Why are you in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within
me?
Wait for God, for I
will again praise Him
For the help of His presence, my God.
Psalm 43:5 New American Standard Bible
This verse used to make me
feel condemned. I struggled with depression most of my life and this verse
seemed to tell me that I was a bad Christian. If I were a good Christian then I
wouldn’t feel that way because I would be hoping in God. I have since learned
that that is not the point or purpose of this verse at all. These two questions
are not meant to be rhetorical. This verse includes a process for dealing with
doubts and despair, rather than condemnation for them. He asks what is going
on, what issues are causing me to feel this way? The answers to these questions
show us how and what to pray for. He then follows the questions with a command
and a reminder of why to do it. What are we to do when we can’t see a way out?
When we are restless or in turmoil? Wait for God. Other translations say to
hope in God. Even though this seems intuitive on the outside, when we are in
the midst of pain or turmoil, sometimes we forget what we should do. I know as
a mother when things are easy I forget what steps to take to figure out why the
baby is crying. Then when the baby has a string of fussy nights and I was at my
wit’s end, I finally remembered something that used to be regular but I had
forgotten because I hadn’t needed it for a while. In the same way the psalmist
is reminding himself that he needs to hope in God, not in himself or his
circumstances or even the outcome he hopes God will provide. He needs to wait
for God to act because taking things into his own hands or striving needlessly
will only cause more distress. Now for the important question: WHY wait for and
hope in God? Because His presence is my help, because He will answer and rescue, because I will have reason to praise Him again,
but most importantly because He is my God. This verse encourages us to remember
who our God is, what He is capable of, why we should trust Him, and to look
forward with expectation to the help He will
provide. We can trust Him. Is your
soul down cast or in turmoil? What issues are causing you distress? Remember to
hope in God. Seek His help and the comfort of His presence. Wait for Him to
work and answer because He will, and be ready to praise Him when He does.
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