Psalm 42:11

Psalm 42:11

True well being

The final verse of the Psalm is a repeat of verse 5. When words are repeated like this it is obviously to emphasize the effect. I love the guy who wrote this, whoever he was, because he keeps taking control of his emotions and his mind and giving them a good talking to. This is a “telling off”, a command to get in line and stop feeling sorry for yourself. We hinted at that strategy earlier in the Psalm, sometimes you just have to lift your head up and tell your soul to get into line. 

This is the era of positive thinking and mind-control, I heard a lady on the radio, this week, giving advice to people who are feeling downhearted because of all the negative things that are going on in the world. She was a “well-being” advocate and so-called expert and she had lots of advice for her hearers. As I listened, I realised that her advice could have come straight out of the Psalms! The difference was that she was asking people to be positive within themselves whereas the Scriptures urge us to put out hope in God. I would rather hope in a superior outside source than in myself, wouldn’t you? There is no hope if all we have is those inner souls that get so downcast, but there is nothing but hope if our trust is in the Lord God. Yes, we will praise Him.  Yes, we will join with multitudes praising and worshipping in His presence. Yes, He is our Saviour and our God. Hallelujah!

 

Take some time out to practice the praising and tell your soul to be done with its anxiety and its self-pitying negativity! 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more