Psalm 43 (NIV)
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
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.
Raw and honest. That's how I thinkg about the words of the Psalmist as he asks real questions reflecting his feelings. "Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about...being oppressed? Vindicate me! Help me!" A real person with real emotion. How I can relate.
ReplyDeleteThere is another book in the Bible that is filled with a man's honest response to the pain and suffering he is experiencing - Job. "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! 3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas." Job 6:2
At the end of todays Word, the Psalmist says, "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God." Surprisingly, the word "hope" is also found in Job. Thirteen (13) times - second only to the Psalms where it is mentioned 33 times.
To get a clearer picture of what our hope looks like we turn to the New Testament:
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward (hope) to sharing God’s glory. (NLT)
Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (NLT)
2Corinthains 1:10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,(NIV)
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
Are you feeling discouraged? hopeless? Are you being honest with God? Are you crying out, surrendering your feelings and emotions to Him?
Get real with God and then cling to the real, true hope He offers through Jesus Christ!