July 16, 2019 
The word Sabbath means to cease.  So as Dr. Brooks is away on sabbatical, we will be using his original devotionals from 2009 on the book of Psalms.  He will resume The Bible Project devotionals upon his return.  Thank you for reading with us and praying for him as he replenishes his soul for the next seven years of ministry.
Psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.
5 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.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
    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 must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
11 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.

New International Version (NIV)
It is still the most beautiful place in the world to me.  Three or four times I have made the one mile trek out to St. Mary’s Falls in Glacier National Park, Montana.  I will never forget the first time.  We saw a bear on our way back to the car.  More memorable though were the mule deer ascending the hill drinking from the stream which cascaded down the mountain until it plummeted into an azure pool.  We tried to follow them up the hill, to no avail.  Thirst brought them to the river.  Will it bring us to God?

In this second book of the Psalms, the Psalmist admits his thirst for God.  Separated from God by sadness and the criticism of others, he remembers the time when he used to go with the multitude leading the festive throng in worship.  Unending tears blur his vision as he feels the waterfall and the waves sweep over him.  Then he remembers that God’s love is not just a memory.  Living in the present tense, he writes, “By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life.”  The refrain carries into the next Psalm as well.  I discovered it in a dark night of my own soul:  “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

A twentieth century Psalmist wrote the truth:  “We’re never out of his love.  We’re never out of his care.  No matter how far we go, he is always there.”  Hope in God!  You will praise him again.  God promises! 
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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