November 26th

Put Your Hope in God

Psalm 43:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Down and Out

Many scholars believe David to be the author of Psalm 43. In any case, the Psalmist is dealing with some downcast mental conditions, which hade stemmed from the oppression of ungodly and deceitful men, his enemies, as stated in verse one of the psalm.

Hope in God

David takes control of the situation by speaking to himself, or, as the Psalm states, to his soul. He asks himself or, that is, his soul why it is that you are so downcast and upset. And then he exhorts himself, or his soul, to hope in God, or to wait for and expect good things from the LORD. In other words, change the focus of your thoughts from how bad things are to how faithful and able and willing God is to change the situation.

A Relentless Enemy

We may at times have to do that in our own unpleasant situations. We sometimes forget that we, too, have an enemy who oppresses, and tries relentlessly to get us out of faith and down in the dumps, either depressed or worried or fearful or feeling hopeless.

I Will Yet Praise Him

David, in this verse, encourages himself to hope in God, and then boldly declares that he shall yet praise the LORD, who is the strength of his countenance, and his God. Whatever the situation is, it is not going to stop him from praising and thanking God for His goodness. Sometimes we also have to take that kind of stand, and set our thoughts on God and His faithfulness. The Bible says that He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed or set upon Him.

Resist the Devil

And it really only makes sense, when you stop and think about it. The Bible tells us to resist the devil, and that he will flee from us. Well, if we don’t resist him, then he will probably stay, and things will not change, or they will get worse. One way to resist him is to refuse to give in to those things that he uses against us, thoughts of worry and anxiety and fear. We have to stand up against those things and resist them, and set our minds upon trusting God.

Take a stand today against the wiles of the devil. He is an expert at painting a dismal picture for us to dwell upon. The Bible says to be anxious for nothing, but to pray and make our requests known unto God with thanksgiving, and that the peace of God will then keep our heart and mind in Christ Jesus. This is a promise of God that is certainly worth acting upon.