Why are you cast down, O my soul,
Psalm 43:5
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
These words appear not only in Psalm 43 but also twice in Psalm 42 (verses 5 and 11). In both psalms, the writer is lamenting the circumstances he is in. Crying out for God to rescue him and feeling the weight of whatever the situation is, he reminds himself of where his true hope is.
These words were a sort of lifeline for me when I was going through my depression a while back. They were a reminder to me that I was looking down when I should have been looking up. When our hope is rooted in anything other than Christ, it becomes hopelessness. At the time we may not even (and usually don’t) realize that is what we are doing. I didn’t. My hopes were rooted in my works – what I was doing right or wrong, enough or not enough. But when I read these words, they brought it into the light.
And just as the psalmist speaks to his own soul to remind himself to hope in God – not anything or anyone else – we must do the same thing. When our soul is cast down and in turmoil – when things don’t make sense, we are frustrated, depressed, discouraged, and hopeless – may we lift our eyes to HIM to be reminded of His lovingkindness toward us. May we be reminded that the King and Creator of all things cares for us, sustains us, loves us, and died for us. THAT is our only true hope.
It brings to mind the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
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