Photo by Junior Gabriel on Unsplash
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a breaking of my bones,
My enemies reproach me,
While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
By Mike Chaffin
This Psalm is a song written by the sons of Korah. Eleven of their songs made it into the book. They are some of the most beautiful and lyrical of the psalms. Who are the sons of Korah? It’s time to dive deep into Israels history.
Korah was a leader in the Levite tribe, a cousin of Aaron and Moses who lived during the exodus and march into the desert. In Exodus chapter 6 we find the sons of Korah are Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph.
The Levites were set apart by God to serve Him, some to be priests and some to move the tabernacle and other duties as assigned by Aaron. Aaron and his lineage were to be the priests while the families of Korah and other cousins were helpers.
However, Korah became upset with this arrangement. He brought 250 men with him against Moses and Aaron and demanded more of a priestly leadership role. Moses told them to come back the next day and let the Lord decide who would be the priests.
Numbers 16 recants the outcome.
28 And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.” 31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. Number 16:28-33
God had set up the system the Israelites were to live by. The rebellion of Korah was not just against Moses and Aaron, but against God. Moses warned all those around Korah to move away if they were not part of the rebellion. His sons moved away.
Nevertheless the children of Korah did not die. Numbers 26:11
David reinstituted tabernacle worship at Jerusalem and brought back the descendants of Korah to be gatekeepers and worship leaders.
When my children were in elementary school we had a home Bible study. Our study was on the Miracles of the Old Testament. We got together on Thursday evenings after supper for a few minutes to see what God had done. At the previous Wednesday night church service, a guest preacher was praising our Pastor for his ability to council people, his patience and insight into solving problems. The guest preacher said he wasn’t particularly good at it. He said when someone came to him for council and told him their problem, he wanted to tell them to ‘just get over it’!
The next night at home we read the miracle of the earth swallowing up Korah and the rebellious others. After the reading I asked my children what they thought God was saying to the people. My youngest daughter piped up, “He was telling them to just get over it!” Out of the mouths of babes!
What this psalm shows is we are not judged by the actions of our parents. We are not disqualified to serve God. Certainly, there may be genetic traits that are handed down from generation to generation, but as God told Ezekiel, the child is not condemned by the sins of the father. We pant after God, seek Him and His ways, and rise above our circumstances to live a fulfilled life in Christ. The sons of Korah did, and we can too.
To hear a modern day version of Psalm 42 sung by Tori Kelly Click Here
