MORNING PEP TALK!

Thursday, September 12, 2019

MORNING PEP TALK!

Ps 42:5

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

           Three times the Psalmist asks his own soul why it is so despondent. We see almost identical language in Psalm 42:5; Psalm 41:11; and Psalm 43:5. The word “disquieted” is the Hebrew word hamah which literally means “to make a loud sound” but can also mean “to moan loudly.” Clearly the Psalmist’s soul is unsettled and agitated.

           The Psalmist opens Psalm 42 by describing a doe panting and struggling to quench her thirst in a time of drought. He said that is what his soul was experiencing. He was literally thirsty for God!

           “Where is your God?” was the common mocking of the Gentiles because a gentile always had an image close at hand while the Jew worshipped Him who was unseen. Sometimes it hurt deeply because sometimes God could barely be perceived because of troubles.

           We live in a time of virulent foolishness and violence but bad as the times are, insulting as are our enemies, hopeless as in the sight of man our condition may be, yet there is no room for despair. All things are possible to God. We have a promise of restoration; he is as good as he is powerful; hope therefore in him. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary.)

Lam 3:24-26

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Dear Lord, I’ve had my morning pep talk. I sit now and wait for you to refresh my soul. AMEN