A young buck walked past my window this morning. He had a small rack on his head and was not much taller than my motorcycle. He walked slowly, unconcerned, pausing every minute or so to sniff the air and look around. Obviously he was alert but his demeanor gave the impression of being very relaxed. I thought about grabbing my phone to get a picture but I didn’t know if he could see me and that would spook him off. I just sat back and enjoyed a few minutes of God’s beautiful handiwork.
Several years ago I was driving with a friend, an avid hunter, when a deer ran out of the woods and across the road. Fortunately, it was far enough away it didn’t pose a threat to us. My friend’s response? “The things you see when you don’t have a gun.” He began to tell me story after story of seeing deer in the most unlikely places - always whenever he wasn’t hunting. But once he geared up and headed into the north to find one they all seemed to disappear. He might see three in one day while driving but never see one in a week while looking for them. Can they smell the hunting gene?
Psalm 42 starts with well-known deer imagery:
As the deer longs for streams of water
So I long for You, O God! (NET)
We can relate to the reality behind the psalmist’s struggle. He wasn’t just wishing for some kind of religious experience. While we don’t know the specifics of his situation, we do know this: he was not able to worship in Jerusalem as was his habit (42:4), he is being mocked because of his faith (42:3, 9, 10), he is living in a mountainous region (probably where he saw the deer) that is not his home and does not feel hospitable (42:6, 7), and he is emotionally distressed (42:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11). We should not be surprised, then, when he asks God, “Where are you” (42:9)?
I am impressed by the honesty of the psalmist’s prayer. He is overwhelmed, alone, intimidated, lonely, longing for just one more moment to experience the presence of God, the worship of God together with God’s people. The physical isolation, the oppression by people around him is almost more than he can bear. He relates to God in humility. While he is desperate for a change in circumstances (and rightly so!) he never abandons his hope in God. But he doesn’t feel it necessary to present a courageous face to God. What he is is what God gets.
Yesterday, as together we looked at the story of Deborah in Judges, we saw the significance of the reference to God as the “LORD” (Yahweh) or “God” (Elohim). The former stresses God’s covenental relationship and character - His faithfulness and love, while the latter is a general name for a deity. Throughout this psalm, the psalmist uses “Elohim” to refer to God. Until verse 8:
By day the LORD decrees his loyal love,
and by night he gives me a song,
a prayer to the living God. (Psa. 42:8 NET)
The psalmist remembers WHO his God is - the faithful, compassionate, covenental God. In the darkest moments, “the night,” YAHWEH’s love and attention is on the burdened and suffering psalmist. His prayer is not to a distant, idle, detached deity but is to “the living God” - a description of YAHWEH unique to Israel. Today we worship the same God, the living God.
The psalmist recognizes that God may not fix his problem right away. Nonetheless, his humility allows him to embrace the goodness of this living God in spite of the circumstances:
Why are you depressed, O my soul?
Why are you upset? Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks to my God
for his saving intervention. (Psa. 42:11 NET)
The psalmist does not beat himself up for not having a “deeper” or “more” faith. He accepts the struggle as real and a normal of being human. He longs for the joy celebrating with God’s people. In the end, though, he acknowledges that God alone is enough. His circumstances didn’t change but his hope was renewed. God would - God will - resolve all things to His honour and glory. Waiting . . . that is the hard part.
Like the psalmist, like the deer, we too experience cravings. As much as we may want a change in our circumstances, renewal doesn’t come from that. It comes from hope. Circumstances come and go; our God never changes. Our hope is constant because God is constant. And He will refresh us because He is the living God who has decreed His loyal love toward us.
I would love to walk through life like that buck walked past me this morning: alert to God’s presence and grace, confident because of His love, satisfied because of His goodness. That, I think, is the greatest impact of hope - living like a young buck.
