Ps 42:5, 11 urges us to ‘put your hope in God.‘ The psalmist is in a confused and bewildered place, feeling downcast and disturbed. Others ask him all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ (Ps 42;3), and we get the impression this is a difficult time for him, with no ready answer to that question. There are times in life when God’s presence seems almost tangible and we see His working clearly, but there are other times when He seems distant and aloof. In those times we are aware of a deep spiritual longing and thirst (Ps 42:1-2) but cannot perhaps fully articulate how we feel.
The psalmist talks to himself (‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?‘) and gives himself a metaphorical kicking (‘Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.‘) We often think of things to do in our Christian life, but our chief duty is to hope and trust in God and to praise Him. These are our daily duties, along with the command to love God and our neighbour as ourselves. These things don’t change, no matter what our circumstances are. Hope, trust, forgiveness, love – these are our everyday duties, the things we can do.
There are plenty of things we can’t do. We can’t solve many of our problems. We can’t make other people like us. We can’t control the weather or all our circumstances. We can’t resolve all our health issues. We can’t do many of the things we would perhaps like to do. But we can put our hope in God and we can praise Him. That is a choice we can make.
Perhaps if we focus more on what we can do and spend less time worrying about what we can’t, we will find God speaking peace to our healts and will be in the place where He steps into our world again in miraculous ways. Keep hoping. Keep trusting. Keep praising.
