Sometimes what we are feeling and believing is not what reality truly is. This can be a problem, both emotionally, and in actuality in our life. Take, for example, a pilot in an airplane. I don’t know how to fly a plane, and have never even been in a cockpit. However, I do know that all those controls in front of the pilot are important. The pilots are trained in how to read and determine what those controls indicate. When they are in thick clouds or fog, when there is a lot of rain or snow hampering their view, when it is so dark out that they can’t determine the direction they are going, they are to rely on those controls. If they instead rely on where they think they are heading, it could mean disaster. That is what supposedly happened to John Kennedy, Jr. when he, his wife, and sister-in-law were flying in a small plane, heading to his cousin’s wedding in the summer of 1999. It is believed that John Kennedy, Jr, who was piloting the plane, ignored the controls, and instead went by what he thought was the right way, and ended up crashing into the ocean off of Cape Cod, killing the three of them.
Sometimes, as believers, we start to do some “stinking thinking”, believing the lies that the devil feeds us, rather than depending upon His Word, which is always true, and never fails us. We may be in a bad situation, and just as in a pitch black night or in a thick cloud while sitting in the airplane cockpit, we feel cast off by God. Do we go by our feelings, or do we trust in the “controls”, which is God’s Word? Our psalmist today was in such a situation. Let’s see what he did.
Psalm 43 is a companion psalm to the previous psalm, Psalm 42, as it echoes a verse that is repeated several times in each psalm. The psalmist feels cast down by circumstances in his life. He is depressed and discouraged, and wonders where he will find any relief. He knows that he can’t turn to any person for help, as either they have turned against him or are unable to help. And when he turns to God for help, he feels that he has been cast off (vs. 2). This is a very discouraging place to be. Right now he is looking out of the window of the plane and seeing nothing but darkness, clouds, or fog, and trying to figure out what to do. He is becoming overwhelmed and disoriented. His feelings say that God cast him off. Is that true? Should he rely on that?
Right now he needs to turn to the control panel of his plane, which in our case would be God’s Word, the Bible, and pay attention to what he knows to be true and accurate. He needs to turn to God, which, fortunately for him, he does. Rather than take matters into his own hands, he turns to God in prayer, asking for Him to be both his Divine Judge and Divine defense attorney (vs 1). Only a judge can bring a verdict of vindication, and only an attorney can plead our case. We have that with God the Father, who is Judge of all, and also in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Divine Advocate.
In spite of these feelings he was having, feelings of being rejected by God, and being verbally, and possibly physically attacked by other people, he knows that God will give him guidance and direction (vs. 3). He prays for God to send His light and truth to guide him. That truth and light is found in the pages of the Holy Bible. The truth in God’s Word shows the right path to follow in life. His light provides a clear vision in order to follow His truth.
Those are the “control panels” that the psalmist, and we ourselves, need to rely on to get through this life. When he trusted God’s Word, his lack of peace and depression was replaced with exceeding joy, and he could sing God’s praises again (vs. 4). In the face of terrible discouragement, our only hope is in God.
Regardless of what life has thrown at us, we can take heart, because God is still with us. Disappointments will come, but how we respond to them will determine whether we live a life of freedom or of slavery. God is the God of hope, and we can shake off the chains of despair.
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