“Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights…
And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:1a,16
“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?’
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
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.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
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?’
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?’
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 42:2-11
There are times when logic defies the angst of a soul. A healthy, breathing, secure, provided-for child of God, in whom His soul delights, can find himself in an emotional slough, unable to articulate reasonable reasons. Enter the loving Lord. Though we may not be able to comprehend it, He who knows our frame, every thought and pang and movement, rejoices over us with singing. How can this be? And why are we downcast? (Psalm 139:1-3,15-16; Zephaniah 3:17)
When our soul thirsts for the balm of God’s presence, and longs for relief from turmoil, fear, or loneliness, it is a good thing to express the yearning and questions. But we must remember that a personal, loving God has steered us there to seek His light, to take Him our desperation, because He’s planted in us the knowing that He is the place to go.
His soul is safe, we can hide there. His soul is good, and we can cry for its comfort. Our soul may be downcast, but His lifts us up in cherished embrace and delight. His soul sings and awakens in us new songs.
What longing, lament, or heaviness of soul can we bring under the salvation and delight of God’s today?
Good Father, unite my soul with Yours, that every sense and emotion blesses you and praises Your name. (Psalm 103:1-13)
As the rain and snow 
Thank you Pam!
Earlier this morning, I read one of the Puritan’s prayers from The Valley of Vision. The verses that you shared from Isaiah 42 – about God leading us along a path that takes us from blindness and darkness into light – reminded me of the prayer from earlier this morning. The prayer’s focus was on The Throne of God:
“Thy throne of grace
is the pleasure ground of my soul.
Here …
I am strengthened for each conflict,
nerved for the upward race,
empowered to conquer every foe …
May I never give thee rest until Christ is
the pulse of my heart;
the spokesman of my lips,
the lamp of my feet.”
God used your reflections to remind me that through Jesus, I ALWAYS have access to His presence and to His throne of grace. With Yahweh present in each breath that we take today, and with Christ as the pulse of our hearts, all is well.
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