Verse of the Day 4/15

Psalm 42:5 Why am I so depressed?

Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.    Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)  

In yesterday's verse from Mark 5, Jesus said "Do not fear, only believe".  I got a response back from someone that said that they needed to hear that "just believe".
That message comes to us from Jesus but it is also one that we must speak, that we must "preach" to ourselves.  If you read through the psalms, time and time again you will hear the psalmists questioning God and crying out to Him in one part of the psalm only to be praising Him and trusting in Him by the end of the psalm.  He is their confidence, their sense of hope, trusting that He is faithful and confident enough to praise Him before they see the answer to their prayers.

John Piper writes, "Hoping in God does not come naturally for sinners like us.  We must preach it to ourselves, and preach diligently and forcefully, or we will give way  to a downcast and disquieted spirit....I love the way psalmists wrestle and fight and struggle to maintain their hope in God.  This is normal Christian experience while we are still just saved sinners.  And we better own up to it, or else we may grow sluggish and negligent in our fight for hope.  "

Are you depressed this morning and facing some sort of turmoil?  Turn to one or more of the psalms, turn that depression and turmoil over to God and put your  hope in God.  In turning it over to Him, "emptying out the pockets of your life" (The Message v. 4), may you realize, like the psalmist, and preach forcefully  and diligently to yourself "    My life is God's prayer. " The Message, I will hope and trust in Him.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 42:4-8The Message (MSG)

⁴ These are the things I go over and over,
    emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
    right out in front,
Leading them all,
    eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
    celebrating, all of us, God's feast!

⁵ Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
    Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
    soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
    He's my God.

^6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
    everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
    including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
    to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
    crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day,
    sing songs all through the night!
    My life is God's prayer.