IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Put Your Hope in God

Date: Jul. 1, 2026

Passage

Psalm 42:1-11

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

42:1   As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    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?
  My tears have been my food
    day and night,
  while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
  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.
  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.
  My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
  from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
  Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
  all your breakers and your waves
    have gone over me.
  By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
  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.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: Psalm 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.

The psalmist illustrates what Jesus meant when he said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). God’s greatest commandment emphasizes a holistic, total-being devotion to him. These terms—heart, soul, mind, strength--are not necessarily strict, separate entities, but represent different, overlapping facets of human existence.

The psalmist’s heart and soul go through waves of high and low emotions. his soul’s thirst for God is like a deer panting for streams of water. He groans over unbelievers’ taunt, “Where is your God?” and tears well up in him. He says to God, “Why have you forgotten me?” his soul is downcast and disturbed within him, and he feels mortal agony even in his bones.

Amid the turmoil of his heart and soul, the psalmist resists the temptation to despair and exerts himself: “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” (5,11). He remembers God’s grace in his protection, love, and joy (4,8), and tells himself to put hope in him (11).

Prayer: Father, my heart and soul can be downcast living amongst unbelievers. Help me always remember your grace that I may live a joyful and victorious Christian life. Amen.

One Word: Put your hope in God

Daily Bread

God is Our Refuge and Strength

Psalm 46:1-11

Key Verse: 46:7,11

  The LORD of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

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