hope is? Can you honestly say that your hope is in God?
The great sorrows of this world can leave us longing for – what? Hopefully our sorrow will direct us to God. He has designed us for intimacy with Him, but His design has been corrupted. Even though we are not in a place to enjoy that intimacy, we still long for it, although we may not recognize it and often look for other things to satisfy that longing. God’s wonderful salvation makes a way for us to enjoy that intimacy. That salvation is what these psalms speak about.
Psalm 44 points us to Jesus. Presumably the writer wasn’t just directed by the Holy Spirit to write about something he didn’t understand as he wrote these words that are quoted in the Gospels in reference to Jesus, but he and the nation were suffering what he wrote about. Perhaps in his corner of the country there were people whose hearts had not turned back from following God and so were justified in feeling like they were suffering unjustly, but the history books show that the nation was justly punished by God. Has man ever suffered unjustly as Jesus has? It’s interesting that at the end of the psalm the writer asks God to “rescue us because of your unfailing love,” and through the Messiah referred to in this psalm, He has, in a most heroic way!
The introduction to Psalm 45 tells us that it is a wedding song. Recall that the New Testament teaches about our relationship with Jesus by using the husband-wife relationship. One of the loveliest moments of that relationship is the wedding. Read this psalm with that in mind: that Jesus is the king and bridegroom, honored for His heroic deeds, righteous character, and just rule; and the church – that includes you! – is the bride. Can you appreciate the sense of beauty and celebration in this psalm?
Psalm 49 speaks of the inevitability of death – no one can rescue us from it. BUT – did you catch the verse that is quoted in the New Testament in reference to Jesus? He has accomplished the impossible; He has rescued us from hopeless death.
Is there anything in this life that makes you yearn, even faint, for the courts of the Lord, like the writer of Psalm 84? I have to count my spring sorrow a blessing, because it is one thing that does make me yearn for the courts of the Lord. This longing promotes such a gratefulness for hope, and for salvation that makes it possible. This is where my sight needs to be set – not on present circumstances, not on what makes me sad, but on this hope.
A sad reality of our intimacy with God is that sometimes it needs restored and revived. If that is where you are, can you appeal to God as the writer of Psalm 85 did, on the basis of His unfailing love? He has taught us through His word and His dealings with His Old Covenant people that He is more than faithful to His promises because He is loving. He wants His people to enjoy a relationship with Him in which they rejoice in Him. If you need a revival of your love for God, can you pray this prayer to Him?