REVIVAL!
Key Verse: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (v. 5)
Key Theme: The Psalmist’s desperation for a move of God.
Key Descriptive of God: Living God/God or Revival
A shift of some sort begins in Psalms 42. It begins what is called BOOK TWO of Psalms and suddenly we have the Sons of Korah introduced to us. They were important singers and musicians and this could be something one or more of them are writing— or one of them could be as it were a ghostwriter for David. In my mind, it is still David directly or indirectly, but it is arguable. No worries there will still be good messages from these chapters.
This 11 versed Psalm is a cry for a visitation from God. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God” (v.1). A panting soul. The Psalmist is desperate to experience the living presence of God. “My soul thirsts for the living God.” (v.2) The second part of that verse is him essentially saying “When do I finally get to encounter God?” He will speak of crying day and night for God. Twice in the chapter, he tells of whoever “they” are, saying continually to him, “Where is your God?”. They have perhaps heard Him say “revival is coming” and yet nothing and so are mocking him. It only adds to his misery. In verse 4, he is reminiscing of revival when everybody couldn’t wait to get to the house of God. Twice, an almost identical verse is repeated, as verses 5 and 11 both start with “Why are you cast down my soul?”. The Psalmist is almost despondent at the lack of breakthrough. “Why have you forgotten me?”, he tells God in verse 9. This is another real and raw Psalm that sounds like David, and there is a so-far unrequited hunger.
GOD OF REVIVAL
“My soul thirsts for God, for THE LIVING GOD.” (v.2) The Hebrew word for “living” is CHAY. It means “ALIVE; fresh; strong: appetite; LIVELY; vigorous; flourish; prosperous; REVIVING; REFRESHMENT; happiness.” Seems like a pretty good description for “revival”. I love that word “appetite” mixed in all the definitions. Appetite for God is such a key marker of “revival”. As I am writing this, of course, the recent Bethel song of “God of Revival” sung by Brian Johnson comes to mind. I love it because it expands the understanding of Revival to include Reformation. God and His presence not just in church or special meetings settings but in every mountain/sphere of society. What does that look like? I am convinced we are beginning to encounter that “God of Revival” at this time and it will only be progressively building and reported on. But here in Psalm 42, it is still the desperate cry of the Psalmist. There is a groaning for God not yet met. God loves to know that we really want what He already desires to pour out. Ever try to give something to someone that YOU knew they needed but THEY didn’t really? Kind of feels like casting your pearls before swine.
A DISQUIETED SOUL
In our key verse of the chapter, we read, “Why are you disquieted within me?” The word “disquieted” in Hebrew is HAMAH and its’ first definition is ROAR, followed up by “noise; sound; troubled; tumult; raged.” I mainly wanted you to see that a “disquieted” soul is not just depressed and disappointed and feeling sorry for itself. It is way beyond that. His soul was not quiet but DIS quieted. His soul is ROARING for the God of Revival. He is making noise, he is sounding out and his soul is in an aggressive posture. It all is about a soul deeply moved towards the breakthrough presence of God. It is “deep calling unto deep.”
HOPE IN GOD
Next in our key verse 5 is “Hope in God”. Over and over we are led into HOPE IN GOD throughout this 67-day journey of “His face shining upon us”. It is our continual refocus. With massive distractions all around— What you focus on you make room for— so HOPE IN GOD. HOPE— “the expectation of good from God in the present circumstance”. His face shines on us and we expect good from Him.
THE HELP OF HIS COUNTENANCE
This is how verse 5 ends and it is worth giving attention to. “Countenance” is PANIYM in Hebrew and it means FACE. When we finally do get to Psalm 67:1 “may His FACE shine upon you” is the same word. In other words, we prime the pump for the God of Revival by intentionally looking at His PANIYM as we have been doing for 42 consecutive days. May His face shine upon us and bless us, and on our families, and their children, and their children, and their children. Everything today in so many ways is all about the children.
Tomorrows’ Psalm 43 has great overlap with Psalm 42 and many believe that originally they were one Psalm. It is easy to see why as Psalm 43 has only 5 verses and the last verse is the third repeating of our key verse of the day. Because of this connection, I am going to further expound upon DEEP CALLS UNTO DEEP from verse 7 in tomorrow’s reading. Meanwhile, let your deep need of being revived begin to rumble for His deep capacity of fulfilling that need.
Written by: Johnny Enlow
Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash
67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES
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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.
