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TODAY’S WORD…

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As the deer longs for streams of water,

so I long for You, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I go and stand before Him?

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Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise Him again—

my Saviour and my God!

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But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me,

and through each night I sing His songs,

praying to God who gives me life.

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Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise Him again—

my Saviour and my God!

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– Psalm 42:1-2,5,8,11 (NLT)

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From a REFLECTION on Psalm 42 by Pope Saint John Paul II…

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Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise Him again—

my Saviour and my God!

This appeal, repeated twice in our psalm,

is an invitation the person praying addresses to himself,

with a view to banishing melancholy by trusting in God

who will certainly manifest Himself again – as Saviour.

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The thirsting deer is the symbol of the praying person

who tends with his whole being, body and soul, towards the Lord,

who seems distant and yet very much needed:

I thirst for God, the living God.

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Therefore we can say that the body and soul of the person praying

are absorbed by the primary, spontaneous and substantial desire for God.

It is no accident that a long tradition describes prayer as a type of “breathing”:

it is as primeval, necessary and basic as life-giving breathing.

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Can God remain silent in the face of these parched lips that cry out,

this tormented soul, this face that is about to be submerged in a sea of mud?

Of course not!

Hence once again, the person praying is encouraged to hope

and to praise God his Saviour, again and again.

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PRAYER…

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I thirst for You my Lord, my Living God.

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?

As I place my hope in You, Lord, I will never stop praising You,

for You are my Saviour, You are my God!

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