Deep Calls To Deep: Psalm 42:7

I woke up the other morning with a song on my mind: “I can hear the voice of the Lord calling us deeper.” Deeper, Pentecostals of Katy. I went in search of a verse that spoke those words exactly, and the only one I kept coming to was Psalm 42:7. Then once again this morning I heard a still small voice say, “Deep calls to deep.”

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” Psalm 42:7, King James Version.

The beginning of this chapter begins with one of my favorite verses,

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” Psalm 42:1, New International Version.

I could go ahead and type out this whole chapter for you because it is such a vital part of what I have to write about today, but I would prefer you to go, find it, and read it for yourself. “Why?” you may ask.  Because I think you’re going to want to take some notes by the time I am done. At least that is my prayer.

Psalm 42:1 is one of my favorite verses, for a reason. It speaks my heart. I long for and desire the presence of God. There is something so wonderful about being in His presence. I can only imagine what it will be like to make it to Heaven one day and be in His presence forever. Every time I sit down at the piano and begin to sing a song for Him or I take time out to pray, something comes alive inside of me! It causes me to want more.

Have you ever been thirsty? Like, really, really thirsty? You knew that you needed to have something right away, or you felt like you might die of thirst? You were so thirsty that you could guzzle down a bottle of water in a matter of seconds. In my mind, that is what this verse implies. “My soul pants for you, my God.”

“Deep calls to deep.”

When I heard those words this morning (1:30ish a.m. to be exact), I knew that I needed to get up and go and see what the Lord wanted me to find. I went to Psalm 42:7 and started going back up to the previous verses. It was when I realized that David was encouraging himself in the Lord. He knew that despite all he was going through, God was still right there, and he was determined to praise God even though he felt as if he were drowning. He wanted to experience God’s presence in the midst of his turmoil. Here is the thing, though: David didn’t just want an “experience” with God. He “thirsted” for the presence of God deep in his soul. 

That is why he wrote, “Deep calls to deep.” His desire was a PASSION.

One commentary explained the possible definition of “waterspout” in this passage:

“One of them is described in the following manner by Dr. Thomson, Land and the Book, vol. i., pp. 498, 499: ‘A small black cloud traverses the sky in the latter part of summer or the beginning of autumn, and pours down a flood of rain that sweeps all before it. The Arabs call it sale; we, a waterspout, or the bursting of a cloud. In the neighborhood of Hermon I have witnessed it repeatedly, and was caught in one last year, which in five minutes flooded the whole mountain side, washed away the fallen olives – the food of the poor – overthrew stone walls, tore up by the roots large trees, and carried off whatever the tumultuous torrents encountered, as they leaped madly down from terrace to terrace in noisy cascades. Every summer threshing-floor along the line of its march was swept bare of all precious food, cattle were drowned, flocks disappeared, and the mills along the streams were ruined in half an hour by this sudden deluge.’”

BibleHub, “Barnes’ Notes on the Bible”

Oh my! That kind of waterspout!

Yes, that kind of waterspout. The one that takes us so deep that, at times, it hurts. When you finally make up your mind that you are tired of your situation and you want to go deeper in Christ, it may cause some pain. There may be some things that happen that you don’t understand, but David shows us in this passage that we can make it through, and it will be worth every heartache and pain in the end. We just have to put our hope in God. (Psalm 42:11).

How deep are you willing to go?

I found something interesting in my research on this topic. I feel like it relates really well. When you make the decision to follow Christ, dig your heels in, and live your life totally committed to Him, you need to have a plan of action in place for when the trials come. You don’t just jump into the deep part of a pool, not knowing how to swim. You’ve got to have a life jacket!

If you are caught in severe weather, prepare your boat and your passengers.

• To prepare the boat to handle severe weather:
  • Slow down, but keep enough power to maintain headway and steering.
  • Close all hatches, windows, and doors to reduce the chance of swamping.
  • Stow any unnecessary gear.
  • Turn on your boat’s navigation lights. If there is fog, sound your fog horn as instructed in Unit 2.
  • Keep bilges free of water. Be prepared to remove water by bailing.
  • If there is lightning, disconnect all electrical equipment. Stay as clear of metal objects as possible.

“Severe Weather: Prepare Your Boat and Passengers” Boat-Ed,

Now, if I were a preacher, I might say, “Now this will preach!” However, I’m not, and I still feel like saying it. Each one of these points can relate to preparing for the storms in your spiritual life.

• Slow down. Take time to listen for the voice of the Lord in these moments. If He is silent, then pick up your Bible and research verses such as Psalm 42 and 43 to help you through these tough times. Quit trying to keep yourself too busy to take time to pray.
• Check all the open areas in your spiritual life. Your eyes and ears take in a whole lot of nonsense. Shut out the noise. Don’t allow any way for the enemy to slip in, and use your circumstances to discourage you. During times of a storm, we are the most vulnerable. So check all of the areas where something may slip in unaware.
• Put away the distractions! Anything that keeps you from focusing on making it through the storm is a distraction. A good plan is to shut off social media for awhile. Make it a point to listen to only anointed preaching and singing! There are so many ways to listen to powerful men and women of God out there now. 
• Sound your fog horn! Pray! Fast! Call to the Lord! One of my favorite ways to do this is to find Scripture and pray through it. Especially when I don’t know what to say. God hears you.
• Be prepared to remove doubt when it creeps in. Don’t allow it to linger. The moment doubt tries to appear, quote verse five of this Psalm! When doubt lingers, it starts to grow and gain roots. Giving doubt roots will cause bitterness. Get rid of it immediately, or you will drown!
• If the storm becomes so severe, phone a friend! In reality, you need to do this one right away. Tell someone that you need help praying. Let them know you are in the middle of a storm. We are all in this together, and we need each other. Having a prayer partner helps you know that someone always has your back.

Do you hear Him calling, “Deep calls to deep”?

I pray that this has touched you in some way today. I don’t want to settle for where I am. I want to go deeper in Christ. I told someone the other day that the moment I feel like everything is okay, I start to wonder if I am spiritually where I need to be. The enemy is always looking for a way to hinder us and cause us to fall. (1 Peter 5:8) He wants us to join him in an eternal lake of fire. I, for one, don’t intend to let that happen. So when I feel like everything is fine, I am going to go ahead and start preparing for whatever storm is going to be headed my way because this ol’ girl ain’t going down without a fight.

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21, KJV

For more encouragement on praying through the Word, check out my blog post titled, “Harnessing the Power of Praying God’s Word”.

Remember I am always praying for you even if I don’t know who you are!