阅读经文 

诗篇四十二篇的作者正身处危难中，他切切渴慕神，可是他周围的人却不断在嘲笑他说：“你的神在哪里呢？”

在今天，世界上的人有时也会嘲笑和批判我们，但我们不应该因此感到困扰，因为这些人是以他们自己的标准来评判别人，而神的标准却比这重要得多。

诗人看不见任何得到帮助的迹象，他也不能到圣殿敬拜神——他因此感到自己已经被神忘记了。诗人因此内心感到伤痛，如果我们不能与神的子民一起敬拜祂，我们也会感到孤单和心里伤痛的。

诗人渴慕与神同在并朝见神。“神啊，我的心切慕你，如鹿切慕溪水。”（诗 42:1）

诗人帮助我们看到，纵使我们因感到远离神而焦虑，我们仍然可以坚守我们的信心。靠着神的能力，诗人不断对他自己说话：“我的心哪，你为何忧闷？为何在我里面烦躁？应当仰望神，因我还要称赞他。他是我脸上的光荣，是我的神。”（诗 42:11，43:5）

我们可能需要一些时间，才能再次感受到与神亲近，特别是当我们不能与神的子民一起敬拜，就更是如此。然而，神是始终都与我们同在并看顾我们的，我们的心灵在祂手中，在祂的看顾之下，我们有笃定的未来。像诗人那样，我们也可以凭信心不断用这样的真理来提醒自己。我们要赞美神，因为祂是我们的救主和我们的神。

The author of Psalm 42 is in deep distress. He is longing for God, and people around him have been taunting him, saying, "Where is your God?"

People in this world also taunt and judge us sometimes. But we should not let that bother us, because people judge others by their own standards. God's standards are more important.

The psalmist also didn't see any sign of help and could not go to worship God in the sanctuary—and that caused him to feel forgotten by God. It made the psalmist ache inside. If we are not able to worship God with his people, we too can feel lonely and hurt inside.

The poet longed to be with God and to meet with God. "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

This psalm helps us to see that we can keep faith despite the stresses of feeling distant from God. In God's strength, the psalmist keeps talking to his soul, saying, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God". (Psalm 42:11; see also Psalm 43:5)

It may take awhile to feel close to God again, especially if we cannot worship God with his people. But God is always with us, watching over us. Our souls are in his hands. Our destiny is safe in his care. Like the psalmist, we can keep reminding ourselves of these good truths in faith. We can praise the Lord, for he is our Savior and God.