Verse of the Day 7/22

Verse of the Day 7/22

Psalm 42:11   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)

Sometimes it is hard to know why we wake up on some mornings and immediately feel depressed or discouraged.  Perhaps, like today, it starts with a look out the window and seeing cloudy, rainy skies when we'd rather have sunshine and a nice breeze.  Other time, there are things going on in our lives that draw our attention as soon as we start thinking about the day ahead, it may be turmoil or any kind of ongoing trouble.  When it happens we often listen to ourselves, our natural selves, telling us that things aren't fair or it is just not right.

It appears that David knew what we are going through.  But instead of dwelling on it, He would, like the deer that needs water daily, go to the source of refreshment, his source of strength.   Instead of listening to his inner self, he talks to himself and gives reason to hope, reason to see through the situation rather than dwell on it in depression.

Martyin Lloyd-Jones, one of my favorite Christians authors of the past century, writes, "Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. . . . Your self is talking to you. Now this man's treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, "Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you."

Are you listening to your self, to your feelings today, or have you already turned the corner and begun to talk to yourself, with the help of God's Word and prayer.   If you've been depressed or in turmoil, talk to yourself about His  blessings, His answer to prayer in the past and then go to Him, raise your Ebenezer - your stone of remembrance,  to your Savior and your God.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here there by Thy great help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

--   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 New Living Translation (NLT)

Book two (Psalms 42–72)

Psalm 42

For the choir director: A psalm^[a] of the descendants of Korah.

¹ As the deer longs for streams of water,
    so I long for you, O God.
² I thirst for God, the living God.
    When can I go and stand before him?
³ Day and night I have only tears for food,
    while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
    "Where is this God of yours?"

⁴ My heart is breaking
    as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
    leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
    amid the sound of a great celebration!

⁵ Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and ⁶ my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged,
    but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
    from the land of Mount Mizar.
⁷ I hear the tumult of the raging seas
    as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
⁸ But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.

⁹ "O God my rock," I cry,
    "Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
    oppressed by my enemies?"
¹⁰ Their taunts break my bones.
    They scoff, "Where is this God of yours?"

¹¹ Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and my God!