Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This week is Vacation Bible School at FCC. We have been blessed with many new folks serving Jesus by serving our children! Thanks goes out to all the servants of Jesus working together for God’s glory! During VBS we all need some encouragement. I find that my “soul-talk” needs to be focused on Jesus and His willingness to work through me!
Today I want to turn to the twin Psalms 42-43.
Three times in these brief songs we hear these words:
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
NIV Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Two questions are addressed to my soul. Why am I downcast? The verb illustrates a picture of being a sunk down soul! One that is experiencing genuine depression. It is important to admit when we are feeling depression! When we hit bottom, we are often beginning to rise above our feelings. There are innumerable reasons why we feel sunk down! In these psalms it is obvious that enemies are attacking. He is alone and may even be in a panic mode!
The second question addressed to his soul is: Why so disturbed within me? This verb reveals a silent growling deep within his life. The murmuring that can lead us into criticism and bitterness. Once again this is a murmur that is often silent to others. We may have many reasons to complain. We are facing real enemies!
Next comes the “self-exhortation:” “Put your hope in God!” We place our hope in God when we wait on Him to answer our cries and show up in our situation. We can choose to wait or not! Often the solution to our down-look is this up-look! We lift our eyes above our circumstances and see the Lord of heaven watching over us! We cast our cares on Him because we know He cares for us!
Finally, the singer concludes with a promise to praise God. His praise is continuous even through his season of suffering. Praising God for who He is and what He will do even before we see Him act. This is true worship that honors God and lifts us up as well. He is our Savior and by His presence He rescues us!
As I meditate on this simple strategy to experience God’s healing in life, I am blessed to see His love, mercy, grace, and faithfulness! I hope this message has come to you today just on time!
Please continue to pray with us for the exciting VBS this week!
Your servant for Jesus’s sake,
Pastor Rick