Fight For Hope (Psalm 42)

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June 6 - July 11

We often struggle with prayer. We struggle with how to start, what to say: can we be angry with God? Disappointed? Doubtful? How do we actually worship a God we can’t see? All of those questions swirl around, and then there are the questions of belief: does God hear me? Does God answer me and speak back? How do I hear him in the midst of my busy life? Throughout history, the Psalms have been the answer to those questions and more. The Psalms are the prayer book, the worship book of the church. They cover the range of emotions that we have: doubt, sadness, anger, grief, joy, lament, worship, exultation, hope, and more. They show us a God who is close, who redeems, who will make all things new, who forgives, and who hears us. Athanasius said, “Most Scriptures speak to us; the Psalms speak for us.” While we connect deeply with the Psalms because they give words to our deepest longings and hurts, the psalms are really about God and who He is, how we can be with him and know him.

The psalms were the divinely inspired hymnbook for the public worship of God in ancient Israel (1 Chronicles 16:8 – 36). Because psalms were not simply read but sung, they penetrated the minds and imaginations of the people as only music can do. They so saturated the heart and imagination of the average person that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was only natural that the crowd would spontaneously greet him by reciting a line from a psalm (Mark 11:9; Psalm 118:26).

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