Psalm 42:1-11

Introduction: Do you ever get down? Have you been a little down lately? Why? The question begs: “WHEN,” not “IF”…..we get down, how do we get back up? The Psalmist speaks on this subject and shares four (4) insights as to “HOW to get back UP, when you get DOWN”!

1. Will we REMEMBER “WHO” it is that Gets us up, When we are down? (Psa 42:1, 2)

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Personal Application: Are you thirsty for a deeper relationship with God? The example in the text is that of a deer who is being chased by dogs….while running for his life, his parched tongue dangling out of his mouth and longing for a drink of water. The “hounds of hell” are after God’s children.

{The word “hart” is ayâl, which means stag, or male deer}

{The word “pants” is the word ârag, which means to cry, to long for}

2. Will we REMEMBER “HOW” the Lord gets us up, When we get Down? (Psa 42:3, 4)

“My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 4When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.”

Personal Application: God honors a “BROKEN” heart, fully dependent upon Him. Others will challenge a believer’s faith in the Lord when he or she is going through a trial. Are we broken before the Lord?

3. Will we REMEMBER “WHY” we get Down? (Psa 42:5 -7)

“5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. 6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. 7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.”

{The word “cast down” is shâchach, which means depressed, stoop low, humble self, despair}

{The word “disquieted” is hâmâh, which means “to murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud, be moved, be troubled, be in an uproar”}

Personal Application: What does it mean to “Hope” in God? (v .5)

{The word “hope” is yâchal, which means wait, expect, tarry}

Will we wait, tarry on the Lord God when we get down?

4. Will we REMEMBER “WHAT to DO” when the Lord gets us up? (Psa 42:8-11)

“8Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. 9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 10As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? “11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

Personal Application: Do you REMEMBER the lines to the song…..?

**The God of the “GOOD TIMES,” He’s still God in the “BAD TIMES”!