Psalm 42 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 42 Short Summary:

Psalm 42, attributed to David of Israel, is an expression of longing for God's presence amidst spiritual despair. The psalmist compares this longing to a panting deer’s thirst for water. David fights for joy in God amidst attacks from his enemies who laugh at him for his trust in the divine. David reminisces on past worship experiences as he battles for his faith, ultimately choosing to “Hope in God” for his deliverance.

Psalm 42 Summary

AUTHOR:

• David is the author of Psalm 42.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• Fighting for faith when you’ve lost your joy.

• The power of reminding yourself of God’s past faithfulness.

DEFINITIONS:

• Maskil (42:1) – The exact meaning of this term remains unknown. It may have been a musical indicator, telling the musician or performer how the psalm was to be presented. Other people think the term indicates a psalm that was written to impart wisdom.

• Breakers (42:7) – Strong ocean waves that break up into white foam when they hit the shore.

OUTLINE:

• HOPE IN GOD (42:1-11):

  • In Psalm 42, David was preaching to his downcast soul about the faithfulness of God. He was resisting the temptation to believe the lie that God had abandoned him.

  • The psalm starts with the now famous words, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (42:1-2).

  • David longed to feel God was near him, but he was in a season where God felt distant (42:9).

  • He wrote, “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God” (42:3)?

  • His enemies were once again pressing in on him, mocking his God for not helping him.

  • He felt battered by the continual waves of trouble that flowed over him (42:7).

  • To remind himself of the joy he found in God, he reminisced about the times he used to lead the people to the Tabernacle (house of God) in processions of praise and songs.

  • He reminded himself to “hope in God.” Then he expressed with confidence that God would once again be his salvation.

  • David concluded the psalm with these words of hope, “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” (42:11).
    

APPLICATION:

• In Psalm 42, we see David’s internal struggle, his fight to find joy in God.

• Any follower of God will experience the same thing. There will be times when you despair in your faith, when joy must be fought for, and when you will have to preach God’s goodness to yourself because trust in Him isn’t overflowing naturally.

• In those moments, remind yourself of all the good God has done for you in the past, all of His blessings, all the times He delivered you, all the times He didn’t abandon you even though you deserved it.  

• Remember God’s faithfulness in your own history, but also remember His faithfulness to other people.

• The Scriptures were given to us to record God’s faithfulness to others throughout history.

• The better you know the Scriptures, the better your armor becomes against Satan’s arrows of doubt and despair.  

• He will have a much harder time convincing you to abandon the hope of your faith if your mind can recall 50 stories of God’s faithfulness in the Scriptures.

• If you don’t know any of the stories in the Scriptures, now is the time to learn them so that your armor is ready when Satan launches his attack.