Is your soul cast down? The Bible, and David's Psalm 43, provide the solution to our personal struggles. Hope in God. Experience God's presence and find joy!
The Psalms are sometimes neglected and that is too bad. They are a wonderful collection of poems, prayers, songs and meditations. Jesus quoted from the Psalms. Psalms are also quoted throughout the Bible. The Apostle Paul instructed the early church to teach and encourage one another through “psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs.” (Colossians 3:16)
Many of the psalms were written by David, that famous king from Israel’s early days - that great man of faith who famously defeated Goliath. Nevertheless, some of its prayers and meditations came from a place of personal struggle.
That’s right, sometimes our circumstances seem overwhelming, and can cause even people of great faith to struggle. The Psalms do not hide from that. Instead, they focus us back on the hope and the help that comes through faith in God.
Psalm 43 is short - only five verses. It is both a prayer and a meditation. In it, David works through a profound, personal struggle. Here is some of what David was up against:
He felt at odds with an ungodly nation.
He was facing a deceitful and unjust adversary.
He mourned, and felt oppressed by an enemy.
His very soul felt cast down and in turmoil.
Sounds pretty bleak. To make matters worse, David even struggled with the feeling that God had neglected him.
David’s solution? He calls out to God in prayer. He focuses on the joy that will come as God answers and as he experiences God’s presence. He reminds himself that God is indeed his God! He realizes that there is no need to feel cast down, and he begins to refocus his soul toward praising God.
Following are the final three verses of David’s Psalm (43). The next time you pray to the good Lord, consider reading these verses out loud as part of your prayer.
Dear Father, (3) O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. (4) Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. (5) Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Amen