The 19th century Bible scholar G.S. Bowes pointed out the ultimate futility of ambition that isn't accompanied by dedication to God. Referring to four powerful world rulers of the past, he wrote: "Alexander the Great was not satisfied, even when he had completely subdued the nations. He wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, and he died at an early age in a state of debauchery. Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken from the knights he had slaughtered, committed suicide by swallowing poison. Few noted his passing, and he left this earth completely unmourned. Julius Caesar, 'staining his garments in the blood of one million of his foes,' conquered 800 cities, only to be stabbed by his best friends at the scene of his greatest triumph. Napoleon, the feared conqueror, after being the scourge of Europe, spent his last years in banishment."
By contrast, William Booth walked among the poor, hungry, sick, and lonely people of London, England. The people were crammed into crumbling buildings that were full of rats. They had no jobs. There was no one to help them.
Worst of all, there was no one to tell them that Jesus cared. They didn't know that Jesus died to be their Saviour and lives again to be their Lord.
William Booth told his wife, "I have given myself to work for God among those sick souls." The work that was begun at that time is today known as the Salvation Army.
Years later when someone asked General Booth the secret of his success, he said, "God has had all there was of me to have! From the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ would do for them, I made up my mind that God would have all there was of William Booth. God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."
Psalm 42 expresses a deep longing to know God. "As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for you, the living God; when can I go and worship in your presence?" (vv. 1-2)
We don't know the circumstances behind this Psalm. The Hebrew title says it is a Maskil or "contemplative poem" by "the sons of Korah". We know very little about this family of temple singers except that their name appears in the title of eleven of the Psalms. The Good News Bible has added the caption "The Prayer of a Man in Exile." This is apt as we consider the content of the Psalm.
The Psalmist has a deep longing to know God, a thirst for God, a desire to worship in God's presence. He is unable to go to the temple. "Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, 'Where is your God?' My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God" (v. 3).
There is an ancient tale from India about a young man who was seeking God. He went to a wise old sage for help. "How can I find God?" he asked the old man.
The old man took him to a nearby river. Out they waded into the deep water. Soon the water was up just under their chins. Suddenly the old man seized the young man by the neck and pushed him under the water. He held the young man down until the young man was flailing the water in desperation. Another minute and he may well have drowned. Up out of the water the two of them came. The young man was coughing water from his lungs and still gasping for air.
Reaching the bank he asked the man indignantly, "What did that have to do with my finding God?" The old man asked him quietly, "While you were under the water, what did you want more than anything else?" The young man thought for a minute and then answered, "I wanted air! I wanted air more than anything else!" The old man replied, "When you want God as much as you wanted air, you will find him."
God is not far from us. He isn't playing hard to find. He has revealed himself in truth, love and grace in his Son Jesus Christ. But do we want to find him? Do we have a passion to know him?
"Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my saviour and my God" (v. 5).
Here is someone accustomed to "going to church". But suddenly, opposition and adverse circumstances have struck. Suddenly, what he has taken for granted is denied him. Suddenly, it is passionately important to him. He looks at himself, at the sadness and depression ready to overtake him. He makes a conscious choice to put his trust in God and to praise the one who is both his rescuer and his God.
How do we face adversity? How do you react when everything seems to be literally against you? How do you cope with those feelings of despondency, failure, frustration, loneliness… that come uninvited to afflict us at such a time?
"Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled?" the Psalmist says. Well may we ask the same question - and offer ourselves a number of good solid reasons. If we can't, it may be we should consult our doctor about clinical depression. But for the Psalmist there were circumstances he could name. He is in exile (v. 6). He is unable to worship with the crowds in the temple (v. 4). His enemies are taunting him with the suggestion that God has left him, that God has let him down (v. 3). He is almost ready to believe them - "To God, my defender, I say, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?' I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, 'Where is your God?' " (vv. 9-10).
At the heart of his deep sadness is the fear that God has forgotten him. Our greatest need is to know God. Our greatest fear is that God may be unreachable.
For the Psalmist - and for us - the solution is to realise and depend on the truth. "I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my saviour and my God."
Reflect on what Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians, "… fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable. Put into practice what you learnt and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you" (Phil. 4.8-9).
We can allow our circumstances to swallow us up - "He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood" (Ps. 42.7). But we don't have to be the victims of circumstance. We do have choices. The Psalmist turns to the Lord, "May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life" (v. 8). Paul is challenging the Philippians to choose what is going to fill their minds.
Psalm 43 is really a continuation of 42. It begins with his need for protection from the taunts of his enemies (vv. 1-2), but then moves on to a more positive note - "Send your light and your truth; may they lead me and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill, and to your Temple, where you live" (v. 3).
He needs God's "light" - God's perspective on what is happening to him, an understanding of his circumstances that goes beyond his immediate sadness, disappointment and frustration. He needs God's "truth" - the revelation of God's character and purpose that goes beyond his immediate circumstances.
He is confident that God's light and truth will lead to a change of circumstances. He will be able once again to worship at the temple (v. 3b). Again and again we find this to be true. As the focus of our life moves away from our circumstances, they begin to change. But even if they don't change in the way we want, we ourselves will begin to change.
"Then I will go to your altar, O God; you are the source of my happiness. I will play my harp and sing praise to you, O God, my God" (v. 4).
This is the fulfilment of where we began - that deep longing to know God fulfilled as God himself becomes the source of our happiness. And when God is the source of our happiness, no circumstance can rob us of our happiness.
Jesus said that "eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent" (Jn 17.3). The passionate desire to know God is fulfilled as we put our trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God. It is on the basis of faith in Christ that "those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak" (Is. 40.31).
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