“My heart is
breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of
worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and
giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why
is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my
Savior and my God!”
Have you ever found yourself in this position? Looking
back on your life, you were the one praising. You were full of joy, all in,
worshipping, putting all of yourself in; maybe celebrating who God is and has
allowed you to become. Later, life dishes out some tears. A close friend or
relative dies. We or someone we know is diagnosed with a disease of some sort.
We find ourselves in a tough spot financially, or emotionally. We are
surrounded by people receiving answers to prayers, while we are still waiting on
God for our answer . . . Life throws quite the array of troubles at us. We find
ourselves in tears, discouraged or sad, just like David in this Psalm.
There are a couple of things that I see in this scripture to speak to us. First, I recognize that it is okay to go through seasons of our life where we are discouraged or “downcast” as another translation says. It is okay to find ourselves following others who praise God joyfully, rather than leading. It is okay, as longs as we are not letting ourselves camp there long term. Seasons of this are perfectly normal, but look farther in the scripture. The psalmist speaks of the discouragement and sadness, but follows this with hope! “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!” He recognizes that this is a season, and that just as he previously experienced strong feelings of praise, they will come again.
Hope is the only thing that gets us through the tough situation. Hope is a feeling of expectation; an anticipation of what we don’t see yet. Synonyms are trust and expectation. When we trust and expect that God is carrying us through these times, and that he is going to work in and through our situation, we put our hope in Him. He never fails us, and will bring us out of the tough time!
We will praise again! We will lead the crowds of worshippers again, and we will have a fantastic story of God’s hope and work to celebrate on the other side!
If you find yourself there, remember, it is okay to be there, but put your hope in God! He will bring you to that place of praise again, because of who he is!
Kourtnay
K.
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