Psalm 42:1-5
For the director of music. A maskil of
the Sons of Korah. As
the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the
multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and
thanksgiving among the festive throng. 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. (NIV)
When all of life seems crashing down around us, we have basically two ways of handling it. The first is to fall into despair. As the psalmist wrote, our very soul is downcast. It is a sad, hopeless and Godless place to be.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is another option to deal with life's lows: we can shift the focus to God! We can remember the days where God seemed very near. We can praise him for how he answered our cries for help in the past. The more we focus on God's faithfulness, the more our soul will pant after the source of living water. It is there, and only there, that we will find the strength to endure the hardships of life.
James 4:8 "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."