When the Darkness Does Not Lift (Psalms 42-43)

Psalms 42 and 43 introduce Book II of the Psalms with a severe crisis of faith.[1] By the end of Book I, David has been delivered and enthroned in Jerusalem. The ark has been returned to the city (2 Sam 5-6) and “the Sons of Korah” whom David appointed as worship leaders now lift their voice in song (Pss 42-49). These Levites were first designated by Moses to serve in the tabernacle (1 Chr 6:22-43; 9:17-32; 2 Chr 20:19) until Korah himself led a rebellion against Moses. He and his followers were put to death by God (Num 16; see Jude 11), yet Korah’s sons survived him (Num 26:10-11). Thus, their story depicts both the judgment and redemption of the Lord.

Psalms 42-43 appear to be a unified composition based on the absence of a superscription in Psalm 43.[2] Both also include a parallel plea to God: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (42:9b; 43:2b) and a shared refrain across both psalms to “hope in God” (42:5, 11; 43:5). As “A Maskil,” this 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 and therefore from God’s presence.[3] He 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. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps 42:1-2; see 36:9; Jer 2:13; 17:13). His soul is parched for the God of life like a deer about to die of thirst (see Joel 1:20; Jer 14:1-6). Yet all he tastes are tears of despair, for God alone can satisfy his soul: “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Ps 42:3; see 80:5; 102:9).[4] Yet though his enemies assault his faith, they cannot steal his memories: “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival” (42:4). For the psalmist remembers how he once led the festal gatherings of God’s people as they made their sacrifices at the altar (Exod 23:17; 34:23; see Ps 84:7).[5] He counsels himself: “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” (42:5-6a). For his only hope remains in God to restore his joy. The psalmist practices “self-talk” as he waits on God to save him.

Spiritual depression can make us feel abandoned and afflicted: “Where is God?” We might experience distance from the Lord even as we physically attend a church or read the Scriptures. We get overwhelmed by our emotions and despondency. Yet we must fight to recall our hope in God because the cure begins as we talk with ourselves, talk with God, and talk with others. Amidst the fog, we ask ourselves the one-word question, “Why? Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” This very word is an act of faith because it challenges our sadness.[6] “Why?” punctuates the darkness and states that life is not as it should be and 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. So, the sons of Korah composed this psalm together and arranged it for “the choirmaster” who led all of Israel into song. They prepared it in anticipation of future worship in the temple and in churches throughout history as we delight in God.

God Remembers the Forgotten (42:6-11)

Although the psalmist hopes in God, his circumstances do not change. So, he laments again, “My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar” (v. 6). His resolve in verse 5 neither raises him from his sunken state nor returns him to Jerusalem. Yet although the darkness has not lifted, his memory of God keeps his joy alive. He seems confined to the northern regions where Jordan’s headwaters meet the Sea of Galilee and the mountains of Hermon and Mizar rise up in the distance.[7] The water imagery now rushes and rumbles with chaotic fury: “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me” (v. 7; see Gen 7:11; Jon 2:3). The terrifying “roar” (kol) of the waters replaces the “glad roars” (kol rinnah) of the crowd (Ps 42:4). Each wave summons to the next as the threats and troubles keep on coming. Yet still, these raging forces belong to God: “your waterfalls . . . your breakers . . . your waves.” Perhaps the psalmist observes the Jordan River tumbling through the mountainous region as a picture of his soul in turmoil. He feels submerged beneath his sorrows, unable to breathe, drowning and desperate to reach the surface. But then, the Lord throws him a lifeline of faithful, committed, covenant love. God’s presence never leaves him: “By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock: ‘Why have you forgotten me?’” (vv. 8-9a). Yahweh not only loves him, but even “commands his steadfast love” to sing him to sleep like a lullaby. Day and night, the psalmist weeps (v. 3). Yet day and night, the Lord is with him (see Exod 13:21).[8] For God often allows his children to encounter suffering: his darkness, his sadness, his trials (Rom 8:28-29; Jas 1:2-4). Yet the Lord also promises to never leave us as our song, our light, our hope. These truths are the ballast in our little boat of faith when the waves of sorrow threaten to overturn us.

The psalmist’s foes attack him in his isolation: “Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Ps 42:9b-10).[9] Their mockery shatters his bones. 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.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who struggled with spiritual depression himself, offers his own wise counsel from Psalm 42.

The ultimate cause of all spiritual depression is unbelief. For if it were not for unbelief even the devil could do nothing. It is because we listen to the devil instead of listening to God that we go down before him and fall before his attacks. That is why this psalmist keeps on saying to himself: “Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise Him . . . ” He reminds himself of God. Why? Because he was depressed and had forgotten God, so that his faith and his unbelief in God and in God’s power, and in his relationship to God, were not what they ought to be. We can indeed sum it all up by saying that the final and ultimate cause is just sheer unbelief.

The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. . . . This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you have but little experience.

You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.’[10]

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 his threefold request: “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (43:1). The psalmist calls on God to justify his character, for his Father’s opinion matters more than those devoid of love.[11] Still, he reprises that nagging question, “Why?” “You are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (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). The psalmist resolves to wait for light and truth—the fullness of God’s redemption (36:9; Isa 58:8, 10; 60:1, 3) and the assurance of his covenant faithfulness (40:10; 57:3). He trusts that God will lead him back to worship in Jerusalem and he anticipates that coming day with joy. Thus, he hopes emphatically in God alone: “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God” (Pss 43:4; see 42:2).[12] The Lord is his exceeding joy and the object of his praise as he concludes the familiar refrain with a note of triumph: “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” (43:5). In like manner, consider the ways that we can hope in God when the darkness does not lift:[13]

1. Thirst for God as our source of satisfaction and reject any competing comforts (42:1–2).
2. Recall the joy we once experienced in corporate worship (42:4).
3. Remember God’s glory in all its fullness (42:6).
4. Ponder the waves and the watery depths of God’s holy justice (42:7).
5. Rest in God’s sovereign love throughout the day and sing his praises in the night (42:8).
6. Lament to God and challenge the darkness by asking, “Why?” (42:9; 43:2).
7. Plead for God to vindicate us when our enemies hurl harsh accusations (43:1).
8. Ask God to send his light and truth to lead us home (43:3).
9. Commit to praising God as he instructs us in his Word (43:4).
10. Admonish our sunken souls and counsel ourselves to wait on God, trusting that we will once again experience the exceeding joy of worship (42:5, 11; 43:5).

Psalms 42-43 continue as 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” (Isa 53:3b-c). His claim in the garden of Gethsemane, “My soul is very sorrowful,” invokes the same word, “to be cast down” from the Greek Septuagint (Matt 26:38; Mark 14:34; see John 12:27).[14] Christ suffered on our behalf according to the author of Hebrews: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb 2:17-18). He left his home in heaven for a time to offer himself as the final sacrifice for God’s people. Yet he did so as “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). His “exceeding joy” was in his Father as he sang of God’s glory. Therefore, contemplate the prayers of Jesus on that darkest night of our Savior’s soul.[15]

• As you pray Psalm 42:1–2 (“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God”), listen to the cry of Jesus from the cross, “I thirst” (John 19:28). Jesus, our Lord, knows the dryness of a desperate soul.
• As you pray Psalm 42:3 (“My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’”), hear how they mocked the Son of God: “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him” (Matt 27:43). Jesus, our Lord, knows the pain of being taunted by his enemies.
• As you pray Psalm 42:4 (“These things I remember, as I pour out my soul”), recall how Jesus enjoyed the glory with his Father before the world existed (John 17:5). Jesus, our Lord, knows the longing for “what used to be” and also “what ought to be.”
• As you pray Psalm 42:5 (“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”), picture Jesus’ soul “very sorrowful, even to death” (Mark 14:34). Jesus, our Lord, knows how it feels to have a downcast spirit.
• As you pray Psalm 42:9 and 43:2 (“Why have you forgotten me? . . . Why have you rejected me?”), consider the most anguished cry in history when Christ bore our revolting sins: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). Jesus, our Lord, knows the agony of his Father turning his face away from him.
• So, let us pray the prayers of Jesus as we contemplate these psalms.

Counsel Psalms 42-43

We often minister to those in spiritual depression for whom the darkness will not lift.[16] Our basic counsel involves teaching them to talk with themselves, talk with God, and talk with others. They must challenge unbiblical self-talk with gospel truths, trust in Christ through honest prayers, and cling to hope with the help of fellow believers. Psalms 42-43 model how to do this well by stirring in their souls a longing for the God of life as he reveals himself in Scripture and in Christ Jesus. For the good news we offer is not an immediate change of circumstances, but a patient and passionate desire to be satisfied in God.

Projects for Growth (Psalms 42-43)

1. Prepare your soul with the song, As the Deer (1984) by Martin J. Nystrom. Reflect on its lyrics as an invitation to experientially know the Lord through his new covenant Word and sacraments. Does your love for worshiping God with the gathered church resemble the psalmist’s longing?
2. Consider what factors cause you to become downcast:
   • A loss of purpose or the memory of better days (42:1-4)
   • The attacks and taunts of unbelievers (42:3, 10; 43:1)
   • Life’s overwhelming trials (42:7)
   • God’s failure to act as quickly as you desire (42:3, 9)
   • Other reasons which lead to loss of joy (42:9; 43:2, 4)

3. Describe the symptoms of the psalmist’s despair. What do you feel or experience in your own soul when you encounter spiritual depression? How can you “put your hope in God” when the darkness does not lift?
4. In what ways do you tend to forget the goodness of God? What spiritual disciplines and practices compel you to remember him and to actively pursue him? Which solutions helped to cure the psalmist’s depression?
5. The psalmist’s prayer, “When shall I see the face of God” (42:2), would not be answered until the coming of Christ (John 14:9; 2 Cor 4:4). Yet consider how Jesus radiates the very presence of God:
   • Our Light and Truth (John 1:4-5, 9; 8:12; 14:6)
   • Our Living Hope of resurrection (1 Pet 1:3)
   • Our Rock and Refuge (Matt 7:24-25; 1 Cor 10:4)
   • Our Living Water who eternally satisfies our thirst (John 4:10-14; 7:37-39)
   • Our great High Priest who sympathizes with our sorrows and brings us to the altar (Heb 2:17-18; 4:14-16)
   • Our Salvation and our God (Matt 1:21)
   • Our Song of praise (Ps 118:14)
6. Meditate on the psalm’s refrain as your journey back to God (Pss 42:5, 11; 43:5).
   • Recognize: “Why are you cast down, O my soul?”
   • Reflect: “And why are you in turmoil within me?”
   • Rest: “Hope in God!”
   • Remember: “For I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

7. Memorize the following quote by Jerry Bridges and select certain Scriptures you will cling to in troubled times: “Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us.”[17] For example, practice preaching the gospel to yourself from Romans 8:31-35.
8. Open a hymnal and sing against the darkness. Or consider The Psalter of 1912 as it arranges Psalm 42.

How long wilt Thou forget me,
   O Lord, Thou God of grace?
How long shall fears beset me
   While darkness hides Thy face?
How long shall griefs distress me
   And turn my day to night?
How long shall foes oppress me
   And triumph in their might?

O Lord my God, behold me
   And hear mine earnest cries;
Lest sleep of death enfold me,
   Enlighten Thou mine eyes;
Lest now my foe insulting
   Should boast of his success,
And enemies exulting
   Rejoice in my distress.

Pray Psalms 42-43

1. O God, my soul desperately longs for you (42:1-2).
2. I place my hope in you alone (42:5, 11; 43:5).
3. You are sovereign both in my pain and in the comfort of your love (42:7-8a, 9-10).
4. O Lord, sing me to sleep on troubled nights (42:3, 8b).
5. Help me to remember all that you have done as I praise you once again (42:4, 6; 43:1-4).

[1] Each of the five books in the Psalms begins with an introduction and concludes with a doxology of praise to God. Book I was mostly written by David (37 of 41 ascribed to him), while Book II introduces various authors, including the Sons of Korah (42-49), Asaph (50), and Solomon (72). Another shift from Book I to Book II is the predominant use of Elohim instead of Yahweh for the name of God.

[2] This is a unique occurrence in Book II of the Psalms. In other instances, it often indicates that the psalms are either joined or closely connected (e.g., Pss 9-10, 32-33, 70-71). Some, however, suggest that Psalm 43 was a separate psalm deliberately written to be paired with Psalm 42.

[3] We are not given the exact reason, but such a separation from his home and God’s home sets the context for this portion of the Psalter. Jerusalem has been defeated (Ps 44) and awaits a coming King (Ps 45) to restore her glory (46-49).

[4] The rhythm of Psalm 42:3 gives the sense of halting emotions with its first line being longer than the second.

[5] Remembering God at the annual feasts and festivals (Exod 23:14; Lev 23:39–41; Deut 16:1–17) is “a form of proclamation and testimony. . . . Memory in Israel is not a private act of momentary recall but a continuous communal rehearsal of divine faithfulness” (Wilson, Psalms, 1:676).

[6] “Faith is allowed to enquire of her God the causes of his displeasure, and she is even permitted to expostulate with him and put him in mind of his promises, and ask why apparently they are not fulfilled. If the Lord be indeed our refuge, when we find no refuge, it is time to be raising the question, ‘Why is this?’” (Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 1 [McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing, n.d.], 274).

[7] “Mizar” means “little hill” or “little mountain, so it was likely one of the lesser peaks in the Mount Hermon range. “Hermon” is in the plural, perhaps indicating its multiple peaks.

[8] The imperfect tense verbs in verse 8 indicate ongoing, continuous action.

[9] “Mourning” is a rich Hebrew term (qadar), meaning “to be ashy” or “dark-colored,” even “black.” It depicts the ancient practice of heaping ashes on one’s head when mourning (see Job 30:28; Jer 14:2) or extraordinary grief over God’s impending judgment (Isa 13:10; Jer 4:28; Joel 2:10, 30-31; 3:15; Zeph 1:15).

[10] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965), 20-21.

[11] The “ungodly” are literally, “those outside of God’s covenant love” (lo-hasid).

[12] This song progresses like the pilgrims who ascend to worship God in the city of Jerusalem: From distant longing to “your holy hill and to your dwelling. Then . . . to the altar of God” within “the house of God” before the very presence of God himself (43:3-4; see 42:4).

[13] Adapted from Hamilton Jr., Psalms, 1:454 and John Piper, Shaped By God: Thinking and Feeling in Tune with the Psalms (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2011), 15-25.

[14] Apart from Psalms 42-43, perilupos occurs only two other times in the Old Testament (Gen 4:6; Dan 2:12) and twice more in the New Testament (Mark 6:26; Luke 18:23-24).

[15] Adapted from Chris Anderson, Josh Tyrpak, and Carl Trueman, Gospel Meditations for Prayer (Greenville, SC: Church Works Media, 2013).

[16] For further insights, read Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965 and Edward T. Welch, Depression: Looking Up From the Stubborn Darkness (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2011).

[17] Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, Even When Life Hurts, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2008), 214.