Daily Bible Reading

April 2, 2022

Psalm 42(GNT)

God’s Renewing Word of Hope

Introduction

Psalm 42: This psalm opens Book Two of the Psalter. Book Two, which concludes with Psalm 72, provides words of hope for a community facing exile. In today’s reading, the writer seeks to overcome the feeling of being alienated from God and expresses trust in God as savior.

Scripture Reading

BOOK TWO

(Psalms 42–72)

The Prayer of Someone in Exile

1As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,

so I long for you, O God.

2I thirst for you, the living God.

When can I go and worship in your presence?

3Day and night I cry,

and tears are my only food;

all the time my enemies ask me,

“Where is your God?”

4My heart breaks when I remember the past,

when I went with the crowds to the house of God

and led them as they walked along,

a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.

5Why am I so sad?

Why am I so troubled?

I will put my hope in God,

and once again I will praise him,

my savior and my God.

6-7Here in exile my heart is breaking,

and so I turn my thoughts to him.

He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul;

chaos roars at me like a flood,

like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan

from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.

8May the Lord show his constant love during the day,

so that I may have a song at night,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9To God, my defender, I say,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go on suffering

from the cruelty of my enemies?”

10I am crushed by their insults,

as they keep on asking me,

“Where is your God?”

11Why am I so sad?

Why am I so troubled?

I will put my hope in God,

and once again I will praise him,

my savior and my God.

Today’s Key Verse: Psalm 42:8

May the LORD show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life.

Reflect

How does the psalm writer express a longing for God? What does the writer remember and what causes the writer to be sad? What is the question that the writer’s enemies keep asking? If you were asked this question amid a troubling situation in your life, how would you answer?

Pray

Lord God, whenever my heart is breaking and I am sad, I know I can turn to you, trusting that you are always near. You are my defender and the God of my life, and I thank and praise you for your constant love. Amen.

Tomorrow’s Reading

Psalm 43: A continuation of a prayer of someone in exile.

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