02/08/2020
Do we allow the everyday afflictions of the world to redirect our trust away from God? Do we find ourselves, like David sometimes did in Psalms, arguing within ourselves regarding what we know of God’s goodness, provision, and rescue, and the need for our own physical selves to step in and defeat the enemies and obstacles that challenge us? In such times, David described what was happening to his spirit with words such as “cast down”, or “in turmoil”, but today we use terms like depressed, anxious, and lonely, when we face the world alone.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Psalms 43:5 ESV
There was a time, when I was a boy, that I went squirrel hunting in the woods on my grandfather’s farm and became totally lost. When this happened I started walking this way and that looking for something, anything, that I recognized... but nothing appeared familiar. I began to weep in the midst of my predicament, because I was alone, and had finally admitted to myself that I was lost, and couldn’t do this on my own. So in the middle of my rising depression, and sense of hopelessness, I stopped walking, and began to pray. Within a few minutes something remarkable happened... my spirit calmed, the fear subsided, and my tears stopped flowing. Then, the Holy Spirit began to guide me by bringing to mind the lessons I had learned from my father. At that moment He told me to get up, and follow the creek, that I hadn’t noticed, below me in the valley, and that if I did this I would certainly find habitation. So I walked, and in a short while I heard the sounds of a road, and then, following it, I came upon a house. I knocked on the door, and a man came. He called my grandfather on the telephone, while his wife gave me food and drink, and in a short time my uncle pulled into the driveway... God had rescued me.
“When we put our trust in the living God, we know that nothing can come into that stronghold without God’s permission, limitation, and purpose.” - Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus
It took David some time to defeat that feeling, but He did it in prayer, and once he was calmed, then God stepped in to rescue him. Are we pitting God against our afflictions, or attempting to grapple with them ourselves... just as David did in Psalms 43, and I did as a lost and wandering little boy? if so then our spirit will most certainly become “cast down”, as the fear and isolation of our inability takes hold of us.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Psalms 43:5 ESV
David said this about leaning on God as he argued with himself. During his trouble he was led back to trusting in God, and was rescued.
As we read the Psalms we find that this isn’t the first time he had needed to renew his trust in God, call out in this way, and find God’s help. He said these words as he reassured himself that the Lord would defend him against evil men in Psalm 37...
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...”
Psalms 37:5-7 ESV
So if we find ourselves lost, or confronting the world, we should turn to prayer, songs, and trusting in the Lord for deliverance. He will defeat the depression, anxiety, and fear that has “cast down” our spirit. Then, as our faith grows through such instances we will learn to trust in Him without the need of experiencing tears, and these other things, that will certainly subdue our spirits before we turn to Him.
“Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”
Psalms 28:6-8 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing my cries, and tasting the tears of my predicaments, but thank you most for restoring my trust in you through the trials I face in my life. You lead me through the dark valleys shaded by the trees of pain and suffering, and provide me living water to guide me back to you, and the healing joy of your presence. Strengthen my faith, and my voice Father, so that I might call out sooner, and obey always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who provides me rescue from every hardship and calamity. Great are you in whom I trust as you lift my spirit, and overcome my every depression, and anxiety. Praised be your Name Lord, for you are forever faithful, and steadfast in your provision. All glory is yours Lord. I am unable to withstand the onslaught of life without your strength, mercy, and the grace that flows through your Son Jesus. I trust in you, the guidance of your Holy Spirit, and the redeeming blood of your Son Jesus. Hear my prayers from the midst of my tribulation, and speak calming hope to my spirit.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13 ESV
Rich Forbes