Psalm 143:4

Psalm 143:4

The pit of despair

Psalm 142:3 is repeated here, once again we are dealing with a man whose spirit grows faint within him. In addition, David admits to his heart being dismayed. We are all familiar with genuine weariness and tiredness when we’ve pushed ourselves to the limits and our bodies are aching and screaming “No more!” 

The dilemma for David was that his inner being had also had enough. The will to carry on had deserted him, he had no desire to move on, the psychological battle had been lost, he could take no more, the constant waves of aggression and evil from his enemies had worn him down. David was at a very low ebb, He didn’t want this fight anymore, he was ready to lie down and give up, nothing in his being desired to keep battling on, he was riddled with fear and ready to die. He was crushed, broken and utterly defeated.

Maybe some of us have been in this dark and lonely place, where all the will to continue with life has been wrenched from us, such a state of mind can lead to all sorts of phobias, panic attacks and general listlessness, it is a cruel and dismal place to be and we label it has depression or a mental breakdown. 

It says something about the restorative powers and abilities of our God that David survived this time in his life to become a great king, military leader and worshipper of the Lord. If we’ve sunk to the lowest depths of despair, our God can still life us up and restore our purpose and our reasons to keep living. If we will let Him! Hallelujah!

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