12-5-11 Psalm 43:1-5 Discouragement’s cure
I was only going to focus on the cure that the psalmist seems to put forth, that being hope. But I think that’s a hard jump to make when you’re feeling like taking one more step is more than you can do. In the discouraging times of my life, I may have known that I needed to put my hope in God: hope that He had better plans for me; hope that things were going to get better; hope that I wasn’t going through the dark time alone. The piece that I sometimes forgot is the piece that the psalmist puts outs there in the early verses.
There are some who might read the second verse and hear the writer’s scathing accusation against God, but it seems like more of a reminding. In Exodus, when the Hebrew children found themselves facing the Red Sea on one side and the advancing Egyptian army on the other God makes known that he has them right where he wants them (see Exodus 14:1, he told them where to camp). We often quote Jeremiah 29:11 (the great verse about hope), but go back and read the beginning of the chapter. It says that God put them in exile and they might as well settle in because they’re going to be there a while.
Are times tough right now? Is the valley long, lonely, and confusing? Trust that God knows, has a plan, and you will come out on the other side with such a story to tell. For now, go to the altar of God, and praise him with exceeding joy (sounds like James 1:3) for he is your hope and help.
Pot of Manna 