Many of us have sung the words: “As the deer pants for the water so my song longs after You. You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship You.” It sounds really sweet, but the situation of the psalmist in Psalms 42 & 43 (almost certainly one psalm) is anything but sweet. This picture of the deer panting for water - it is desperation. There is no water in sight. The psalmist uses that to describe his longing; and it is a longing that can only be satisfied with the presence of God.

And it is this image that the psalmist uses to express his longing for God. He is away from the presence of God. He has been mocked by foes (42:3, 10). HIs heart breaks at the thought of what he no longer enjoys. And it leads to the refrain we come to three times in these verses:

5 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 6 and my God. (cf. 42:11; 43:5) 

But that refrain is not one of total despair; it is the psalmist talking to himself and encouraging his own soul to hope in God. These words show us that the psalmist is not actually far from God - or more truly - God is not far from him. God is his salvation and his God. God will not leave his children (John 10:28,29; Hebrews 13:5).

Yet in verse 6 we see those feelings turn from this hope again. His soul is cast down. But he remembers God is his rock (42:9), his only refuge. Even in that language we see hope. Then we come to verse 8:

8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, 

and at night his song is with me, 

a prayer to the God of my life.

The Lord directs, sends out his steadfast love and his song is with the psalmist. That may well be that because the psalmist remembers God’s steadfast love he sings, or it could well be that the song of the Lord (God’s singing) is with him. What a thought! God singing over his children and showing forth his steadfast love! Oh to hear that song!

Then in the next stanza (Psalm 43) the psalmist prays. He is not just remembering his circumstances and God, but he prays to his rock.

3 Send out your light and your truth; 

let them lead me; 

let them bring me to your holy hill 

and to your dwelling! 

4 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. 

The psalmist needed the light and truth of God to lead him to the dwelling of God - to the Temple. But the Temple was just a shadow of the true presence of God. Now, in Christ Jesus, who is the only way to the Father, we have been brought into the presence of God (John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19; 1 Peter 3:18). God has sent out his light and his truth in Christ.

No matter our circumstance…God is always with us. We need reminded of that, because it doesn’t always seem to be the case. Thankfully we have his truth before us in his holy Word. Let that Word, the Word of Christ, lead us daily into the presence of the God who sings and rejoices over his children! Be not cast down O my soul.

Provided to YouTube by TuneCore Send out Your Light (Psalm 43) · Sandra McCracken Psalms ℗ 2015 Towhee Records Released on: 2015-04-14 Auto-generated by YouT...

“It is the spirit of a truly godly [person], to prefer God before all other things, either in heaven or on earth.”

What does that mean for us? How is it that Edwards (this is a continuation from the previous two days) draws the above conclusion?

I think of Colossian 3:1-4: 1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

Our life is Christ. Apart from his we have no real life. And we, as we grow in understanding the nature of God, will long for heaven above everything else - and what we long for is to be with God. Edwards brings out Hebrews 11:13-16 where the saints died in faith longing for heaven; longing for a better home.

The main reason why though is because God is there. Heaven “is the place where God is gloriously present, where his love is gloriously manifested, where the godly may be with him, see him as he is, and love, serve, praise, and enjoy him perfectly.” That sounds phenomenal! The heart of the believer is in heaven, because he knows that is where his treasure (God himself) resides.

Edwards goes on to then state that the saint will prefer God above all things on earth. We’ve looked before at Psalm 27:4. There is great longing, but also action of seeking after God. It flows out of a heart that has seen the glory of God and longs for his presence.

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; 

my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, 

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, 

beholding your power and glory.  (Psalm 63:1,2)

We could turn to the New Testament and Paul’s letter to the Philippian church: 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:7-11)

The longing in those verses is palpable. Paul’s desire is to know and gain Christ. Now here is the reality though - we don’t all feel like this. As Edwards wrote: “The saints are not always in the lively exercise of grace, but such a spirit they have, and sometimes have the sensible exercise of it.” What I believe Edwards was seeking to communicate is that though this is not always felt (or seen) to be the case in us, it truly is the spirit of the saint to prefer God above everything else.

Why is this so important? Well, particularly in this time, when so much has been ripped away, the saint has a solid hope. Edwards wrote: “…whatever changes a godly man passes through, he is happy; because God, who is unchangeable, is his chosen portion…on which he builds as his main foundation for happiness…” The believer can be content in this time of discontent of the world, because our hope has not shifted, has not failed, has not changed…and never will. Our hope and our joy is in the eternal, unchangeable God who sent his only Son for us to redeem us from our sin.  

Here’s a song by Sandra McCracken that, in some sense, calls on our own souls to recognize the goodness and beauty of God.

Call Him Good (Psalm 104) Written by Sandra McCracken, Don Chaffer, Derek Webb From the album "God's Highway" by Sandra McCracken © 2016 Same Old Dress Music...

I want to continue a bit more on what I wrote about yesterday. This is a theme that has been continually coming up in what I have been reading and studying. It all tends to relate back to the presence of God in the life of the believer. I decided to reread an old sermon by Jonathan Edwards called: “God the Best Portion.” Edwards’ message is a deep reflection on Psalm 73:25, yet it also reminded me of Isaiah 26:3.

3 You keep him in perfect peace 

whose mind is stayed on you, 

because he trusts in you. 

This verse is a great promise of God, and we likely think about it in relation to the benefit we receive as believers - kept in perfect peace. However, I think the point is that the believer is looking to and trusting God alone. The believer is longing for God and his presence. Just a few verses later in that chapter we read:

8 In the path of your judgments, 

O LORD, we wait for you; 

your name and remembrance 

are the desire of our soul. 

9 My soul yearns for you in the night; 

my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. 

The soul of the believer yearns for God and his presence - because we know that the presence of the holy, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, gracious, good God is our good. Knowing who God is should draw us to him more and more. I think of our Larger Catechism question 7: “What is God?” The answer is this:

God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. (see also the Confession Chapter 2)

And to be honest, as good as that definition is, it cannot touch the depth and breadth of who God truly is. God is a God worth seeking, worth knowing, worth loving. He is the one for whom our souls should yearn. And as we get to know the God revealed in Scripture and most gloriously manifested to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, we cannot help but long for him. This God who gave himself for us to save us from our sins is our only true and lasting satisfaction and portion in all of life. The saint cannot be satisfied with anything less than God. That reminds me of a quote by Burroughs as well as one by Edwards from this message (and I may take another post to reflect a bit more on this message)

“Therefore you will observe, that whatever God may give to a gracious heart, a heart that is godly, unless he gives himself it will not do. A godly heart will not only have the mercy, but the God of that mercy as well; and then a little matter is enough in the world, so be it he has the God of the mercy which he enjoys.” ~ Burroughs

“Offer a saint what you will, [but] if you deny him God, he will esteem himself miserable. God is the center of his desires; and as long as you keep his soul from its proper center, it will not be at rest.“ ~ Edwards

Here is a song about longing for God’s presence by Shane and Shane.

The nearness of God is the greatness goodness we can experience while we reside on the planet earth. We want to not only know about God the Father, Son, and ...

Maybe it’s a little early in our ordeal to turn to this song, but without a sense of hope…of anticipation…things can get really rough. I’m not there, but man is it nice to see the sun. There is something hopeful about the morning. Something invigorating about seeing the sun rise against the darkness and with it comes warmth and light and joy.

Psalm 30:5b: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Unlike a typical day where we can check our Weather Channel app and find the precise time of the sunrise - we don’t know when the darkness of the pandemic is going to lift. The night of the virus may be long, but the anticipation is of the joy that will come with the morning. And we can rest in this - morning will come. We are all waiting for the change. We are waiting for this storm to blow through…this storm that can be frightening and very unpredictable and unknown.

And on a larger scale, we are waiting for the day of Christ to come. Anticipating the groaning that we feel to be fulfilled when the sons of God will be revealed (see Romans 8). The day when there is no more darkness. The day when there is no more pain or sickness. Lord, hasten that day.

I've been waiting for the sun
To come blazing up out of the night like a bullet from a gun
Till every shadow is scattered, every dragon's on the run
Oh, I believe, I believe that the light is gonna come
And this is the dark, this is the dark before the dawn

I've been waiting for some peace
To come raining down out of the heavens on these war-torn fields
All creation is aching for the sons of God to be revealed
Oh, I believe, I believe that the victory is sealed
The serpent struck but it was crushed beneath His heel

Oh, I know the wind can bring the lightning
Oh, I know the lightning brings the rain
Oh, I know the storm can be so frightening
But that same wind is gonna blow that storm away
Blow that storm away

Lord, I'm waiting for a change
I'm waiting for Your change

So I'm waiting for the King
To come galloping out of the clouds while the angel armies sing
He's gonna gather His people in the shadow of His wings
And I'm gonna raise my voice with the song of the redeemed
'Cause all this darkness is a small and passing thing

This is the storm, this is the storm
The storm before the calm
This is the pain, the pain before the balm
This is the cold, the cold
It's the cold before the warm
These are the tears, the tears before the song
This is the dark
Sometimes all I see is this darkness
Well, can't you feel the darkness
This is the dark before the dawn

I'm just waiting for a change
Change
Lord, I'm waiting for the change

I had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And I could see the fields of glory
I could hear the sower's song
I had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And all that rain had washed me clean
All the sorrow was gone
I had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And I could finally believe
The king had loved me all along
I had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
I saw the sower in the silver mist
And He was calling me home

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group The Dark Before The Dawn · Andrew Peterson The Burning Edge Of Dawn ℗ 2015 Andrew Peterson, under exclusive lice...

One of the grand beauties of the psalms is that they are realistic. The most common type of psalm is the lament. And right now, for so many, this is a time of lament…at least to a degree. I feel that. How long? How long will this go on? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?…(Ps. 13:1b-2b).

I may not be at that point of feeling sorrow in my heart all the day, but I do ask - how long will I not be able to hug or touch my family? How long will I have to live in the uncertainty of whether I had/have this virus or not? The not knowing is hard…and maybe the Lord is stripping something from me…my need to have to know…my need to feel in control (even though I know very well I’m not).

Things have been stripped away from all of us. What we have been used to is gone, and the uncertainty of when things might return is troubling. Will the economy rebound? What will the death toll from this virus be? Will my friends of family be part of that number?

For me, it makes me long not just for the end of this time, but for the day when all this will be forgotten. When all the sad things will become untrue. The day every tear is wiped from our eyes. The day when I will see my Savior face to face. We can hope in that and let that vision guide our days. Being heavenly minded does not stop us from being earthly good - it actually helps us, because it grounds us in what is good and true and beautiful.

There is a song by Bifrost Arts that captures some of this. I was playing it yesterday on guitar and found it therapeutic.

How long? Will You turn Your face away? 
How long? Do You hear us when we pray? 
On and on, still we walk this pilgrim way - How long? 

How long 'til Your children find their rest? 
How long 'til You draw them to Your breast? 
We go on holding to Your promises - How long? 

'Til You wipe away the tears from ev'ry eye 
'Til we see our home descending from the sky 
Do we wait in vain? 
Jesus, give us hope again! 

How long 'til Your word will still the storm? 
How long 'til You bare Your mighty arm? 
How we groan 'til You snatch us from the thorns - How long? 

How long? Sweet the dawn that ends the race. 
How long? Weak our hearts but strong our legs. 
Looking on - great that cloud of witnesses! How long?

Then hear the last two verses of Psalm 13: But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

2 Chronicles 20:12c

This morning I write from my bedroom, not because that’s where I normally enter a post, but because I am self-isolating. Yesterday I began not feeling good (a bit more than the past few days). Later in the afternoon I developed a low grade fever and so I called my doctor (after hours) and I was put on with a triage nurse (who has been overwhelmed the last few weeks). Pretty much having chest pains, sore throat, and the fever puts me in the protocol - even though I don’t recall being exposed to anyone with a confirmed case. Basically, I need to isolate and stay away from the family until I am fever free for 24 hours. There is not a likelihood of being tested, unless I get to the point of having difficulty breathing (it seems a little odd that we are waiting that long for people to get tested).

I think of the end of Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:12 - it seems very appropriate at a time like this, because quite simply we can’t control this virus. I don’t even know if what I am experiencing is the virus or the common cold just a bit worse than normal. The unknown is what is hard to handle. And we don’t fully know what to do against this unseen menace, but what I (we) can do is look to God in all things and do my best to follow the guidance of medical professionals. This is certainly a time to look to God (as is every moment of every day). It is in the here and now that we rest on the character of God. I am concerned for my family (more than I am for myself) - particularly the immune compromised and my parents and Erin’s mom.

I had another topic I was thinking about writing on today, but it wasn’t right for the occasion. At this moment in time I feel like I’m being pushed to trust and rest in the mighty hand of God. It is His hand that holds me fast. It is His hand that will never let me go. It is His hand that is keeping my family and the church. It is His hand that is not scrambling over what to do in this situation. It is His hand that is great comfort.

I think of the song “He Will Hold Me Fast.” It is a song that reminds me of great truths. I know myself and I know that left to myself I could go down a path that turns to fear and worry and anxiety - and it could become overwhelming. These words, and Scripture, ground me to what is good and true and beautiful. May it ground you too.

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path;
For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;
For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.

Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast;
Precious in his holy sight, He will hold me fast.
He'll not let my soul be lost; His promises shall last;
Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;
For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.

For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast;
Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast
'Till our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;

For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.

There are certain days where the longing to be with God is stronger. These are those days. I resonate with the struggle of Paul in Philippians 1…and I’ll quote it at length for the context:

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

You can hear his longing…to be with his Savior. Even though he knows that he is called to something now, his desire is to be with Christ. He is hard pressed. He has seen the glory of the Lord and he longs for that. He longs to be with the One who so deeply loves him…the One who gave Himself for him.

Paul certainly saw the brokenness of the world. He was beaten and persecuted. He saw pain and sickness and death. He felt the darkness all around him. But he also knew the Light of the world (John 8:12). We have all seen the pain and brokenness. It’s all we hear and see on the news. My brother has a friend who is in bad shape from this virus. It’s all hard. And it increases my longing to be with Christ…for the return of our Savior to make all things new (Revelation 21:1-7).

I echo the words of Revelation 22:20,21:

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. 

Amen - come Lord Jesus!

In light of that, I could think of no better song than “Is He Worthy?” by Andrew Peterson. Enjoy the beauty, goodness, and truth of this song. And I dare say, you may have this on repeat fairly soon.

The official music video for Andrew Peterson's new song Is He Worthy! This video was shot in one continuous take. Directors: Max Hsu, Brian Skinner, and Nath...

Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson)

Do you feel the world is broken? (We do)
Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do)
But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through? (We do)
Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do)

Is all creation groaning? (It is)
Is a new creation coming? (It is)
Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst? (It is)
Is it good that we remind ourselves of this? (It is)

Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave

Is He worthy? Is He worthy
Of all blessing and honor and glory?
Is He worthy of this?
He is

Does the Father truly love us? (He does)
Does the Spirit move among us? (He does)
And does Jesus, our Messiah, hold forever those He loves? (He does)
Does our God intend to dwell again with us? (He does)

Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave

From every people and tribe (People and tribe)
Every nation and tongue (Every nation and tongue)
He has made us a kingdom and priests to God
To reign with the Son

Is He worthy? Is He worthy
Of all blessing and honor and glory?
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Is He worthy of this?

He is, He is
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
He is, He is
He is worthy, He is worthy
He is