<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+42:1-11">Psalm 42:1-11</span></span></p><p>Over the past few days we have seen how the psalmist was caught in the hiatus between the moment when he stopped himself from sliding and the moment when he started to climb again. This, we said, is a very critical time - critical because it makes us inclined to accept easy answers. The perplexity did not end when the psalmist stopped himself from slipping. His thoughts still went around in circles and he continued to have great anguish of heart and mind. How, then, were his thoughts concerning the prosperity of the ungodly resolved? Not by grabbing at superficial answers, but by going into the sanctuary of God, where he could begin to see the whole situation from God's point of view. Listen to how he puts it: "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final  destiny'"(<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:16-17">Psalm 73:16-17</span>). The word "sanctuary" here literally means the physical house of God. Some translations use the phrase, "till I entered the secret of God", but that is incorrect. Read  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+74">Psalm 74</span> and read  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+76">Psalm 76</span> and you will find that they both refer to the material building where God was worshipped. Had the psalmist, I wonder, like so many of us when we are filled with doubt and uncertainty, stayed away from the sanctuary of God? How strange that the last thing we want to do when our hearts are filled with doubts and misunderstandings is meet with our fellow believers in the house of God. Yet that is the very first thing we ought to do. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Gracious Father, I am so grateful that You have ordained that Your people meet together. Help me understand more clearly than ever the value and benefits that flow from being with Your people. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="heb+10:19-25">Hebrews 10:19-25</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="mt+12:9">Matthew 12:9</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="mr+1:21">Mark 1:21</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="lu+4:16">Luke 4:16</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What are we not to do?</li><li>What was Jesus' custom?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude  to the house of God " (v. 4) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+42:1-11">Psalm 42:1-11</span></span></p><p>Yesterday we looked at the words: "Whom have I in heaven but you?" Now we examine the second part of that text: "And earth has nothing I desire besides you"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:25">Psalm 73:25</span>b). Personally, I find these some of the most enchanting words in the whole of the Old Testament. The first part of the verse is put in a negative, and the second in a positive form. Having looked around and seen that there is no satisfying substitute for the Almighty, the psalmist goes on to make the positive assertion that from the bottom of his heart he desires to know God. He has come to see (so I believe) that it is more important to desire God for who He is than for what He does or what He gives. In a sense, the psalmist's entire problem arose out of the fact that he had put what God gives in the place of God Himself. The ungodly were having a good time while he was having a bad time. Why was he having to suffer like this? His trouble was that he had become more interested in the things God gives than in God Himself, and when he didn't have the things he wanted, he began to doubt God's love. Now, however, he has come to the place where he desires God for Himself. The ultimate test of the Christian life is whether we desire God for Himself or for what He gives. Each one of us must ask ourselves: "Do I desire God more than forgiveness? More than release from my problems? More than healing of my condition? More than gifts and abilities?" How tragic that our prayers can be full of pleadings that show, when they are examined, that we are more interested in enjoying God's blessings than we are in enjoying God. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, forgive me that so often I am concerned more with Your gifts than I am with You - the Giver. Help me to long after You, not because of what You give me, but because of who You are. In Jesus' Name I ask it Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+63:1">Psalm 63:1</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+38:9-10">Psalm 38:9-10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="lu+6:21">Luke 6:21</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the psalmist thirsting for?</li><li>What is the result of thirsting and hungering?</li></ul></div></div>

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God " (v. 2)

<p>There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.<br><br>As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. § O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.<br><br>I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. § Lord, give us this bread always. § Mary … sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. § One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Evening Daily Light

 But one thing is needed. 

<p>Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! § As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? § Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.<br><br>Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. § Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. § God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. § Whom having not seen you love.<br><br>He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! § It will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”</p>

 I hope to see you shortly,and we shall speak face to face. 

<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God" </strong>(<a id="verse_1632878167331426" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Psalm/42/1">Ps. 42:1</a>).</p>
</blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The believer in the midst of processing, is progressing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"If spiritual thirst is the language of your heart, there is great blessing in store for you. When believers are being turned upside-down and inside-out they are apt to be much discouraged, and to have their souls disquieted' within them. But even amid the exercise the Father would give us the encouragement of knowing that He has taken us up to bring us into inconceivable blessing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"We must travel through these processings, for the simple reason that if the Lord Jesus is to be everything, the old man must be nothing, and it is often times a long journey to reach this point in the history of the soul. Hence the long, dreary, and painful years of self-occupation' through which most believers drag their slow steps of spiritual progress." -C.A.C.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"The old man may not always appear deceitful and hateful; on the contrary, it may be cultured, refined, and religious. Whatever its behaviour, it is still changeless flesh, unimprovable, incorrigible, and incurable. There remains, then, no remedy but that which the Father has provided - condemnation, crucifixion, death with the Lord Jesus." -G.M.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"He remaineth; and He leads us into experiences of desolation here in order that we may not only see how little we know Him as the source of all joy, but in order that we may turn to Him and find not only relief, but full resources in Himself. It is only in solitude that we come to realize this." -J.B.S.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Right down to <a id="verse_1632878167424963" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/7/24">Romans 7:24</a> -</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>"Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"</strong></p>

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Progress Via Process 

<p><h3>BOOK II</h3><h3>Psalms 42–72</h3><h3>Psalm 42  </h3><h3>For the director of music. A maskil  of the Sons of Korah.</h3></p><p><span class="bible-text "><span class="chapter-num mid-paragraph">42 </span><poetry>As the deer   pants for streams of water,  <br/><indent>so my soul pants   for you, my God.</indent><br/></poetry> </span></p>

Psalm 42:1

For the director of music. A maskil<ft>1</ft> of the Sons of Korah.

As the deer<cr>1</cr>  pants for streams of water,<cr>2</cr> <br/><indent>so my soul pants<cr>3</cr>  for you, my God.</indent><br/>

 1 As the deer   pants for streams of water,   so my soul pants   for you, my God. 

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

<p><span class="bible-text "><poetry>As the deer   pants for streams of water,  <br/><indent>so my soul pants   for you, my God.</indent><br/></poetry> </span></p>

 As the deer   pants for streams of water,   so my soul pants   for you, my God. 

Bible Verse of the Day

October 13, 1999

Psalm 42:1 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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