Cast Down, But Not Without Hope!

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul" (Ps. 43:5).

Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two. If we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or if we have been converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down.

But except for these two things there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. And regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God.

"Hope thou in God." Oh, remember this: There is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God, and it will be found that it is not in vain. In the Lord's own time help will come.

Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months!

When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come; for God has His own resources. He is not confined. In ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times God may help us.

Our business is to spread our cases before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, saying,

"I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus; for His sake answer my prayer, and give me grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer. For I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way."

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"Why are you cast down, O my soul?" Why are you depressed and sunken in spirit? The Bible records that David encouraged himself in the Lord. This seems to be yet another one of those moments in which David had to give himself a pep talk. Before you Bible Scholars jump on my back and kill a perfectly good point, I will acknowledge that Psalm 43 is an anonymous Psalm (author unknown); however when I read it, the soul of David cries out.  So, for the sake of argument, we are going to say David wrote it, at least for today.

David encouraged himself in the Lord. There are those times in our lives when we will have to encourage ourselves. There will be no one there with an inspirational message. There will be no pats on the back accompanied by the reassurance that everything will be alright. In fact, there will be moments in which the positive outcome seems impossible. Where do you turn when there is no one to help you lift your spirits as the vicissitudes of life seem to be extracting the very breath of your existence? You look within. There will be those moments when you will have to remind yourself of God's faithfulness. There will be those moments in which you will have to recall God's movement in times past. You will have to speak to your soul and tell it, "God will come through, I will praise Him for deliverance once again.

The prophet Jeremiah said it like this, "21 But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:
22 It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not." (Lamentations 3:21-22, AMP)

To really grasp the power of this statement by the Prophet Jeremiah you really need to study the prophet Jeremiah's life. Jeremiah is the one prophet that recorded his personal feelings as he delivered God's word, so when he was disappointment, discouraged, saddened, or upset, his readers knew it. This allows you to really gauge his struggles and relate to his pain. The book is entitled Lamentations for a reason. Jeremiah couldn't catch a break to save his life. He was constantly under assault for preaching the truth of God's revelation. So, for those that are complaining because you feel you are walking in your anointed purpose, but you seem to be under constant attack, get used to it, it's part of job.

Dr. Rick Wallace

Jeremiah said, "These things I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. As believers, we literally have a responsibility to hope in God. It is our spiritual duty to hope in God. We are called to rest in Him. God has never promised a life of ease, void of struggle. In fact, Jesus told the disciples that there would be tribulations in the world (John 16:33), but he followed it by saying, "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He was saying the victory has been won, but you have to get in the fight. You must enter the battlefield, but the victory has already been accomplished.

No matter what you are going through as you traverse the crossroads of life, you can depend on God to be an ever present help in the time of trouble. I encourage you to learn to encourage yourself. It is good to have a friend or loved one that you can depend on to help lift your spirits, but there will be those moments where it is just you, your troubles and God. What will you do in these moments? You will do as David and Jeremiah did; you will encourage yourself in the Lord. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace