HOPE IN GOD

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?
  Why so disturbed within me?
  Put your hope in God,
 for I will yet praise him,
 my Savior and my God.”  Psalm 42:5

            This Psalm is referred to as a instructional ode or hymn.  David was in flight from his own son Absalom and therefore was removed from his normal routine of going to the house of God to lift praises to His name.  The situation he found himself in caused his soul to be downcast. 

          This Psalm was a means of encouraging his own soul and spirit to praise God regardless of his circumstances for God never changes like shifting sand. Our Lord remains a continuous source of wisdom, guidance and encouragement to us all.  If we place our unwavering faith in the one true constant, we will be blessed among men.  Sure, we will have moments of doubt or even days where we struggle with our own reality, but in the end when the dust settles on our day we should we able to look heavenward and still offer praise to a God who loves us relentlessly and will never fail us.  Looking to the world for encouragement and support is a supreme waste of time, for what is important in the world changes like shifting sands.  It is a sea of inconsistency, rising and falling at the whim of mortal men.

          Our faith should be the basis for any hope we might have.  Faith gives birth to trust and with trust comes the realization that God will always be there to comfort and guide us through any set of circumstances we may find ourselves in.  David knew this.  That’s why he was able to praise the Lord even though his life was in danger.  God will never fail us and is both with us in the midst of our struggles and at the end of it waiting for us to arrive.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!