May almighty God be pleased to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's
turn to the book of Psalms and Psalm 43 and reading the last
verse, verse 5. Psalm 43 and reading verse 5. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet
praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. It is very clear that Particularly
in the Psalms, we have very clear statements that the Word of God
directs us to the condition of our souls. And how good it is
if you and I can appreciate the importance of such a situation. And I think tonight, as we read
this, where the psalmist speaks about his soul, oh my soul. Now I trust and pray that all of
us tonight have some understanding that we do have a soul. We have a body which we can see
and we have a soul which we cannot see. We possess both. And as we are concerned about
the state of our natural body, so may we be concerned about
the state of our spiritual body, which is of course our soul. What a needful thing it is that
we are concerned about our soul's condition and not satisfied with
just a mere following that which pleases ourselves. The 43rd Psalm
and the 42nd Psalm are very similar. Some think that it should be
joined together. What we believe in the province of God, they
were separate. But nonetheless, this fifth verse is repeated
twice in the 42nd Psalm, almost identically verse 5 and verse
11. And as the 42nd Psalm commences,
as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. How important therefore to realise,
as we may read words which are probably quite familiar to most
of us, and yet to be concerned with regards to the condition
of our soul. What a blessing it is if we can
echo the words of the psalmist. They're not words which have
no meaning to us, but they are words which actually find a place
in our hearts. So in this verse, the same two
verses in Psalm 42, we really have two questions. The psalmist asks himself two
questions. It's good, isn't it, if you and
I perhaps can ask ourselves the same two questions. Because only
God knows the condition of each of our souls. But here is the
first question. Why art thou cast down? And second
question, and why art thou disquieted within me? Two questions which
perhaps we ask ourselves. Why am I like this? Why am I cast down? And why am
I disquieted? And then you see the psalmist
then gives us what we should do. And this really surely is
the central part of this verse which is so relevant. And what
did he say? Hope in God. Hope in God. The previous psalm, the last
verse says, hope thou in God. very personal. And may all of
us tonight be hoping in God. And you see then, if the Holy
Spirit reveals to us what our condition is and the remedy,
he says, for I shall yet praise thee. I wonder whether we have
a gracious anticipation of deliverance. so that when we come to God in
prayer, we do come believing, that we come to a God who does
hear and will answer our prayers. And may we know what it is to
have a prayer, a true prayer, for the condition of our soul.
And to realize that such statements as this are not strange to the
true believer, They're not something which we can think, well, I don't
know about that and I don't need to know about it. Because you
can be sure that because of our sinful and fallen nature, we
do not live on the mountaintop as much as we want to and love
to. There are those times when the
Lord allows us to come into a condition like this and to be cast down. We can imagine what that is,
can't we? To be cast down means that we're right down low, as
it were, on the ground. And we're cast down there. And
there we are. And so the question is, why? aren't they our cast down? And
it's good, therefore, to ask ourselves the question and to
seek that we may be shown the answer. Firstly, then, it's good if God
has brought us to that condition to ask the question. And secondly,
it's a blessing if the Holy Spirit shows us why we are cast down. And as we ponder that, we need
to ponder it, and we need to look into our hearts. You see,
it's not any good to say, well, I'm cast down, and therefore
happy to stay there. The true living soul does not
want to be cast down, does not want to stay there. And they
may pray like this, why aren't they all cast down? Pray that
God will show us why. What's the reason that our soul
is cast down and we're low in the dust? What's the reason? Well, of course, I don't know
what anybody's condition is here tonight. You all look very good
and healthy and well, but God looks at the heart and God sees
our heart before God, and whether our hearts are cast down before
God, and whether we brought this on ourselves. See, it's good
to examine ourselves. We go on our way, don't we, through
this life, and it's good sometimes to come, as David did, he came
and he sat before the Lord. He was in a state of difficulty.
And he came and he sat before the Lord to inquire of the Lord,
why? The situation that he'd come
into, why was it? It's good to come then, individually,
before God, to bow down before him and ask, why art thou cast
down? Lord, why is it that I am cast
down? And then sometimes we may be
surprised at what the Lord shows us. He shows us, perhaps, that
we have wandered away. We've backslidden in our spiritual
life. We've allowed the things of the
world to creep in, little by little. It's very easy, you know,
to listen to the devil And to assume, well, we can just get
involved in this, and don't think there's any harm in it. Well,
of course, that's a red light to start with, isn't it? When
we think, have to ask ourselves the question, is there any harm
in it? That really means there's a warning.
And that usually means there is harm in it. So what a blessing,
therefore, if the Lord then comes, and when this question is asked,
why? that we're able to discern perhaps
some of the reasons why we are cast down. That we've allowed
things to occur in our lives which do not profit our soul. We're very slow learners. Sometimes we have to be shown
again and again and how sinful our nature is. Sometimes we may
pray for a certain thing. It doesn't happen. We find we
fall into the same snare, the same temptation again. We realise
then why we are cast down. We need to come, pray that the
Lord will indeed give us strength to turn away from those things
which distract us from the things of God. And the only way that
you and I are going to be delivered from conditions which may have
brought us into this scene is this way, to hope in God, that
he will deliver us. Don't rely on your own strength.
Don't think, well I'll change my attitude, I'll turn over a
new leaf and I'll be a lot better. Left to ourselves, we are no
better. And we need the Lord's to help us. We need the Lord
to support us. And therefore our hope must only
be in God. How the word tells us to look
unto me. And we need to be found looking
to Him when we're cast down. And He will come and show us
the way of deliverance. We read together in that 30th
chapter, the first of Samuel, about David and Ziklag. It's a very interesting account,
naturally. But the reason I read it was
quite simply this. David came into a situation,
a natural situation, when he was distressed and we're told
David was greatly distressed and perhaps in our spiritual
life we may be greatly distressed because of the state of our soul.
He was greatly distressed For the people spake of stoning him,
because the soil of all the people was grieved every man for his
son and for his daughters." So what was David to do? Well, we're
told, but David encouraged himself in the Lord is God. That's a
safe place. That's a good place to be able
to come and encourage ourself in the Lord our God. What it
means is this. We have hope in God. David had
hope in his God. That's why he was able to encourage
himself to realize that the Lord God was over all his life, his
natural life and his spiritual life. It's a great blessing for
you and me if we therefore have that encouragement to come to
our God. We have these lovely examples
Let's not underestimate the great problem that David faced here,
having lost his wives and his family and all the people. And
they'd all wept, and they were all greatly distressed. And here he comes, and he encourages
himself in the Lord is God. Well, tonight, if we're in a
difficult situation, if we perhaps feel cast down David was cast
down, wasn't he? But you see, David had a real
religion. He didn't think, now how am I going to sort this out? What am I going to do? Not at
all. He encouraged himself in the
Lord is God. And now, my friends, to us tonight
is the wonderful example that we have to follow. And you see,
having sought the Lord, Let's follow the sequence. Having sought
the Lord, then, you see, he then inquired of Abiathel the priest
to bring the ephod. And then David was able to inquire
what he should do. But the first thing he did was
to encourage himself in the Lord his God. His confidence was in
his God. What a blessing it is for us
today as we come to the same God. He hasn't changed. And he delivered David. Delivered David wonderfully,
didn't he? You see, what was David told to do? He asked that
should he pursue, should he overtake? And the Lord said, the Lord answered
him and said, pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them and
without fail recover all. David didn't say, well, I think
that's a bit of a tall order. I don't really expect that to
happen. I really expect a lot less than that. David had faith
to believe the word of his God. And if you and I have come to
this place where we encourage ourself in the Lord our God,
and then to seek for his guidance and direction, not to doubt what
the Lord says, However hard and difficult it may be. And as I'm
sure you noticed, as we read together the wonderful words
of confirmation when the Lord appeared and we're told, David
recovered all. What was that for? The honor
and glory of his God. And so we have here a record
of it. for our encouragement today.
Because we come to the same God. And so if we are cast down, O
my soul, we are to hope in God. Hope in God. You don't have to
tell all the world about the problems. You don't have to tell
everybody about your situation. Hope in God. There is a refuge. refuge for
sinners. The gospel makes known it is
found in the merits of Jesus alone. And you will bless God
if you come into a situation where you are led to the merits
of the Saviour, because your soul then will be blessed, your
soul will be encouraged, and you may indeed perhaps be able
to wonderfully echo the words of David when he was able to
tell us. He said, And thou anointest my
head with oil, my cup runneth over. And remember David tells
us here, Yea, thou walkest through the valley of the shadow of death.
It wasn't easy was it? But his hope was in his God.
And that's the secret. And that's the secret for you
and me to take home tonight. Hope in God. Don't look outside
of that. And David then was blessed with
that humble confidence. And it's good to have a humble
confidence in our God. He then said, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. You see, it's good to
have a deliverance, and it's good then to have a confidence
in our God, because that brings honour and glory to the Lord
God, who is worthy of praise. David comes and says, for I shall
yet praise Him. I shall yet praise Him. He hadn't been delivered. His
confidence was in God. He believed that the Lord would
deliver him and he would be able to come and praise his God. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Hope in God. And then, why art
thou disquieted within me? You see, he's speaking about
that which is in his inner man. He wasn't peaceful. He was disquieted. He got trouble. in his soul. He wasn't sure what
to do. He was tossed about. He was perhaps
questioning things. We're not told, are we, what
the details are. But we are told he was disquieted. And that means that you and I
tonight, in whatever condition it may be, whatever it is which
is making us disquieted, that means We're not quiet. We're
disquieted. We have a problem. We have difficulty. There's something disturbing
us. We're stirred up. We're not sure
what to do. Why aren't they disquieted within
me? And again, it's good to just
try and find out why. Why we are. Have we taken a wrong direction? Have we disobeyed God? If you're following your own
inclination, and here we are then, disquieted, well, what
are we to do? Hope in God. God is very merciful. He remembers that we are dust,
that we are fickle, that we are foolish. And perhaps we are disquieted
because of our foolishness. What a mercy then to be able
to realise that we have a God who understands us better than
we understand ourselves. And the Lord knows the end from
the beginning and we don't. We may be in the midst of a difficulty
and yet we have that hope, we're encouraging ourselves in the
Lord, just like David did in the midst of the problem, hadn't
been sorted out, he hadn't got a way to clear the situation,
he didn't know the direction, but nonetheless he encouraged
himself, and the Lord is God. You see, you and I can bring
to God those words, those directions, those things that cause us to
hope, Those things which we are relying upon, we can plead them
before our God. We don't have to throw them away.
The devil will say, that's not any good. That's of no value.
That's worthless. Don't listen to the devil. He's
always a liar. He always has been. He always
will be. Resist the devil, so that he may flee from us. Encourage
yourself in the Lord God. Don't open your ears to the devil.
to doubt the word of God, but believe in what the Lord has
said and go in his strength. Don't rely on your strength.
Perhaps you may be relying on yourself and therefore you're
disquieted. Why am I disquieted within me? What a blessing when the Lord
comes and shows us what we're doing, how foolish we are. How sad it is that we forget
to encourage ourselves in the Lord our God. We look all around
at situations and we try and work things out. Well, hope in
God. Hope in God. The Lord will not
forsake his people. The Lord will not leave his people. He's told us I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is
my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me." Poor old man. Before God, he is as nothing. Sometimes we fear, don't we?
But let's come and realize we have a God, an almighty God. We only have to trace through.
work of God through the word of God on the many many occasions
when the Lord appeared for his people and delivered them out
of all their distresses. You've only got to read the 107th
Psalm haven't you? I often refer to to be encouraged
to encourage yourself in the Lord in the wonderful deliverances
that he granted to Israel of old and they didn't deserve it. And my friends, you and I don't
deserve it. But God is faithful. We're not. God is faithful. He keeps his promises. He doesn't
forget. He doesn't turn away. He's ever
mindful of us. And such a path is a path of
instruction, a path of direction, a path of leading. And what's
the purpose of it? The purpose of it is to bring
us nearer to God. To bring us nearer to God, so
that we will be able to come, and we will be able to praise
Him. While they're disquieted within
me, hoping God. Well, sometimes we're distracted,
aren't we? And we are easily sometimes distracted
from the great blessing it is to have a God that we can go
to. We look all around for reasons. We look to man to help us, to
man to deliver us. Remember the example of the saints
of God. They had to face great difficulty. You only ever think of Gideon,
don't you? And Gideon, he realised how weak
he was. against the opposition, but he
strengthened himself in the Lord is God. And God brought about
a great and a wonderful deliverance. And then perhaps, on a very different
scale, you may think of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul, though he was
doing the Lord's will. But he wasn't separated from
difficulties. When he took that boat trip,
he'd warned the captain not to go on that journey, but nonetheless,
the captain didn't listen. And what happened on that journey? We're told there was a great
storm. A great storm. And it was really
a hurricane. We refer to it, it's referred
to as a Eurocriden. And the ship was caught up and
it was exceedingly tossed up and down. And Paul, what did
he do? Did he stand and watch and did
he say, You men, you must run a bit harder. What are we told? You see, he said, but after long
abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said,
Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed
from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss, and now I
exhort you to be of good cheer. Why does he say that? For there shall be no loss of
any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood
by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve."
How encouraging. Long abstinence. Oh, the Apostle
Paul. He didn't just find that things
just happened. Long abstinence. Prayer to his
God. And Lord came and said, fear
not Paul. Thou must be brought before Caesar.
And though God has given thee all them, so with thee wherefore
so as be of good cheer. For I believe God that it shall
be even as it was told me. Hoping is God in the midst of
that hurricane. 14 days and nights, no sun, no
moon, a tempest all around, everybody giving up. But Paul, like David,
encouraged themselves in the Lord their God, hoping God, my
friends, when it appears dark, when there's a tempest, when
everything seems to be against us, and you find yourself disquieted,
Paul there, He was in the Lord's hands. He'd been faithful to
stand firm for the truth of God. He hadn't turned away. And as
you read the glorious chapters in the Acts of the Apostle's
Statement, how Paul was able on a number of occasions to give
a very clear testimony of the work of God in his soul. Yes, and the Lord how it appeared
for him. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't ashamed. His religion was very real. He
was very willing to testify how the Lord had met him on that
Damascus road, and how the Lord had encouraged him, and how the
Lord had strengthened him, and how the Lord had been with him.
He didn't fear what the result would be. Well, wonderful isn't
it for us tonight to be able to consider such words. And so here you see, Paul then
in this storm, God was with him. God didn't forsake him and God
appeared for him and God brought to pass what he said. They were all brought safe to
land. Not one was left behind. They all were able to get safe
to land. And so, here we have this statement
tonight. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hoping God, for I
shall yet praise him. Well, Paul was able to praise
his God. David was able to praise his
God. Gideon was able to praise his God for the wonderful way
that the Lord had appeared for them. And you see, this really
must be the result, mustn't it? For you and me. If the Lord does
condescend to come and help us, stand by us and deliver us, it
is to praise him. Surely in these situations, the
wonderful blessing is to know the Lord comes and the Lord helps
us. The Lord doesn't leave us to
ourselves, but he comes and stands by us. You may remember the little
prophecy of Habakkuk, a very precious little prophecy. He tells us, right at the end
of this chapter, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive tree
shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall
be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls. Desolation. What is he to do? What is? the Church of God to do. Yet, he says, I will rejoice
in the Lord. Hope in God. Rejoice in the Lord. When things appear to be going
the wrong way, appear to be contrary, and this description in 17th
verse is very clear, everything seems to be against him. No,
yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. And perhaps there is the secret. The God of my salvation. The God who has so willingly
looked upon me and remembered me. As we sung in those two hymns,
Lord, remember me. And so the Lord does remember
his people. And to rejoice in the God of
my salvation, your salvation, my salvation. And what does that
mean? The God who condescended to pay
the price for all us in all our backsliding, all our sinfulness,
all the evil of our hearts, all the wickedness. deserving to
spend eternity in hell. And that may be very disquieting. But then to remember there is
a God who is merciful. A God who remembered the dying
thief. The dying thief was a wicked
man. But the Lord heard his prayer.
Lord, remember me. What a good thing it is. When
you and I come down to this position and say, hope in God. What do
we hope in God? We hope in God that he will remember
us and that he will show to us his salvation, will show to us
that he has indeed condescended, and it is amazing condescension,
to die, to atone for all our sins, never lose sight of the
cross at Calvary. Perhaps that's why we are cast
down. Perhaps it's why we're disquieted
within me, because we've forgotten Calvary. Perhaps we wandered
away, we've forgotten the work of the Blessed Saviour. Perhaps
we've forgotten the cost of our salvation. Perhaps we've almost
trampled it underfoot. Well, what a mercy if the Lord
causes us to remember him and desire that he will remember
us and not cast us away as we deserve. And so Habakkuk says,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I love these confident words. I will rejoice in the Lord. Whatever
appears to be against us, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will join
in the God of my salvation because he is all my hope. All my hope. Hope thou in God. And then he
tells us, the Lord God is my strength. Is that where you are
tonight? Perhaps you've forgotten. Perhaps
you're cast down. Perhaps you're disquieted. Because
you've forgotten that God is your strength. The Lord God is
my strength. And he will make my feet like
Heinz' feet. And Heinz' feet are very sure.
Yes, they can jump and go in difficult places. We have that
confirmation here. He will make my feet like Heinz'
feet. You might think the path before
me is very difficult. I'm not sure if I can traverse
it. I'm not sure where I shall fall,
where I shall tumble, where I shall be destroyed. Confidence here
is, I will make my feet like Heinz' feet because trust was
in his God. thou in God, hope in God. And so he then says, he will
make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on
my stringed instruments. Oh, what a good thing it is to
have a God that you and I desire to come before and praise for
I shall yet praise him who is the health of my counsellors
and my God. When our countenance is shining,
when does that occur? When we're in communion with
God. When we're doing His will. And we're healthy in our soul.
And our face shines. Who is the health of my countenance? And my God. He can't forget that,
can He? My friends, what a blessing tonight
if you and I come to this God in humble confidence that he
is our God and to believe the truth of those words, that he
will help us all our journey through. And he writes, he says,
and give me daily cause to raise new Ebenezers to his praise. And Ebenezer is hitherto, hath
the Lord helped me. Can you say that tonight? Hitherto,
you may be cast down, you may be disquieted, but hitherto hath
the Lord helped me. Oh, then to realize this great
truth, hoping God, the great God, the almighty God. For I
shall yet praise him a humble confidence to believe the Lord
will appear. He will appear. You won't turn away or cry, he
will appear. For I shall yet praise him who
is the health of my counsellors and my God. Well, go home tonight. Blessing God that we have such
accounts in the word of God to encourage us as we journey on
through life and to have that confidence not in ourselves in
any way but as the Psalmist did, and as the people of God have
had, and as the people of God do, and as the people of God
will, hope in God. Amen.