Life is often described as a rollercoaster ride; we experience many ups and downs, twists and turns, hills and valleys. The same can be said for going through life as a Christian. There are seasons of life where we feel like thanking and praising God for all the good He has done for us. However, there are also times when life is hard, challenging and discouraging. It can be difficult during these periods of strife to feel God’s presence in your life. This sets the scene for Psalm 42, where the psalmist finds himself exiled far from Jerusalem and unable to worship in the Temple. He feels effectively cut off from God.

He begins the chapter declaring his desperate thirst for God during these times. “When can I go and stand before him?” he asks. The psalmist’s longing for God persists through his ongoing circumstances. Even while being taunted by his enemies and admitting his own discouragement, he declares his intention to “put [his] hope in God” and “praise Him again.” 

There are quite a few lessons and examples we can take away from the psalmist. First off, there is his desire for God, which he compares to a deer’s craving for water. In the same way that physical water is essential for sustaining life, staying connected to the Lord and His living water is vital for our spiritual lives. The psalmist has this thirst for God that cannot be filled by the waves of his depression or anything of the world. Is this true in our lives? Is our desire for God unwavering? Much like the psalmist, we must “thirst for God, the living God” in order to be fully satisfied. 

The psalmist isn’t afraid to share the extent of his brokenness with God. He pours out to Him how discouraged he feels and how sad his heart is, even going as far as to wonder if God has forgotten him. This is real! How many of us have wondered the same thing? Where is God in the midst of all we are going through? God wants us to come to Him with everything we’re feeling, even if some of those feelings are frustration and anger towards Him. Jesus reminds us to “come to [Him], all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and [He] will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).  He does not say to come to Him with just our joys, but with everything: our sorrows, the worries plaguing our hearts, and our needs as well.   

Despite all the brokenness and despair, the psalmist chooses not to stay in that dark place. He chooses to remember the brighter days of the past. During his days in the Temple, there would often be festivals where the Israelites took time to remember all that God had done for them. Remembering is so important. In those times of turmoil we all face, remember the God you’re dealing with. This is the same God as the God in the Bible who created the heavens and the Earth, who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, and who provided Abraham another land as his inheritance. If you think about it, there are many times where the Lord has been faithful in your life as well. Take some time to recall those days, but don’t stop there. Remember and take heart: if He was faithful to you then, He surely will be faithful to you again. 

All this to say, there will be days when life gets you down. Those days when you feel like the waves and surging tides keep crashing over you might become weeks or maybe even months. Jesus Himself says that we will experience trouble in this world. What does He say next? “Take heart!” Praise the Lord in those dark moments and put your hope in Him, just as the psalmist declares. Do not just look towards the past and what God has done, but to the future as well, knowing He is not done with you. Although there is no easy solution to overcoming these difficult times, staying connected to God and recalling those days might help take our minds off our current circumstances while giving us hope that they will improve.

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again — my Savior and my God!”

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. “O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?” Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?” Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

Image courtesy of Getty | This article was originally titled “Tethered to God: Keeping Above Life’s Waves” in the August 2025 issue of The War Cry.