Friday, April 5, 2013

Psalm 43

43:1-2 - After reading through those verses, are there any ways that you are feeling like the psalmist right now? Feeling exposed? Undefended? Separated from God? Confused? Lost?  I personally am not going through a season like that right now, but I have experienced feelings like this in the past...I think we all have. Wondering where God is when things are hard...wondering why it seems like the people who reject God are prospering while you struggle...feeling like everything is spinning out of control. Sometimes our first response to difficult times like these is to blame God and pull away from Him...

43:3-4 - Yet the writer of this psalm shows us how to deal with such feelings, and angrily blaming God is not the answer (Shocking, I know!). What is the answer to dealing with darkness and confusion in this world? God's light and truth...asking God to guide you back into His presence. So many of us run from God when we are mad, but what we need to do is cry out to Him. Even when everything is falling apart, the psalmist knows that if he can just enter into God's presence he will find peace and joy. And don't you know that too? As much as we threaten to leave God...as much as we get angry...as much as we ignore Him when we are upset...deep down we know that He is the only place where we are going to find refuge and rest. He has always been the only safe haven fro our souls...we just need to remember that when things are hard.

43:5 - The psalm closes out with a powerful reminder - put your hope in God. God is our hope. God is our salvation. God is the only way out of the darkness and confusion of this life. If you place your trust in Him...He will not let you down.

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