When the Darkness Does Not Lift

Psalms 42–43 describe the anguish of the psalmist during a severe crisis of faith. His song offers wise counsel for trusting God in difficult times and reveals three ways God ministers to his children when the darkness does not lift.

God Comforts the Downcast (42:1–5)

The psalmist writes as one who has been removed from the holy city of Jerusalem and desperately longs to drink once more of God, his living water: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1–2a). His soul is parched for the God of life like a hunted stag about to die of thirst. Yet all he tastes are tears of despair, for God alone can satisfy his soul (v. 3). For the psalmist remembers how he once led the festal gatherings of God’s people as they made their sacrifices at the altar (v. 4). Thus, he counsels himself with “self-talk” as he waits on God to save him: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (vv. 5–6a). His remaining hope is that God will restore his joy.

Spiritual depression can make us feel abandoned and afflicted: “Where is God?” We can even experience this distance from the Lord though we physically attend a church or daily read the Scriptures. So, when emotions overwhelm us, we must recall our hope in God. Amidst the fog, we ask ourselves that probing question: “Why?”

• “Why?” is an act of faith because it challenges our sadness.
• “Why?” punctuates the darkness and declares this life is not as it should be—that the dryness of our downcast soul is not what God desires.
• “Why” calls us to remember better times of worship: “glad shouts and songs of praise.”
• “Why?” draws us back to the glory of the Garden when mankind walked with God, and also points us forward to that coming day when we shall worship him forever.
• “Why?” reminds us to talk with our Creator and pour out the turmoil in our hearts: “My soul thirsts for you, O God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before you?”
• “Why?” then calls us to “hope in God,” for we shall again praise him, our salvation and our God. And as we fight the darkness, we lead others to the light.

For this reason, the sons of Korah composed this psalm together and arranged it for “the choirmaster” who led all Israel into song. They prepared it in anticipation of future worship in the temple and in churches throughout history as believers delight in God.

God Remembers the Forgotten (42:6–11)

The psalmist keeps his hope in God, yet still his circumstances do not change. His resolve neither raises him from his sunken state nor returns him to Jerusalem. Yet although the darkness has not yet lifted, his memory of God still keeps his joy alive: “My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you” (v. 6). Water imagery rushes over him with chaotic fury as the terrifying “roar” of the waters (v. 7) replaces the “glad roars” of the crowd (v. 4). Each wave summons to the next as troubles and threats keep coming. Yet all these raging forces belong to God: “your waterfalls . . . your breakers . . . your waves.” So, the Lord throws him a lifeline of faithful, committed, covenant love: “By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life’” (v. 8). Day and night, the psalmist weeps (v. 3). Yet day and night, the Lord is with him. For God allows his children to encounter suffering, but also promises to never leave us. Such truths are the ballast in our little boat of faith when the waves of sorrow threaten.

The psalmist’s foes attack him in his isolation: “They say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (vv. 9b–10). Yet, once more, he takes counsel in the refrain: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (v. 11). Even when our emotional state or physical circumstances have not changed, our God is worth the wait. Even when our soul churns like a raging river, we trust God’s promises of future joy and sure salvation. He is our Rock amidst the storm—our strong Foundation—our Song of living hope which testifies to the coming light.

God Vindicates the Righteous (43:1–5)

The psalmist laments his longing for God (42:1–5), and also his despair (vv. 6–11). Yet now, he pours out a threefold request: “Vindicate me . . . defend my cause . . . deliver me!” (43:1). The psalmist calls on God to justify his character, for his Father’s opinion matters most. Again, he wonders why God seems to have rejected him (v. 2). He shouts into the stubborn darkness: “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!” (v. 3). Yet he trusts that God will lead him back to worship and anticipates that coming day with joy (v. 4). The Lord is the object of his praise as he concludes the familiar refrain with a note of triumph: “my salvation and my God” (v. 5). In like manner, we too can hope in God when the darkness does not lift.

• Thirst for God as our source of satisfaction and reject competing comforts (42:1–2).
• Recall the joy we once experienced in corporate worship (42:4).
• Remember God’s glory in all its fullness (42:6).
• Ponder the waves and the watery depths of God’s holy justice (42:7).
• Rest in God’s sovereign love throughout the day and recall his praises in the night (42:8).
• Challenge the darkness by lamenting, “Why?” (42:9; 43:2).
• Plead for God’s vindication when enemies hurl their accusations (43:1).
• Ask God to send his light and truth to lead us home (43:3).
• Commit to praising God as he instructs us in his Word (43:4).
• Counsel ourselves to wait on God, knowing we will once again experience the joy of worship (42:5, 11; 43:5).

Psalms 42–43 will become the song of Jesus in whom we rest our faith as we endure despair. For Jesus also was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). His claim in Gethsemane, “My soul is very sorrowful,” invokes the same word from the psalmist’s refrain: “cast down” (Matthew 26:38). For Christ suffered on our behalf (Hebrews 2:17–18). He left his home in heaven to offer himself as the final sacrifice for God’s people: “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). On the darkest night of his soul, his “exceeding joy” remained in the Lord as he sang of his Father’s glory. So also, in our darkness, let us prayerfully rejoice with Christ.