Psalm 42 is a psalm of the sons of Korah — temple musicians writing for worshipers separated from the temple. The poet is in exile, possibly literally, certainly spiritually. The psalm's whole tension is: I want to be where God is, and I am not. The honesty of that ache is itself an act of faith.

From the writers we read together

George MacDonald

Scottish minister and author of Lilith; C.S. Lewis called him "my master"

MacDonald's Lilith is a strange, dreamlike novel about a man who keeps falling asleep into other worlds, and only by losing what he thought he wanted finds the country he was made for. The book is essentially Psalm 42 in fantasy form: the deepest part of you is always thirsty, and the thirst is the homing signal.

If your devotional life has been arid lately, do not first try to fix it. Notice the thirst. The poet of Psalm 42 does not pretend to satisfaction; he names his ache and brings it to God as the offering. Sometimes the most honest prayer you can pray is, I am parched, and only you are water.