The Titus Women mission statement is “to equip every woman through worship, Bible 
study and prayer.” During our opening worship this week our Prayer Coordinator, Jill Trucke, took us through a passage of scripture, showing us how to use all three elements.
Take a moment to watch this video, then consider these lessons from Psalm 42.
Maybe this video is exactly where you are at this morning—desperately trying to hang on to God yet in despair. Or maybe that’s not you today, but maybe it was you a year ago. So what do we do when this is how we feel? What do we do when we’re feeling desperate, overwhelmed, and unable to see God’s hand at work?
The first lines of Psalm 42 paint a word picture of a deer panting. Picture this deer being chased and so parched that the only thing that will satisfy is water. The psalmist is the same way—parched, yet knowing the only thing that will satisfy is God. Here we find our first characteristic of God: GOD Satisfies. Sometimes we forget that, don’t we? We look for other things to satisfy. The name he uses for God here is Elohim – Strong Creator (nothing is too hard for Him). He is also called the LIVING God – present, active, available.
As we read on, we find the psalmist in a very dark place in his life – crying all the time, remembering when times were good—exciting times with God—longing for those times again. Maybe you can relate to this? You might be in a dark valley right now. Your neighbors or friends might not explicitly say “Where is your God?” like the mockers in the psalm, but maybe they don’t understand why you still believe in God given the hardship you are currently facing.
But in the midst of his despair, the psalmist reminds himself of these truths: “Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of his presence.”
This hope is not a wishful, I-hope-I-win-a-million-dollars type of hope. Rather, this hope is a “confident expectancy.” We have HOPE knowing that He never fails us. He is always good. Another trait of God is He is Present—whether we can feel it or not.
The next word picture is of waterfalls and breaking waves rolling over the psalmist. Instead of being parched, now He is drowning and can hardly get a gasp of air. And yet, “The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.”
The name he chooses to use for God here is LORD – Jehovah, I am, Yahweh – meaning self-existent, unchanging, real. That is a great truth to hold onto in the midst of despair. Your circumstances and feelings might change on a daily basis, but God does not. We also see God’s lovingkindness.
As he finishes the psalm, the psalmist mentions a few more traits of God—a rock – strength and security. We also see My God – He is a personal God. You see that the Psalmist knows all the truths but is struggling. And you can also see a timeline:
- Past: the Psalmist is grounded in God’s truth and has also had some wonderful times.
- Current – he’s in despair, enemy attacking, struggling to see God at work, yet he continues to have confident expectancy.
- Future—(Hope) knowing that God will not fail Him.
We have identified approximately 10 truths about God from this passage and at the same time been convicted of areas where we fail to believe those truths. Maybe, like the psalmist, we know the truth but are not living it out right now. Maybe we’re trying to find security in other things besides God, our rock, or trying to find other things to satisfy us when only God can.
So now what do we do? A natural transition is to talk to God. Turn what you have learned from his Word into praise and confession. The same traits that were true back in Psalms 42 are still true today. Use your prayer time to affirm those traits and apply them to your own circumstances.
Equip Her 