July-25-0476-Hope in God even in the dark
476_Hope in God even in the dark Psalm 42 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. It was a cold night in December 1967. Joni Eareckson Tada, just 17 years old, dove into a small cove of Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, she had misjudged the depth. She hit her head on the bottom and broke her neck. The result was paralysis for life, from the shoulders down. In the months that followed, despair consumed her. The vibrant, athletic teen who once rode horses and played tennis now faced a life confined to a wheelchair. There were days when the darkness was so heavy, she begged God to take her home. She writes, “I was tired of hoping, tired of believing, tired of being tired. I had no strength left. And yet, somewhere deep within, I realized I had a choice: to either curse God or to cling to Him in the dark.” Today, Joni is a powerful voice of hope for millions. Her suffering didn’t vanish. She remained paralyzed. But she learned to trust in God’s goodness whatever her external circumstances. Her story echoes the lesson of Psalm 42, where the psalmist teaches us not how to escape darkness, but how to hope in God in the middle of it. Psalm 42 was written by the sons of Korah, Levites descended from the family of Kohath. Though their ancestor Korah had led a rebellious uprising against Moses and was judged by God (Numbers 16), these descendants were spared (Numbers 26:9–11). By David’s