One day, as a reader, we can identify with the joy of the psalmist, the next day with his grief or frustration. ๐Whatever the case, crying out to God is the common thread running through all psalms.
The other day we arrived at Psalm 42, a very well-known psalm but at the same time so refreshing! Verse 3:
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God ...
Oh, I recognize that, it is the cry of my heart! Don't get me wrong, God knows me and I know Him. He is in my life, He is in my heart. But that only increases the longing, the desire for more of Him, for more of His Spirit, for more of His Father's heart. The crazier the world gets, the more I seek Him, the more I want to learn from Him, the more I listen ...
The psalmist asks a good question: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Do you experience this disturbance, this restlessness in your soul? I do. But I also learned (by reading the Psalms, among other things!) that it is nothing to worry about. That restlessness, that thirst in our soul might be a sign,
- that we should spend quality time with the Lord, He wants to speak to us
- that we are in a season of change and God wants to show us new things or the next step
- that we should schedule a time to fast in order to regain our focus
- that God is revealing Himself to us in a new way, in other words, that we are going to learn something new about His eternal character
- that it is time to refresh our worship practices
- that we should pick up or pursue praying in tongues again
Hopefully, this list will help you. I am curious... is there anything particular that appeals to you in Psalm 42?
Marja: You are so right. We should ask ourselves why when we feel sad. Today (March 17th) has been a very good day for me. Prayers are going up for me. And I was able to get some work ( cleaning and rearranging) done in my living room.
ReplyDeleteOh Cecelia, I am so glad it was a good day for you, I am praying for you regularly and I know many others do!
DeleteI hear you I'm making flags for the first time in about 15 years.with the lion of Judah in them gold and white. Praise is stirring deeper in my soul.
ReplyDeleteI think that will be very timely, praise with flags is warfare! Thank you for picking it up again.
DeleteThat verse about the downcast soul has resonated with me, Marja, ever since you shared it on your recent video. Yes, it is a cry of the heart, to be closer to our Lord and our God. I think He may be trying to show me new things.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Wonderful, wonderful when that happens Martha. Even if all the world's madness causes us to be restless, God will overrule with peace. And yes, when He wants to show us new things... we better pay attention :)
Delete"Do you experience this disturbance, this restlessness in your soul?"
ReplyDeleteYes. Like a mountain crushing me.
I hear you Sandi. Sometimes I just wanna cry and at other times I feel this roar rising up in me and I pray 'Lord, use me, use me to advance Your Kingdom!' We must not give up encouraging one another. I pray you will have a breakthrough spiritually and emotionally, simply because God will speak to your heart from His heart. A word from the Father can change everything.
DeleteThank you always, your posts are so good as they make us open up to look more closely to the Psalm! I open it after reading your post and what speaks to me today is this, in verse 3, My soul thirsts for the living God. And then when he prays , in verse 9, he prayed to `the God of my life`. This speaks to me, the "living God" ืืื ืื is the `God of my Life` ืืื ืืื and realizing that , I feel is the `chiasm` in our relationship with HIm as we Draw near to Him, and He draws near to us, like in the Psalm where the turmoil turns to Hope when the psalmist Praise Him, put our faith in Him, pray to Him ...♡Our ever-present help, our God, we praise You!!
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you for your comment Joanne, I truly appreciate the thoughts and insights. Reading through the psalms... I have done it many times in my life, but somehow doing it with people from different nations makes it richer, more meaningful. And the time we live in asks for it!
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