Being without hope is possibly the worst and most depressing feeling one could have. No matter what trial you could be facing, as long as there is hope, you can keep going on. Without hope, though, when the situation looks completely hopeless, you are at the bottom, and there seems to be no rope one can cling on to in order to be pulled out. That is the worst and most depressing feeling a person can have. The writer of this week’s psalm was going through an unspecified difficult time. Things were probably looking rather hopeless for him. However, he knew where to look and where to find hope. Let’s look into Psalm 43, a rather short psalm this week, and find that place of hope, as well.
Psalm 43 is a companion psalm to the previous psalm in the Bible, Psalm 42. It is like an epilogue or postscript to that psalm. The psalm closes with the same lament that is repeated twice in Psalm 42, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The Help of my countenance and my God.” (vs. 5). Throughout both psalms he feels beaten down with the heavy trials in his life, feeling lost, abandoned, and defeated. Yet, he sees a beam of hope, and now knows where to turn to.
As our Scripture passage opens, the psalmist feels that the oppression he is enduring is unfair and calls upon the Lord God to be both his divine judge and attorney (vs. 1). He seeks vindication from his enemies. Frequently we are no match against our physical enemies, and we are never a match against our spiritual enemies. When we take things into our own hands, more often than not we only mess things up more. The One who the psalmist turned to for deliverance is the same One we need to turn to, rather than depending on our own meager strength and ability. As he discovered, God is the source of all of our strength (vs. 2).
Since the psalmist has made God his refuge and strength, why was he feeling rejected and dejected by Him? (vs. 2). Isn’t that frequently the case with us, as well? Sometimes our trials and burdens seem so heavy for us, that we feel that God has turned away from us. Even though we know the words of countless Scripture verses that tell us otherwise, there are some times when we, like the psalmist, feel as though God has cast us off, and we feel in despair and misery. To our psalmist’s credit, though, he did not allow himself to stay in this condition. For a brief moment he gave way to a pity party, but not for long. The longer we stay in a disconsolate state, the harder it is to get out. He needed some hope, and he knew where he could find it.
Though the psalmist felt separated from God, he recognized that he should put his hope in the Savior. In the face of discouragement our only real and true hope is in the Lord God. It is only His light and His truth that will give us the guidance and direction we need in our life (vs. 3). God’s truth provides the right path to follow (I John 2:27). God’s light provides the clear vision to follow (I John 1:5). Believers need to follow the light and truth of Jesus.
We all face times of discouragement in our life. We may face times when life seems quite hopeless. It is in those times that we need to diligently seek God, and like the psalmist, we will discover that He will provide the hope that we need. The Word of God tells us that there is no hopeless situation. Having the Lord Jesus as Savior means that the hopeless have hope.
Regardless of what life throws at us, we can take heart. God is still with us. The psalmist experienced despair and hopelessness, but he did not dwell there. He put his hope in the Lord God. There will be disappointments in our lives, but how we respond to them determines whether we live a life of joy in the Lord, or the despair of the devil. God is a God of hope!
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