Why Am I Discouraged? Why Is My heart So Sad? I Will Put My Hope In God! I Will Praise Him Again-My Saviour And My God
Faith Without Works Is Dead
PSALM 42:11
“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
”Psalms 42:11 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/psa.42.11.nkj
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Can you imagine or even remember being thirsty, dehydrated, your head aching, desperate for water. The psalmist here wasn’t so much thirsty for water, but like a deer pants for the water brooks, so his soul pants for God (v1).
Consider the last time you was thirsty, not for water, but for God. Maybe you was facing sickness or some other difficulties, or caring or helping a loved one. What did you do for spiritual thirst?
The psalmist here, who’s family, decendents of Korah, led worship in Israel, was spiritually parched. Only God could quench that thirst.
But he had a problem, he was nowhere near Jerusalem where God’s glory dwelt in Old Testament times. He was far from home, and felt far from God (v4). To make things worse, he was ridiculed for his faith (v3).
The psalmist longed to be back in Jerusalem with the worshipers, feasting, praising and sacrificing. He felt totally separated from God and had some serious soul sickness.
Today, in this world of discontent and confusion, many churches have closed, and many people are feeling separated from God. Whilst our world leaders pretend everything is ok, many are facing all kind of hardships-sickness, financial issues, fear, loneliness, stress, and all kinds of troubles like these.
Like the psalmist, we need to remember what God has done for us (v6-8)-we need to give ourselves a serious prep talk, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalms 42:11 NKJV
My brothers and sisters in Christ, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:23-25 NKJV
God is very clear in this scripture, “do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.”
I encourage you who have withdrawn from assembly since the time of lockdown, to re engage in fellowship; get yourselves back into fellowship and the presence of God. Furthermore, whatever situations we face, the LORD will fight for us and we shall hold our peace (EXODUS 14:14).” He will restore our land, and our financial systems (AMOS 9:14), so “Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”
Hosea 6:1 NKJV
The old church system has gone and the new is here. It is no longer man’s church, but God’s church, His body of people that shall operate through the five fold ministry of God by the leading and power of the Holy Spiirit. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
My beloved, we must come together as one in worship and praise, praying for one another and supporting one another; not forgetting to get out into the streets and communities searching for the lost.
As it is written, “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:5-8 NKJV
It is time to practice what we preach. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:14-17 NKJV
My beloved, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
