‘I sought the Lord and He answered me…’ (Psalm 34:4)
Read Psalms 42 and 43
Over our lifetime there may be many occasions when certain events and circumstances might cause us to question our faith or even lose it altogether, even if only for a short while; times when we will become spiritually despondent. At a personal level illness and bereavement is sometimes a trigger for this or when we find ourselves going through a period when nothing seems to be going right and all our hopes and aspirations seem to come to nothing. Looking at the bigger picture, facing the kind of pandemic that we are today might also lead others to experience this same kind of spiritual despondency. At times such as this Psalms 42 and 43 offer us some hope.
Although these are presented as two separate Psalms in the Bible, many believe that they are clearly meant to go together and when you look at the tone and content of both it’s difficult to argue against that, especially as both appear to end with the exact same wording.
Throughout these Psalms we have this picture of someone who is going through an inner turmoil in terms of their faith, lamenting the fact that they seem to be somewhat detached from God. However, where we can find hope is that on three occasions when we see this happening, the Psalmist does not submit or succumb to this, rather he questions himself as to why he feels so far from God and summons himself to once again put his faith and trust in God – and on doing so he is once again come before the Lord in joy and delight able to acknowledge that God is his stronghold, his light, his Saviour. What a word of encouragement for us when we feel distant from God.
‘Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him…’Amen.
Question Of The Day: What land was given to Caleb as an inheritance because of his faithfulness?