As the deer pants for the water brooks,
WEEK 22
APPROACHING GOD WHEN
DISMAYED
PSALMS 42–43
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in
procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping
festival.
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. Oh my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.
I will say to God my rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the
enemy?" As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly
nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
OUR FATHER, life in this sin-cursed world
sometimes seems full of anguish— and we are too prone to fatigue and discouragement. Sometimes we can only groan inwardly,
echoing the sigh of all creation in this fallen realm.1
We desperately need the help and comfort of Your Holy Spirit
to endure the ravages of sin amid the trials of daily life. Often we don't even know how to pray,
but He makes intercession for us with groanings of His own
that are too deep for human words. And His prayers, unlike our feeble efforts
to express the agony of our hearts, are always in accord with Your perfect will.2
As Your children, we thirst for You and trust in You deep down. We long to sense Your presence. We need Your tender mercy. We crave Your heavenly comfort. We stand in awe of Your wisdom,
Your faithfulness, and Your perfect timing. Our experience confirms the testimony of Your Word:
You have never forsaken us. Thus with settled confidence
we echo the bold expectancy of the psalmist:
We shall yet praise You.
Bearing in mind those precious truths,
we approach Your throne once again
with both fearful trembling and holy boldness. You are both glorious and merciful;
almighty and full of compassion; a righteous Judge but extravagant with tender mercies. We seek Your blessed favor in our times of need,
although we know we are unworthy, because You have summoned us
to come confidently to the throne of grace.3
We are vile, fallen creatures, and Your glory is above the heavens.4
We are guilty but You are gracious. We are weak but You are strong. We are needy but You are rich in lovingkindness. We are defiled by sin but You are spotlessly holy. We are without merit, but You cover us
with Your own perfect righteousness. Most gladly, therefore, do we boast about our weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in us. Help us to be content with weaknesses,
with insults, with distresses, with persecutions,
and with difficulties for Christ's sake. Because when we are weak, then we are strong.5
By faith we have been made dead to sin
and alive in Your holy presence. You have blessed us with love—
the likes of which we have never before known—
love for You and love for one another. You have showered us with grace and glory;
no good thing have You withheld.6
You have brought us into the fellowship of the church,
and you have supplied us everything
that pertains to life and godliness.7
Use us to advance Your kingdom and bring honor to Your name! Cleanse us from everything
that would hinder us in accomplishing Your will, and receive our earnest prayers and worship
in the name of Christ. Amen.
1. Romans 8:22-23 2. Romans 8:26-27 3. Hebrews 4:14-16 4. Psalm 113:4 5. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 6. Psalm 84:11 7. 2 Peter 1:3
PRAYERS ON THE CROSS AND
THE GOSPEL