PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Psalm 43
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” (Psalm 43:3)
This psalm continues Psalm 42 (some Hebrew manuscripts combine them).
The psalmist still battles depression, wondering why God has rejected him!
It is important for us to see how God includes and inspires words of doubt in the bible.
If anyone challenges you for expressing doubt or despair, point them to the psalms.
I think this kind of honest prayer is important for our spiritual journey.
I’ve spoken with some who resist church because it only seems to allow joy or hope.
When someone expresses doubt or despair, they quickly urge them to ‘have faith’.
I am guilty of this; in my worry for them, I try to FIX their struggle for them..
Over time I’ve learned God’s Spirit works through honest desperation to bring hope.
This doesn’t mean ignoring those who struggle, but FEELING their struggle with them.
As we allow them time to vent, they start to speak words of hope themselves.
The Spirit of Jesus speaks to their spirit, drawing them toward peace and strength (v.5).
Do you “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15), or do you insist on joy?
Trust the Spirit to speak in their tears; soon you will “rejoice with those who rejoice”.
PRAYER
Lord, thank you for allowing me to be honest in my struggle, but also for leading me through struggle to hope and joy. Help me to offer the same freedom to others, so that you can lift their spirits too!
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,”
In the challenges and anxieties of life – or the bad things that are happening in this world – it is easy to be disturbed. I know I am. There is so much unhappiness, so many victims of disaster, war, and injustice – the numbers are not fathomable – all it takes is to look at one case and know it’s tough. How can we not have compassion and be disturbed! Yet the Psalmist says put your hope in God! Yes, that is where our hope and comfort comes in the face of bad stuff. The old hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer’ – that’s the difference for a believer! Yes, I put my hope in God my saviour – I put my hope in his presence and one day on his return!
In my ‘pilgrims progress’ there times of joy but also times of tears, despair. Yet at all times I am in His presence, living daily in His ‘SonShine’ bringing all my concerns, fears, doubts to the Lord in my talks with with who listens and hears. He is my Stronghold. He is my hope. He is my God. He is my Rock. I can share all things with Him and He will let His SonShine lead and guide me through the dark valleys. He is the wind beneath my wings, my hope, my security, my source of strength, my Saviour. Today, as every day is, is a day of my Lord and I will praise Him for it is He Who gives my strength to praise Him, to live for Him.
Oh God You Are My God
And I Will Ever Praise You
Oh God You Are My God
And I Will Ever Praise You
I Will Seek You In The Morning
And I Will Learn To Walk In Your Ways
And Step By Step You’ll Lead Me
And I Will Follow You All Of My Days
And I Will Follow You All Of My Days,
And I Will Follow You All Of My Days.
And Step By Step You’ll Lead Me
And I Will Follow You All Of My Days.