Psalm 43

Psalm 43

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

 ¹ Vindicate me, O God,
         And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
         Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
 ² For You are the God of my strength;
         Why do You cast me off?
         Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
      
 ³ Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
         Let them lead me;
         Let them bring me to Your holy hill
         And to Your tabernacle.
 ⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
         To God my exceeding joy;
         And on the harp I will praise You,
         O God, my God.
      
 ⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul?
         And why are you disquieted within me?
         Hope in God;
         For I shall yet praise Him,
         The help of my countenance and my God.

God never abandons us. Never the less it can sometimes feel as though we are alone in this fight to the finish line. Here the psalmist asks the question "Why do i go mourning because of the oppression if the enemy?". This is a good question to ask. If we know, even when we don't feel it that God is the God of our strength why does the oppression of a weaker enemy cause us anxiety, fear and grief? I think that this psalmist recognized that we sometimes lose sight of whats real for the sake of whats relative.

How did he get out of this emotional funk he had gotten into? He took his feelings to God. He came to God honestly, without pretense, and laid out how he felt to the Almighty. He did not reason it out in his own understanding, but instead reasoned with God and that's when the truth of the situation came to light. At that point he didn't wallow in his mistake or revel in the revelation, he put his understanding in to action and set by seeking God's way to enable him to break free of the irrational pattern of fear and hopelessness he had been trapped in by the enemy.

The psalmist cries out to God his Strength as the Leader of his rebellion against the enemy that would oppress him. He says "lead me..." believing wholeheartedly that if he asks such a thing of his God, his God will be happy to provide. God is all to happy to not only reveal the truth of our situation to us, but provide a way out AND enable us to get there! He asks God to lead him with His light, to show him the way out of the darkness that his mind has gotten itself into. "Give me light Father," he says, "so that i can put one foot in front of the other on the right path until i come into a place where i am before You, where You are all i see. Then i won't be complaining anymore, I'll be standing in Your presence praising Your name."

When we cannot find our way out of the maze that is our own minds, when reason and circumstance just don't match up with our faith and we are left feeling confused, lost and alone, we do not need to "get a grip" as the world may tell us to do. That is the time when we need to let go. Let it all go to God in prayer, reasoning it out with our Father so that Truth can shine it's light into my life regardless of what is happening within me or without me.

O Sweet Spirit, remind us what a Friend we have in Jesus. Remind us to give Him our all, even in our mess and ask Him to set to rights the confusion and darkness in our minds. Then i will praise Him. Then i will fly, run, walk to His side and worship at His feet saying "O God, my God."

The psalmists final words are of encouragement to himself. God will come. Help is on the way. Don't fear. Don't grieve over your condition anymore child of the King. Put your hope in what will remain; Jesus Christ and His grace. This is what lifts me up. This is what gives me strength to keep on. Bless the Lord!