Deep: Where is your God?

“Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” Psalm 42:7 ESV

My wife and I recently went to see a movie on a long-needed date night. I must admit I really didn’t care what movie we watched. Her company and popcorn were enough for me. We decided on a movie called, “Last Breath”. It was a good choice after all. A suspense movie based on the deep-sea diver crews that maintenance the pipelines in the North Sea.

The movie is a story of a true event. A miraculous one at that. These types of divers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. With your office located hundreds of feet deep in the cold sea with only a diver suit, air hose and tether to keep you alive, it is a job that takes great risk, and I would say faith to do. The movie is about an accident that happens when the divers are doing work on the gas pipes deep below the ocean’s surface. The ship that is the life source is holding it’s location in the middle of a storm with the auto control system. Now I don’t want to ruin the movie, so I want to leave it right there with the details. Go see the movie. I do, however, want to talk about the depth of the dive and the depth of the crisis. After all it would not be a movie without a crisis and a big one at that.

Psalm 42 has the subtitle, “Why are you Cast Down , O My Soul?” That should tell you about the psalmist’s position when writing. It’s a deep crisis his heart is navigating. What is the crisis? A deep depression caused by the inability to be in the temple in Jerusalem. Most likely this is the story of the sons of Korah that left Jerusalem with David when Absolom rebelled against his father. To them there was a great saddens that overtook them like billows of waves that didn’t let up. Remember, they are thinking they may never see this place again. The place where they worshipped the Lord. Their hearts panted for God like a deer pants for water. (42:1) The soul is thirsty for peace. Tears are the norm. The joy is gone. When the soul is cast down, it is in a deep place. The Hebrew word for deep in our verse refers to the deepest depth of the sea.

In the movie, this is where the divers were. It was deep and dark. When my wife and I are on a cruise, we enjoy looking over the beautiful blue water as we gaze at the horizon. The sunset is a painted picture of God’s majesty and yet at the same time this same ocean has a very dark, cold and deep place right below us. Beauty and deep darkness can exist together. It all depends on where you are at the time that determines how you feel or what you see.

I have been to both places in my emotions and mental health. I know the feeling well of the deep crisis. I am thankful for the oxygen that kept me breathing and walking one day at a time. The lamp that lighted surroundings like a lantern from God’s word gave me hope. I wanted the sunlight, but the lamp was helpful. I agreed with the psalmist… “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (42:5) There was hope. There was a rescue coming. I would see the surface again and enjoy the sunrise over the ocean blue. The silence of the deep would be replaced by the seagulls and the waves crashing against the shore. This was my hope amid my dark, deep place.

Maybe this is where you are right now. It’s deep and it’s dark. The only sound is of your heart that is broken and yearning for love or anxiously beating in thumps through your chest in panic and fear. I have heard and felt both. So have so many who have gone before us. I can tell you that I did not stay in the deep. My deep need was no match for the depths of God’s love and power of His Word. He brought me up and out and He will you too. You are not forgotten. There is a plan in place. It is working. There are things going on that you have no idea of, but they are working for your good.

The psalmist knew this even though his heart was heavy. He had to tell his soul, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” We need to do the same. Sometimes that is all we can do. Speak to our heart and remind ourselves who is God and who is not. Deep calls to deep. remedy

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