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Comfort for Now
Psalm 42:1,11
I’d like to read the last verse of Psalm 42. This is 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. (Psalm 42:11)
When we hear from God’s Word, what God would have us believe and do, we know where we’re headed. Jesus died on the cross for all of our imperfections. We know the goal. He has planned eternal life for us and the joy of that eternal life. We have depictions of that, descriptions of how God wipes away every tear from our eyes when we get to heaven. What a joyful thing that we’ll get to look forward to. The end of this Psalm is an effort at comforting ourselves that will one day come. The soul speaks to itself. I speak to myself and say, I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Especially we’re looking at that praise in eternity with all the saints and angels in heavenly glory and bliss. And in fact, that verse is repeated. It comes earlier in the Psalm as well, almost right around the middle, so we can see how important that is and how necessary it really is for us to remind ourselves of that, because we know where we’re going. We know what’s promised, and we also know it’s not here. We don’t have it. We’re waiting. We’re struggling. We’re in pain so often that it obscures that heavenly glory. It’s hard to see.
I’ve had people say to me, especially when they’re grieving the death of a loved one, we have the comfort that they, because of their faith in Jesus, they are in heaven now in glory and bliss, and so we can be happy for them. And yet it’s also comes up yeah, pastor, I know that, but I’m sad now. I’m struggling now. So where’s the comfort for life? Not just death. There is comfort for life.
This psalm begins with the problem. The first verse is
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
We’re thirsty for God. We’re thirsty for what he can provide. Think of that as parched lips and how all you can think about is water. Just getting rid of that pain, that ache of the parched mouth. We want God to come and comfort us in this. And that’s exactly what he does through His word, not just, oh, just wait, look ahead. This is going to come for you. But no, he is with us right now. We want God, that’s why we want to be in heaven, because we’ll be with God in perfection. And he is with you now. He’s with you in his word. He’s right beside you. He’s behind you. He’s beneath you, holding you up. He is within you. The Holy Spirit uses you as his temple.
We’re looking forward to our Sabbath rest right on the last day. When we come in glory with all the saints and angels, we get to worship God forever and enjoy that Sabbath rest. Well God established the Sabbath also for himself. He wants his Sabbath rest, and he takes that Sabbath rest in his temple. He takes that Sabbath rest in you. God comes into your heart to rest. And where he rests, he brings his joy. He brings his peace that passes all understanding. It’s not necessarily something that will feel every moment of every day. And that’s why we need this word. We need this comfort of the Holy Spirit. We can’t comfort ourselves. It only comes by the Holy Spirit through the word. God does comfort us in life and death. The advice isn’t, oh, just hold on. No, the advice is more here’s God. He comes to you in His Word. He’s with you as you weep and as you wail and as you wait and as you hope. And he strengthens that hope, and he strengthens you in that comfort.
