I trust that you and your family are finding ways to enjoy each other that you never knew existed before.

We’ve seen all kinds of family projects on TV and YouTube, like dominoes and toilet paper tumbling throughout a house. We’ve laughed as we saw families dance and exercise. We’ve sung with live-streamed concerts and worship. We’ve watched golf ball and ping pong challenges, and much more.

Maybe you’re binging on television programs that you never had time for when life was in full-swing.

All this is a way to pass the time when we’re bored or depressed.

It’s easy to get depressed in these uncertain times, isn’t it?

Disappointment and even depression aren’t new.

Longing for More

The psalmist writes in Psalm 42:

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?” Psalm 42:1-3

Do you think this psalmist is depressed? 

Could this be the cry of our hearts today as we continue to be quarantined, socially distanced from friends and extended family, from our church family?

Could this be the cry of some who are experiencing job loss, loss of health, and maybe loss of that “lovin’ feeling” in our marriages?

Are you wondering where God is?

Examining Self

In verse 5, the psalmist talks to himself:

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 and my God.

Remembering God

In verses 8-9, the psalmist redirects his focus from his problems to the Lord and His providence:

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

I might pray: God, You are my rock I feel like You have forgotten me, This pandemic has pushed my husband and me away from each other as we scramble to home-school the kids, manage the finances, keep well, and keep smiling.

Remembering Troubles

Verse 10 returns to the psalmist’s troubles

As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,  
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”

I might cry:
As with a deadly wound in my marriage, my finances, my job,
this pandemic is taunting me
it’s asking me all day long
“Where is your God?”

Talking to Self

Again, the psalmist talks to himself in verse 11.

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 and my God.

I might talk to myself:
Why are you so depressed, Karen,
and why are you worried about this?
God is your hope; His plans are good for you
Praise Him, for He is your salvation.
God Almighty is your God!
Hope in Him! Wait on God expecting great things.

Applying Psalm 42

1. Cry out to God. God wants us to cry out to Him in our anxiety, in our fear, and in our distress.
2. Remember God’s love. As we pray, we remember His goodness towards us, and His power – He is our Rock!
3. Talk to ourselves. Sometimes, our thoughts turn back to our troubles. When they do, we are to give ourselves a talking to! Why are you troubled?
4. Hope in God!

Listing God’s Work in You

We’re trusting in God. We’re waiting in expectation for God. What next?

We can remember how God has worked in our lives. We can make a list of those things. I’ll guarantee you that when you begin to write, you’ll be surprised how the Holy Spirit directs your memory to ways the Lord has worked in your life from years ago.

Together, as a couple, you can pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you both how the Lord has worked in your marriage. Sit down today and talk about how you have seen God work in your marriage and write it down.

You might give each work of God a title and then write a sentence or two about it.

Then list the troubles or irritants that you’re currently having in your marriage. Give them a title and write a sentence or two about them.

Review both lists together.

Ask yourselves why you are distressed.

Then tell each other that God is your Rock. His steadfast love is with you. He sings over you at night and He is the God of your life and your salvation!

Is anything too hard for our God?

My Prayer

God, our Rock and our Salvation, nothing is too hard for you. We wait upon You in great expectation to work in our marriages, our finances, our jobs, our families, and our lives. You are good, and Your plans are good concerning us. Be with us, we pray, and teach us how to refocus our anxiety upon You. Make this time of uncertainty, a time of reflection, growth and renewal. Heal our relationship with You. Cause us to go deep with You. Heal marriages, Lord. Heal finances. Heal bodies. We love You, and rejoice in the works that only You can accomplish. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

As God sings over us at night, may we sing of His steadfast love as we proclaim that God, our Rock, is the God of our lives, our marriages, our finances, our families, and our salvation!

How are you talking to yourself during this time?

Photo by StockSnap from Pixabay