Psalm 42:3-5 "My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? (4) When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. (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."
"Where is thy God?" How many times have we heard that question?
Where is God when all this is happening? Why didn't God prevent such a
catastrophe? If God is so full of love, why did He allow this to happen? The
question takes on many forms and we hear it quite often. I try not to allow my
mind to dwell on these things because there is no answer that we can give that
will satisfy those who are looking to criticize God. David had been placed in a
position where people were asking him this question and apparently he had
allowed himself to think about it too much. He found himself in the place where
his soul (mind) was "cast down". That's the danger of dwelling on
unanswerable questions or trying to debate someone who is set upon finding
fault with God. I know the "pat answer" is this: "God is in the
same place where He was when His only begotten Son was nailed to the
cross." And believe me, I have used that answer before. That is true, but
still there is a great danger in trying to debate/argue with someone who has no
faith. (Paul asked the people to pray for us "... that we may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith." (2
Thessalonians 3:2) I'm not saying that we should stop professing our faith in
Christ, but arguments get us nowhere.
There is a danger that when we dwell on these things too much that it affects
even our time of worship. David said, "... I went with them to the house
of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept
holyday;" yet, he still found himself asking, "Why art thou cast
down?" Why do I feel this way? Why can I not find joy in my heart
and mind? He found himself in a state of depression to the place that all he
could do was to cry out in anger. Let's face it, we live in a time where people
are rising up daily. They may try to state this or that as the reason for their
tumult, but the deep truth of the matter is that they hate God and everything
about Him. We can remain true to our faith, but still not change their minds.
We must be careful that we do not allow their anger against God to stir up an
ungodly anger (not anger against God, but an anger against them) in our hearts
and minds. What then is the answer? David knew it and spoke it. "... hope
thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."
We must not allow the negative to overrule the positive. We are to continue
praising and glorifying our Heavenly Father and our precious Lord, Jesus
Christ.
Bob Kilpratrick wrote...
In My Life, Lord,
Be Glorified, Be Glorified
In My Life, Lord,
Be Glorified Today.
In my heart, Lord....
In our homes, Lord...
In your church, Lord...
Be glorified!