“Psa. 42:0       To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

Psa. 42:1         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.

Psa. 42:5         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?”

Psa. 42:11       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.” (Psalm 42, English Standard Version)

Sometimes, you have to talk to yourself—in addition to talking to God. In Psalm 42, the psalmist is doing both. It is a prayer, but it is also self-talk.

One of the things that the psalmist said to himself was a command. It is repeated twice in the psalm. He is talking to himself, to his own soul, and commanding his soul to hope in God. The English Standard Version turns a command into a determination. I am not convinced that this is the best translation. A command, and imperative, is not the same thing as a declaration in either English or Hebrew.

Sometimes, we need to not only talk to ourselves, but also to command ourselves. Hope is not an option for people who believe in God. It is essential.

But notice carefully: Here (and in many other Scriptures), hope isn’t about a what, but about a Who. Too often, we hope in particular whats. Some Scriptures do speak in that way. However, the lion’s share of references in the Bible talk about hoping in God. Hoping in particular whats makes a highly questionable assumption, the assumption that we know what we need. What if God has other ideas? What if God Himself is what/who we most need?

So, here is the deal: If you are hoping for particular outcomes, self, you may be entirely off-base. Perhaps you should just trust in God. Yes, I know it’s a radical concept, but you still might want to try it. After all, my dear self, hoping for particular outcomes doesn’t seem to be working all that well for you.