Songs for Sad Days

“Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” — Psalm 42:11

Have you ever felt really sad, and you didn’t even know exactly why? Or felt far away from God, as if He wasn’t listening?

Psalm 42 was written by someone who felt like that.

“As a deer pants for streams of water,” the psalm begins, “so my soul longs for You, O God.”

Imagine a deer, hot and tired after running a long way. Its tongue is out. It’s so thirsty, desperate for a drink. That’s how the writer felt about God. He was longing for God, thirsty for Him. But God felt far away.

“My tears have been my food day and night,” he wrote, “while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’”

He remembered the happy days, when he used to go to the temple with crowds of people, singing and shouting for joy. But those days seemed far away now.

Then the writer did something interesting. He started talking to himself!

“Why are you so sad, O my soul? Why are you so upset inside me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Saviour and my God.”

He didn’t pretend everything was fine. He was honest about how sad he was. But then he reminded himself of the truth: God is still my Saviour. I will still praise Him again one day. Hope in God.

And he didn’t say it just once. He said it three times in the song, as if he had to keep reminding himself.

Lots of psalms are like this. They are sad songs, honest songs, songs where people tell God exactly how they feel: “Why, God?” “How long, God?” “Where are You, God?” And then, most of the time, they turn back to trusting Him.

God put these sad songs in the Bible on purpose. He wants us to know that we can bring Him all our feelings, including the sad ones. We don’t have to pretend to be happy when we talk to God. We can tell Him exactly how we feel.

And then, like the writer of Psalm 42, we can remind ourselves: “Put your hope in God.”

Read it in your Bible: Psalm 42

Dear God, thank you that I can tell you exactly how I feel, even when I’m sad. When I feel far away from you, help me to remember to put my hope in you. You are my Saviour and my God. Amen.