Doubt

Wishing to Be Near God

Psalm 42

FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. A MASKIL OF THE SONS OF KORAH.

¹As a deer thirsts for streams of water,

so I thirst for you, God.

²I thirst for the living God.

When can I go to meet with him?

³Day and night, my tears have been my food.

People are always saying,

“Where is your God?”

⁴When I remember these things,

I speak with a broken heart.

I used to walk with the crowd

and lead them to God’s Temple

with songs of praise.

⁵Why am I so sad?

Why am I so upset?

I should put my hope in God

and keep praising him,

my Savior and ⁶my God.

I am very sad.

So I remember you where the Jordan River begins,

near the peaks of Hermon and Mount Mizar.

⁷Troubles have come again and again, sounding like waterfalls.

Your waves are crashing all around me.

⁸The LORD shows his true love every day.

At night I have a song,

and I pray to my living God.

⁹I say to God, my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why am I sad

and troubled by my enemies?”

¹⁰My enemies’ insults make me feel

as if my bones were broken.

They are always saying,

“Where is your God?”

¹¹Why am I so sad?

Why am I so upset?

I should put my hope in God

and keep praising him,

my Savior and my God.

Title: The Holy Bible, New Century Version

BOOK 3

Should the Wicked Be Rich?

Psalm 73

A PSALM OF ASAPH.

¹God is truly good to Israel,

to those who have pure hearts.

²But I had almost stopped believing;

I had almost lost my faith

³because I was jealous of proud people.

I saw wicked people doing well.

⁴They are not suffering;

they are healthy and strong.

⁵They don’t have troubles like the rest of us;

they don’t have problems like other people.

⁶They wear pride like a necklace

and put on violence as their clothing.

⁷They are looking for profits

and do not control their selfish desires.

⁸They make fun of others and speak evil;

proudly they speak of hurting others.

⁹They brag to the sky.

They say that they own the earth.

¹⁰So their people turn to them

and give them whatever they want.

¹¹They say, “How can God know?

What does God Most High know?”

¹²These people are wicked,

always at ease, and getting richer.

¹³So why have I kept my heart pure?

Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?

¹⁴I have suffered all day long;

I have been punished every morning.

¹⁵God, if I had decided to talk like this,

I would have let your people down.

¹⁶I tried to understand all this,

but it was too hard for me to see

¹⁷until I went to the Temple of God.

Then I understood what will happen to them.

¹⁸You have put them in danger;

you cause them to be destroyed.

¹⁹They are destroyed in a moment;

they are swept away by terrors.

²⁰It will be like waking from a dream.

Lord, when you rise up, they will disappear.

²¹When my heart was sad

and I was angry,

²²I was senseless and stupid.

I acted like an animal toward you.

²³But I am always with you;

you have held my hand.

²⁴You guide me with your advice,

and later you will receive me in honor.

²⁵I have no one in heaven but you;

I want nothing on earth besides you.

²⁶My body and my mind may become weak,

but God is my strength.

He is mine forever.

²⁷Those who are far from God will die;

you destroy those who are unfaithful.

²⁸But I am close to God, and that is good.

The Lord GOD is my protection.

I will tell all that you have done.

Title: The Holy Bible, New Century Version

Remembering God’s Help

Psalm 77

FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. FOR JEDUTHUN. A PSALM OF ASAPH.

¹I cry out to God;

I call to God, and he will hear me.

²I look for the Lord on the day of trouble.

All night long I reach out my hands,

but I cannot be comforted.

³When I remember God, I become upset;

when I think, I become afraid.

Selah

⁴You keep my eyes from closing.

I am too upset to say anything.

⁵I keep thinking about the old days,

the years of long ago.

⁶At night I remember my songs.

I think and I ask myself:

⁷“Will the Lord reject us forever?

Will he never be kind to us again?

⁸Is his love gone forever?

Has he stopped speaking for all time?

⁹Has God forgotten mercy?

Is he too angry to pity us?”

Selah

¹⁰Then I say “This is what makes me sad:

For years the power of God Most High was with us.”

¹¹I remember what the LORD did;

I remember the miracles you did long ago.

¹²I think about all the things you did

and consider your deeds.

¹³God, your ways are holy.

No god is as great as our God.

¹⁴You are the God who does miracles;

you have shown people your power.

¹⁵By your power you have saved your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah

¹⁶God, the waters saw you;

they saw you and became afraid;

the deep waters shook with fear.

¹⁷The clouds poured down their rain.

The sky thundered.

Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.

¹⁸Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.

Lightning lit up the world.

The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹You made a way through the sea

and paths through the deep waters,

but your footprints were not seen.

²⁰You led your people like a flock

by using Moses and Aaron.