Hope in God


Psalm 43
1Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
2For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
5Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

I have a dear sister in the Lord who is facing a difficult day in court and sits in that room even as I write these words. It was shocking to open up my Bible to the appointed Psalm for our devotions today and find these Words. In five short verses David captures the fear and despair of struggling through difficult days not knowing how God will deliver us. Our own resources will fail; of that we can be certain. But God’s infinite power and compassion knows no such human bonds.

Although there is no “credit line” at the top of this Psalm we must believe it was written by David during a time when he was unable to go to Jerusalem which happened to him a great deal while he was being chased by Saul in his younger years or when he was facing opposition as the king in his later years. Either way, he is bemoaning his absence from Jerusalem and thus his inability to worship God appropriately. This is a tough concept for us to grasp because we feel free to worship God no matter where we are and that is a blessing. We have the benefit of knowing that God is always with us and available to us. I think that David knew that as well but for the Jewish worshiper, the true place of worship was (and still is) Jerusalem. His heart breaks at the distance he feels from God because of this situation.

For us, the Psalm rings with truth because we have all been in that place of fear and despair. If God is not with us, what shall we do? And let’s face it - we all know what that emotional firestorm feels like when God seems distant or unavailable. But I would remind you that those feelings are not worth entertaining for they are not leading you in the direction of truth. I think that when we are troubled our emotions can become a playground for Satan. He loves to see us in a tough spot and then pokes at it for his own amusement and our pain. With this Psalm we find the author doing the correct thing about that harassment – taking it to God in honest prayer.

I pray that my friend spends her day in the presence of God, no matter what the will of the judge happens to be in this case. No matter how things turn out for us, we cannot be separated from God and His loving compassion. Even when things go wrong, He does not drop us but instead holds us closer.

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

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