Longing for the Lord

Reflections on Psalm 42

There are times in our lives when we long for the Lord—like a thirsty deer longs for water. Often during those times tears flow; our heart aches. We recall happier times; we wish for them. We miss friends and family that are far away from us—we know it is impossible to bring back times past, so we long for the Lord. We yearn for that which is permanent. We think of our loved ones who have died—and we long for that which is eternal. We long for the Lord.

We’re coming up on that time of year when we are most vulnerable to these longings. The holidays bring out those memories of Thanksgiving gatherings and Christmases past. We tap into these feelings of grief and sometimes we even spiral down into depression; and for some reason, depression often leads to guilt. I am amazed that in the last two weeks just how many of my facebook friends post that they are ‘weepy’ or ‘down.’ One mentioned the radical treatment she is undergoing for her most recent bout of severe chronic depression. One of our friends in TN calls his on-going depression the Black Dog. He has been very open about his depression through the years. So his fb entry is a request for prayers because the Black Dog is back.

In the middle-ages some Christian mystics called this phase of life the ‘dark night of the soul.’ Longing for the Lord doesn’t necessarily mean depression, but longing for the Lord is an element in our spiritual make up that we often don’t understand. Too many times our legitimate spiritual longing morphs into grief and grief slides into depression and depression catapults us into guilt—unfounded guilt, but feelings of guilt, none-the-less. I sincerely believe that Psalm 42 and 43 were written when the psalmist was depressed! Because the psalmist speaks of these spiritual longings—doubts—he takes inventory of his life. This happens when we find our self in a hopeless situation. That would describe the psalmist’s situation—and it could easily describe the situation that many find themselves in today.

In our feelings of hopelessness we reflect on the years past (like the psalmist did)and try to find meaning in all that has happened. In this process of remembering the psalmist stops and asks himself:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Ps 42:5-6

You see the determination of the author of these words. The psalmist exercises what the 21st century psychologist calls self-talk—speaking truth to himself regardless of his feelings! That’s not denying the feelings—but this self-talk goes beyond the feelings and the emotions. It speaks truth to the depths of our being, to our core. And speaking truth to our self doesn’t make depression magically go away because today we know that depression can be the result of an imbalance of chemicals in the brain [It is a physical problem!] so proper medication is very important.

Depression becomes a physical problem to be addressed and our yearning that this broken world and our broken body be restored is a legitimate spiritual longing then any feeling of guilt related to our depression is unfounded guilt. Self-talk is important to our spiritual well-being. So what message are you telling yourself?

Borrow the words of the psalmist. Why are you downcast, O my soul?
First century Christians seemed to know that worship also encourages us, worshipping with the rest of the church encourages us, lifts our spirits, and strengthens our faith. Scripture says,

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph 5:19-20