This will be our final Devoted email for 2025 as we take a break for the Christmas season. We're looking forward to kicking off a new year of Spiritual growth starting January 11.

Shoutout to our Sprecher Road Connections team!

Connections does so many things from greeting, to ushers, to all the behind-the-scenes tasks. We are so thankful for them!  

If you want to help serve alongside them this Christmas, please take a look at some of the remaining needs for Christmas Eve services:  

• Photo Kiosk – Ideal for students to serve.
• Hot Cocoa – Looking for helpers to refill the stations and clean up.  
• Ushers – We still need some friendly faces to help greet and seat people.  
• Christmas Cookies – Calling all bakers, we need more cookies!  

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

Psalm 42

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We are invited into a season of waiting, longing and delighting in the incarnation—the joyful truth that God is with us. And yet, so much in our world around us can easily “crowd out” Jesus during this time of year. In the midst of the hurts, noise and fear that often accompany this season, how do we set our hearts on the One who brings hope, peace, joy and love? We intentionally prepare Him room.

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The Big Idea

(What is the author's point?)

How do we make room for Jesus when our hearts are already full of pain? We bring our pain to God and preach hope to ourselves. 

Why It Matters

(Why is this relevant to us?)

We have all experienced, or will experience, great pain. Most of us, if we live long enough, will even experience excruciating losses—the loss of a friend or spouse, the loss of a child, betrayal, a child born with severe special needs, mental illnesses, cancer and so much more. The Scriptures—especially the lament Psalms—teach us that how we deal with our grief often shapes us the most.  

Unfortunately, we as Americans lack the skills to process pain. As Pete Scazzero states in his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, “In our culture, addiction has become the most common way to deal with pain. We watch television incessantly. We keep busy, running from one activity to another. We work seventy hours a week, indulge in pornography, overeat, drink, take pills—anything to help us avoid the pain” (page 121).

The Scriptures offer a better way. Among the many lament Psalms, Psalm 42 stands out as a beautiful example of healthy grief. Between the two lament sections (vss. 1-4 and 6-10) and twice-repeated refrain (vs. 5 and 11), we learn two very important components of healthy grief: attending to our pain before God, as well as asking God to give us hope.

Good to Know

(What are some helpful insights into this passage?)

“So pants my soul for you,” (vs. 1) – This is not the prayer of someone who already has a deep rest in God and wants to go deeper. Instead, the psalmist’s “thirst” communicates feelings of abandonment. 

"So pants my soul (vs. 1)…My soul thirsts…” (vs. 2) – The psalmist steps outside of his own head and heart to analyze himself. This is represented by the term “soul.” It is as if he is journaling to God about himself. He is taking an objective and holistic look at himself. 

“My soul thirsts (vs. 1)…my soul is cast down within me (vs. 6)…all your breakers and your waves have gone over me” (vs. 7)…as with a deadly wound in my bones,” (vs. 10). – The psalmist does not shy away from piling up images to describe his pain. Five metaphors predominate: thirst, weighty burdens, waves and wounds. He physically feels emotional pain in his body, and only drastic metaphors will do. 

“These things I remember…how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God” (vs. 4) – Though we cannot be certain, it seems as if the psalmist was a priestly worship leader who led in Jerusalem during the annual festivals. However, as he wrote this Psalm, these were nothing but distant memories. 

“While they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (vs. 3) – It is possible that the psalmist had been taken into exile in Babylon. Wherever he is, he now suffers from the daily barrage of ridicule from his enemies (cf. vs. 9-10). 

“Why are you cast down, O my soul” (vs. 5 and 11) – This is a rhetorical question, and the implied answer is that his soul should not stay cast down. He must instead rise up and look to God for healing. 

“Hope in God, for I shall again praise him” (vs. 5 and 11) – The psalmist preaches to himself so that he will hope again in God. He also replaces the previous images of thirst, weight, waves and wounds; they will not define him. Instead, his self-defining image is the Savior God restoring him to worship. 

Group Guide

Following the series with your group? 

• Start with some icebreaker questions.
• Read the passage together before you dive in. 
• Share any insights from the message. Use the questions below to get your conversation started:

Conversation Starters

1. Read verse 1 again. A deer panting for water brings not only an image to mind, but also feelings. Describe what this deer is feeling. What does this mean for the psalmist’s panting for God?  

2. Have there been any metaphors or word pictures that you have resonated with in times of suffering? Why?  

3. How can we fight our culture of distraction and truly “pour out our souls” to God?  

4. In verse 9, the psalmist brings their raw and honest questions before the Father. What questions do you need to ask God and surrender to Him? (If comfortable, share with your group or take a couple of minutes to jot down your answers individually.)  

5. Take a look at the Psalm again. Who does the psalmist say God is, even in the midst of feeling cast down?  

6. What truths do you need to remember about God when there are questions without answers?  

Prayer

Jesus, sometimes there are no words when we don’t understand or feel like you are far. Would you help us to still call out to you, trusting that you are God with us, Emmanuel. Amen.

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