Skip to main content

Another Disorienting "D" Word

In my last post, I wrote about despair.  But I also pointed out an antidote so you wouldn’t be left without any possible way out of that dire place.  If you need a refresher, take a look at my previous post.

In this post, I want to take a look at some other disorienting feelings that a Psalmist honestly wrote about.  He wrote this:  “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Ps 42:5)

In regard to feeling “cast down”, other versions translate the phrase using these words:

 

  • Despair
  • Dejected
  • Depressed
  • Discouraged

Not exactly what you and I might want to experience!  But I’m guessing that many of us have faced some of those in the past.  And I’m also guessing that some of us are facing some now. 

In regard to feeling “disquieted”, other versions use words such as:

 

  • Restless
  • Disturbed
  • Turmoil
  • Troubled

Again, not exactly what you and I would want to experience!  But just in case any of these words align with what you might be experiencing now, it would be good to see if the Psalmist gives any indicators on how to work our way out of them.

And yet, while not wanting to dissuade us from looking for such indicators, the passage might actually have more to do with asking ourselves a deep, soul searching question than for looking for a laundry list of possible remedies when we feel cast down and disquieted. 

So, the deep, soul searching question is this:  “Why are you cast down, O my soul”?   The Psalmist, in a way, is demanding that his soul explain the reasons why it should be cast down.

Note that he didn’t just say my soul is cast down and that’s just the way it is and I’ll just have to live with it. Nor does he ignore that there were some valid reasons for feeling cast down and disquieted.  He recounts that he had been experiencing things like being a distance from home and from the house of God. Unbelievers were taunting him, memories of better days were haunting him, overwhelming trials were upon him and, in the midst of all of those things, it seemed that God was slow to step in and help.

Yet, rather than just wallowing in all that, he brought both his experiences and his feelings before God.  And as he brought them before God, it appears that the Psalmist realized that while there were some valid reasons to feel cast down and disquieted, there were many more reasons for hope in light of the greatness of God and the help of His favor and presence.

The Psalmist also concluded that he needed to direct his heart to “hope in God”.  This was not a senseless kind of hope, but a hope that is based on the fact that God had helped him in the past and would do so in the future.

So while we may feel tempted to surrender to or wallow in our feelings of being cast down and disquieted, it’s imperative that we question why we have those feelings.  In questioning them, we honestly bring them before God while reminding ourselves who God is and what He has done.  And we say to ourselves “hope in God” because He has helped us in the past and will do so in the future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Words, Big Impact

Sometimes we get caught up in the big words and that certainly has its place.   But, sometimes I think I appreciate the little words even more.   These are one or two or three letters words that can have big meaning and big impact. Take the word “I”.   It is a pronoun that often is used to identify the one who might be communicating.   The communication could be something like “I love you” or “I forgive you” or “I will do that.”   Meaning and impact from a word with just one letter! Take the word “no”.   It can put a stop to things. For example, you could have what you think is a really great idea but if you receive a no, your great idea comes to a screeching halt.   Meaning and impact from a word with just two letters! Take the word “yes”.   It can set things in motion.   For example, perhaps you are in love with that certain special person and you ask that question and they say yes.   Big things are set into motion and yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Double Entendre

Double entendre:   a word or expression used so that it can be understood in two ways.   For example: Seriously struggle with sin : 1.   Some people seriously struggle with sin.   That is, they see how easily sin entangles and they take their struggle with sin seriously and overcome it. 2.   Some people seriously struggle with sin.   That is, sin easily entangles them and they have serious struggles with sin and they never seem to overcome it. The example is not just theoretical, it is real.   And it is likely that many of us have experienced both over the course of our lives.   But whatever you have experienced, I have some more double entendres that follow a bad news/good news format: 1.   Sin is costly .   The cost is spiritual death.   But we have a Savior who paid the cost with His own life so that we can live spiritually. 2.   Sin has consequences . The consequence of sin is eternal separatio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flee From/Flee To

If you are going to flee, do it right! What?   Give me a chance to explain! But first, let’s land on what it might mean to flee.   To flee is to run away from a place or situation of danger or evil.   It also means to hurry toward a place of safety. So, here are some possible explanations: 1.   Flee when God tells you: Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt , and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”  (Matt 2:13)   2.   But don’t try to flee from God: But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord . He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord .  (Jonah 1:3)     3.   Flee from danger: For they have fled from the ...
Post a Comment
Read more