A Pathway Through Grief (Psalm 42)

The Psalms take us through the fullness of the human experience, from deep, soul aching grief and despair to exuberant joy and thanksgiving.  This series is an invitation for all of us, each and every one of us, to bring all of us, the fullness of our being, as an offering to God.  To see in the Psalms a model for worship, not just a song sung on Sunday morning, but worship as we see it in Scripture—something that encompasses all of life, all of us, the totality of our being, surrendered to God.   Thankfully, we’re not the first people in human history to ever feel lonely, forgotten, or disconnected. Psalm 42 is filled the kinds of questions we ask when our world is falling apart.  God, do you see me?  Do you care?  Will I always feel as disconnected and sad and lonely as I do right now?  God, are you here with me?  Israel was always to be a remembering people and so are we. Remembering the goodness and faithfulness of God gives us a way to become present to both our feelings of grief and to God with us in our grief.  In this Psalm, and in many others, we see a pathway into and through our grief that encompasses past, present, and future, that doesn’t deny anything, but also gives us hope.