Psalm 43-11.16.21
Scripture:
Psalms 43
1 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Observation:
David is struggling. And he feels like God doesn’t care. David doesn’t push his feelings down, but instead cries out to God. God – I am in pain, I am being unjustly attacked. You are my stronghold. You need to be defending me! Why have you rejected me? He is being open and honest with God. This is not a lack of faith. He is acknowledging his circumstances and feelings. But he understands that in the midst of those feelings and circumstances, he needs to push in and get closer to his God – his source of life, strength and joy! By the end of the psalm David’s circumstances hadn’t changed, but his outlook had.
Understanding:
I keep hearing about “toxic positivity.” I have to admit that my first response was, “Come on – how can you be too positive?” But the term came to mind when studying this psalm, so I decided to look it up. It refers to dismissing or downplaying negative emotions and responding with a surface-level positivity. We all go through hard things. It is a fact of life. God didn’t promise us that if we follow Him we will never experience pain. It’s ok to be sad, hurt, depressed. We don’t need to pretend to ourselves or others that we don’t have these feelings. Feel your feelings! But we do need to go to the source of our hope and joy. David says, “Then I will go to the altar of God.” He meant I will get as close to God as I can. Go to God, press in. Connect with the source of true hope and joy.
Life Application:
I love this psalm! David comes to God dejected and depressed and cries out his hurt. He acknowledges what he is feeling. Then he pushes closer to the source of true comfort and joy and reminds himself – why am I so downcast when GOD IS MY SAVIOR?? God, when I am down, sad, anxious, angry, depressed remind me to go to the altar, lay down my hurts at your feet, and declare your praises – my joy and my delight, my Savior!
-Debbie Dunn