Joy

Dr. F.E. Marsh tells that he was preaching, telling his hearers the importance of confession of sin and restitution for wrong done to others. At the close a young man came up to him. "Pastor," he said, "you have put me in a tough spot. I have wronged someone and I’m ashamed to confess it or to try to put it right. You see, I’m a boat builder and the man I work for is not a Christian. I have talked to him often about his need of Christ and urged him to come and hear you preach, but he scoffs and ridicules it all. Now, I have been guilty of something that, if I should acknowledge it to him, will ruin my testimony forever."

He then went on to say that sometime ago he started to build a boat for himself in his own yard. In this work copper nails are used because they do not rust in the water. These nails are quite expensive and the young man had been stealing them from his work. He knew it was stealing, but he tried to tell himself he wasn’t paid enough for his work anyway. But this sermon had brought face to face with the fact that he was just a common thief.

For weeks he struggled over this, he said to Pastor Marsh that the copper nails were digging into his conscience. Finally, he came to Marsh and said he’d finally done the right thing and his conscience was relieved.

"What happened when you confessed to your employer?" asked the pastor.

“My employer said 'George, I always did think you were just a hypocrite, but now I begin to feel there's something in this Christianity after all. Any religion that would make a dishonest workman come back and confess that he had been stealing copper nails and offer to settle for them, must be worth having.'"

Marsh told this story many times and almost invariably people have come to him afterwards telling of "copper nails" that they had to get rid of. -H.A. Ironside, Illustrations of Bible Truth, 1945, Moody Press, pp. 104-106. (abridged and edited)

These difficult experiences of making sin right, brought unexpected joy to troubled consciences. As the old saying goes…"Joy is the byproduct of obedience."

Today we address the topic of joy in the healing journey. What is joy exactly? It’s not pleasure, it’s not power, it’s not fun, but it is a beautiful mystery of the Christian faith, the power of joy.

We’re told about Jesus, that for the joy set before me, he endured the cross. He walked through great fires spiritually to get to the other side, where he found joy. Jesus has joy now, but he had to get through a very dark time first. So it is with our healing journey, on the other side of healing, we find joy, because we were brave enough to face the challenge, to walk through the pain, and to come out the other side healed.

Today we’re in Psalm 32. This psalm was written by David during a very difficult moment. King David had committed a terrible sin. And for a time he was hiding that sin. But David goes on an internal journey to begin to face up to what he really did.

So this part of the healing journey is going to deal with sin. Often times we have hurts in our hearts because of things that were done to us. We couldn’t control it, and it was wrong. But there is another form of hurt, that is the hurt that we did to ourselves. We committed sins in our lives, and those sins did damage to us.

The great thing about our God is that he doesn’t just heal the hurts that were done to us, Jesus will even heal the hurts we did to ourselves.

Our psalm today begins like this, verses 1-2: (NLT)
"1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!"

Perhaps its been a while since you’ve thought about what it was like, before Jesus was your savior. There was a time when our sins were held against us in full. And God was preparing to pour out his wrath on us when we died. That is a scary place to be: Sins not forgiven, sins hanging over our heads.

I remember I felt so heavy in my sins. So burdened. They hung over me like a cloud, weighing me down. And I knew I was guilty. And I just can’t fully explain how wonderful it was that day when Jesus Christ heard my cry, and lifted the burden of my sins off of me, and took them upon himself.

Blessed is the one whose sins the Lord does not count against them. It’s the most freeing thing in the universe. I’m free. Jesus blood paid it all. I’m pure because of Jesus.

There is every reason to celebrate and rejoice in this truth. Think about it for a second, because it’s as real as the sun in the sky and as real as the oxygen you breath.

We’re going to look at this scripture today from two different angles, we’re going to see it connected to salvation the moment we got saved. And we’re going to look at it in dealing with unconfessed sins in our lives as Christians.

Let’s go deeper, verses 3-4: "3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer."

David describes a mental state so intense, that I think we all know about. It’s the conviction of the Holy Spirit when we’ve sinned. And that is combined with our conscience, which also will alert us when we’ve done something wrong.

Think of a time when you were younger and you did something to your brother or sister, and got away with it. But the guilt kept coming over you, until finally you admitted what you did, because you couldn’t live with yourself otherwise.

I know with my wife, I often feel if I’ve done something wrong, I need to tell her.

I get heavy, as I hide it, this pressure comes over me. And it just lingers. Hour after hour, this intensity, of knowing what I need to do. And it’s strong. God does not like sin. He hates sin. He will convict us, and lay a pressure on us, until we take some action that he is requesting.

God doesn’t mess around with sin. And if we hide it, we will begin to feel it lay heavier on us. David said, my strength is gone, as if I were in the heat of a hot summer day. Drained. There have been times I was so convicted I was physically dizzy.

If you’re a Christian with unconfessed sin, God will convict you, and call you to repentance.

What is repentance? It’s to turn away from that sin, confess it, ask God’s forgiveness, and then move in the opposite direction, away from it, and toward God.

If you’re unsaved today, the weight of your past sins will weigh on you, until you give your heart to Jesus, and let Jesus forgive those sins.

Verse 5, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.”

He acknowledged his sin. This means he looked at it and called it what it was. He stopped covering it up, simply saw it and uncovered it. This we vehemently resist at first. But then he made a choice, he said to himself, I’m going to confess this to God."

The pain of holding it inside had become stronger than the fear of letting it out.

It was a journey to get to that point. But he wrestled there with God. And then what happened? As soon as he exposed it to the light, God forgave him that sin. That is the greatest feeling in the universe, that is joy, when we confess it, let it out, and God forgives it.

First prayer today is going to be to commit (or recommit) our lives to Jesus Christ.

Prayer: God Almighty, we confess that we’ve sinned in many ways before a holy God. We didn’t understand fully what we were doing. But we understand now that these sins disconnect us from you. We know that these sins deserve punishment. But Lord we know that you sent your son Jesus Christ on a rescue mission to save us. We know Jesus was born of a virgin, and lived a perfect life. We know Jesus went willingly to the cross, and on the cross he died, saying “It is finished” he had made the blood offering for our sins by his own body and blood. Jesus then rose from the dead, and was seen by over 500 witnesses, to be alive.

Jesus we confess our sins. Please Lord Jesus forgive us for our sins. We ask you Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, our Friend, and King. We turn away from our sins. We repent of our sins. We put our trust in you. And we are born again. We are made new. And we receive the Holy Spirit within to guide us through this life toward heaven, in Jesus name, amen.

Next, verses 6-7: “6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

The Bible talks about the day of the Lord. There will come a day when the judgment will come, and God’s wrath will be poured out on the wicked. That day is coming soon. But if we’ve covered ourselves in the righteousness of God, those mighty waters of judgment will not harm us. We will be marked and protected.

When we have Jesus, we have that protection against God’s wrath. God's wrath comes against sin. But when Jesus is our savior, sin no longer defines us, we are clean, and God’s judgment will not harm us, but His mercy will vindicate us.

God is our protector, and he is our hiding place. And he surrounds us, with a song of deliverance. What does that mean?

It means he sings over us, a beautiful song, a song of victory. Like a mother singing over her children as she puts them to bed. God sings over us, and protect us, and hides us in His son.

If God is knocking at your heart right now, and you’re feeling that sense, come to Him today. Invite Him in. Confess your sin, and let Him forgive and heal it. Don’t ignore his voice, don’t resist, just embrace the God who loves you.

David is writing this psalm beautifully, by the inspiration of God, but suddenly God speaks in the first person, into this psalm.

Sometimes when I’m writing or praying, God is inspiring it, but sometimes he steps in himself, and says something directly.

God speaks, saying, “8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

As a believer, we need a guide, after we get born again. God says, I will instruct you and teach you, and show you the right way to go. He will be a counselor to us everyday of our lives. And his loving eye will be on us at all times.

Some of you may feel that God has a harsh eye on you, and at times when we sin, I’m sure he’s looking with concern, but, fundamentally his eye upon us is a loving eye, remember that, God is deeply in love with you as a Father toward his son or daughter.

But God also gives a command here. God is more than our father, he is our creator and our God and our Lord. So he is able to give us commands. He says:

"9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you."

God is saying I will lead you with love, but I want you to be responsive to my leading. Don’t be like a horse or mule, with no understanding, who must be controlled by a bit in their mouth, and a bridle harness, or they will not come to you.

Sometimes I call my dog and Sammy comes, sometimes he doesn’t come. We’re like that as humans, God asks us to be responsive to his word to us. Just don’t be like my cats, who I call, and they never come!

I am still learning in so many ways to be responsive to the Lord’s leading in my life. I’ve learned so much in the past few years about how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow. God wants us to really see our lives that way. See our lives as being under the Lordship and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I worry many of us make decisions based on our desires. We don’t give a second thought as to what God wants us to do. But if we can learn this, we’re going to be much more successful in following the will of God for our lives, and end up where we’re supposed to be.

Are you like the horse who must be controlled with a bridle and bit? Or are you one of those rare Christians who naturally responds to the leading of the Lord?

If we learn to listen to His voice, and soften our hearts to follow Him, we won’t have to experience as much of the correction of the Holy Spirit due to ignorance of His voice.

Next, verse 10, “Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.”

Many are the woes of the wicked, it’s true. It goes from bad to worse. I remember when I was in living in my sins, it was always like the thing I feared worst would happen to me. It was like I was cursed. And sin is a curse.

God will not force us to break free from sin. He’s provided the way. He tells us in his word to come to his son Jesus Christ. But he won’t force us. Sometimes it takes sin humbling us, to bring us to the point, where we can say, "Lord Jesus help me."

Yet for the one who has come to Jesus, the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds that person, who continues to trust in Him. A cloud of heavy sin used to surround us, now, a cloud of God’s unfailing love surrounds us. That’s joy.

The key in all this is to trust God. To really rest in Him. To trust that He is right and righteous, and good, and really does loves us. Again, this leads to full joy.

Lastly, verse 11: “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

What was the sin David writes about in this psalm?

King David committed a sexual sin. He took the wife of another man, and had her husband killed in battle. Then Nathan spoke to David and told him he needed to repent. Then David repented before God. Yet there were consequences to his sins. His child with Bathsheba died. But, David turned from his sin, he repented, God forgave him, and he was free.

Then David was able to write this psalm and say Lord, "I am filled with joy. My sin is forgiven. It’s gone."

He says rejoice in the Lord.

Be happy and glad.

Sing and celebrate everything God has done for you! What a relief to know we are free.

As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians--and I am one of them." -Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18.

Joy.

What do you need to lay at the foot of the cross today? Is it anger? Is it gossip? Or slander? Is it a secret addiction? Is it hatred for someone, even a politician? Is it unforgiveness toward someone who hurt you?

Sometimes, just sometimes the barrier for healing in our lives can be unrepentant sin. Clear out that barrier today. Forgive the person who hurt you. Confess the thing you did that no one knows about. Let God heal you. Let Jesus blood cover you. And you will find peace.

But if you hide it, you’ll carry it with you. It’s too heavy. Leave it here today. Let it be replaced by Joy.

Let’s pray, and lay it all down.

Prayer: Lord, we consider that thing you’ve been convicting us of, and we say we will no longer hide it from you. We bring that thing into the light. Lord, please forgive us by the blood of Jesus Christ for this sin we’ve committed. We officially ask your forgiveness. We repent and turn away from that sin, help us to never commit that sin again. Holy Spirit help us stay free. We also forgive anyone who has hurt us, in our hearts we say, we forgive you for these sins. Lord, we turn toward you with all of our might, and we receive the washing of the Spirit, and we are made clean, and so we rejoice, in joy we celebrate, thank you Lord! In Jesus name, amen.

Finding Hope Again after a Dark Time

Have you ever had a really tough week? That was this last week for me. I’ve been working long hours, and at the same time I was not feeling well, with this really bad anxiety that I could’ve figure out where it was even coming from. At the same time I’m very new to the area, and all the stresses of ministry, and it all culminated in a very difficult week. I was feeling the strain. I was in tears. And I was wondering, where is God? I kept praying and praying, but the situation didn’t seem to improve. That lasted for a few days, more, a week, a month, and soon you think well, is it going to change ever? Then, something happened. It had been raining each day, everyday, tons of rain, and then the rain stopped, and we saw this beautiful double rainbow appear over the church. It was gorgeous. Beautiful. Glorious even. And others have felt this too, but when I saw it, I knew it was sign from God, that everything was going to be OK.

Now mind you nothing had changed in my situation, I was still tired, overwhelmed, bad anxiety, all of it, and yet I felt a peace come over me, that there was hope, and God was at work, and everything would be ok.

Last week we talked about the dark night of the soul, the rock bottom experience. This was a place of hopelessness, where all seemed lost for a time.

After the dark season, we find ourselves, like the faun in the deep woods, among the autumn trees, panting for streams of water.

Why do certain animals pant? They do so to release heat from their bodies, because they don’t sweat like humans do. This process of panting releases heat by the evaporating of water from the mouth of the animal. But this also causes loss of water, which the animal must eventually replenish.

We’re in Psalm 42 and 43 today, though our modern bible’s separate them into two separate psalms, many Hebrew manuscripts cite them as one psalm together. 

It begins like this, verses 1-2:
"1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?"

After the crisis, the dark moment, we find ourselves leveled. We find ourselves damaged, and broken. Like the deer panting, we’ve panted in pain after the struggle. The thoughts have been racing. The tears flowing. The ego has been leveled. Pride has been dealt with.

We’ve been through pain, confusion and heart ache. And it’s given us a surprising gift: We long for God more than we used to. After the bottom, we find ourselves with a stronger desire for God’s presence.

Anything else in life that we used to seek for pleasure seems meaningless, because it was useless during our struggle. The only thing that mattered was God. The struggle was actually a gift. It pushed us closer to God. And that’s exactly where we needed to be.

Thank God for the struggle. Even though, it was unbearable at the time. My soul thirsts for God now. When, how soon can I go meet with him? There is one word that describes this reality of the after the struggle thirst for God. Our topic today is hope.

What is hope exactly?

Here’s how Noah Webster defined hope in his dictionary, in a spiritual sense: “Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises”

Hope is the light that first begins to shine in the darkness of our difficulties. Hope is several things. It’s a sense that everything is going to be ok. It’s an emotion of joy or excitement that things will be better. It’s confidence in a brighter future.

Hopelessness, is the opposite of hope. Its talked about in verse 3: "My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Tears become as constant as eating meals each day, and people keep saying to him, why isn’t God helping you?

These two things define hopelessness: A situation of ongoing grief, matched with a sense that God isn’t answering.

It’s a terrible place to be as a person. A few times in my life I have felt something similar. I recall when I was battling drinking addiction, I had been to treatment 5, 6, 7 times. And I couldn’t get sober. I would relapse after 30 days, or 4 months, just once I stayed sober 11 months. But I would always relapse. And after 9 years of that, I just gave up hope that I could ever get sober. Many alcoholics I think end up there, they just believe alcohol has them no matter what. And the only escape will be death. Thankfully, when I cried out to Jesus Christ, and asked him to be my savior, suddenly, I was able to stay sober long term because I had a powerful new friend, a higher power to help me through recovery.

I remember the thrill of hope, in the first three weeks of attending recovery groups. I was attending several times a week and I realized suddenly, wait a minute, I haven’t had a drink in 3 weeks! This is a miracle! And it didn’t even take will power, instead, God had removed the issue, as long as I did my part and maintained my spiritual condition.

So the psalm writer here, one of the sons of Korah, is battling hopelessness. He feels so defeated by his situation. But he’s going to begin a process through which he will find hope again.

For me, hope came about because my situation changed. But for many, the situation isn’t going to change right away. For the psalmist, he has to find hope, even though things aren’t changing.

Verse 4 says this: “4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.”

Theologians believe that this man is in exile while he writes this psalm, far away from the temple of God in Jerusalem.

Notice, he is pouring out his soul. By writing this psalm, he’s pouring out the struggle. Many of us today, we can’t process the struggle because it’s locked inside. We have to let it out to a safe person. We have to write it on paper. We have to get it out of our head and onto paper.

So the psalmist pours out the truth, and then he remembers what he longs for, a time when he would often go to the temple of God, along with others, under God’s protection, with shouts of joy and praise.

Two things here: first of all, he’s remembering a good time, and it’s making him feel sad. Because that good time is gone. And he wants it back. 

Second thing, is it’s also giving him hope to remember this. Because it’s a hint from God, that it could happen again. If he dares to hope and believe.

You ever think back to the good ol' days? It’s fun, it’s also hard. Part of you wants to go back, but part of you knows you can’t.

The psalm writer battles hopelessness. Can my situation ever change?

Verse 5 he says: “5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”

He is talking to his own soul. He’s talking to himself. Do you ever talk to yourself? The Bible says sometimes we need to speak to ourselves.

"Why are you so down? Why so disturbed?"

"Put your hope in God." It’s an encouragement he’s making to his own soul. It reminds me of the Psalm (103) of David that says, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” He’s speaking to his own soul.

Sometimes our hearts just get heavy, and that’s OK for a time. But there comes the moment when we realize, I’ve processed the pain, I’ve shared it, now it’s time to step forward into hope.

Let’s do that right now. Pray this with me, as a word to your own soul, before God.

Prayer: “My soul, I call you in the name of Jesus Christ, to hope in God.”

He longs for the temple. Notice the hope, he declares, “I will yet praise Him.” He’s believing, hoping, knowing, confidently, that a time will come in the future when he will praise God in the temple again.

But the internal battle is not over, it’s just begun. He continues, verses 6:

“My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar."

These lands he speaks of are far from the temple in Jerusalem, the Jordan river, Mt. Hermon, clearly he is far from home, in exile, most likely in unsafe circumstances. But as he travels these far off lands he keeps remembering God.

Similarly, in dark seasons we want to remember God. We want to talk about memories of answered prayer. Memories of times when he delivered us. Memories of times when he helped us. Memories of times when he gave us a breakthrough or taught us something new. These memories are precious. We should write them down, so we never forget. I keep a journal, to document my experiences as a Christian.

It’s the most amazing journey you can take, with the Creator of the universe. There is nothing boring about being a Christian if you’re engaged in the adventure. If you’re just sitting in church on Sunday it will be boring. But if you’re engaged in seeing your life spiritually, praying, in the word, using your gifts, it will be an unbelievable adventure.

And those memories of God’s faithfulness will sustain us through times of hopelessness. They move us back toward hope.

Next, verse 7: “7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.”

In the deep of despair, paradoxically, it produces just as deep a cry to God.

A little prayer with little emotional depth has little value. But a deep cry of the heart, coming from a deep place of despair has huge value.

Before I was a Christian, I could never understand why I needed a savior. But the value of the suffering I went through was priceless, because it gave me the gift to finally understand and cry out, “Lord Jesus please save me!”

The deep despair calls out within us reaching to the depths of God, as a cry for help.

Next, verse 8: “By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.”

From the deep despair the cry rings out to God, the darkness shakes with the cry of our heart, and something shifts spiritually.

Verse 8 feels like such a sudden shift. He’s now looking at God, he’s beginning to hope in God again. He sees God’s actions in the world. He’s focused on His Father’s work. By day he sees God’s love at work, at night he is hearing a song within.

You ever have a Christian song come into your mind? Or maybe you wake up with it? Sometimes it’ll be like 7am and I’m humming some hymn I haven’t heard in years.

Then comes prayer to the God of His life. He is remembering the goodness of God and applying it like balm on his soul.

Yet he immediately turns to God with questions:

Verses 9-10: "9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

The psalm writer is turning to God directly in the struggle, praying and seeking the Lord’s heart.

Why is this happening?

Why are my enemies oppressing me?
Why must I go about grieved?

It’s important to note that in our lives we will face enemies, difficulties with other people. That’s to be expected. We’ve all faced it before, and it’ll happen in the future. But though we face enemies, it’s always wise to realize who the true enemy is: It’s demons, it’s Satan. Our enemy is not really people, it’s the demons working through those people.

Notice how the psalmist poses questions to God, it’s OK to ask God questions. But always return again to trust in Him, once the questions have been laid before him. Watch for his answers. But always trust.

Next, verse 11: “11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”

Second time the author speaks to his own soul, again giving the challenge to hope in God.

What struggle are you facing in your life, where you need to return to hope? Even if things don’t work out the way you want, can you still return to hope?

Let us for the second time, call our souls to hope in God: 

Prayer: “My soul, I call you in the name of Jesus Christ, to hope in God.”

This psalm continues into psalm 43, verse 1, says this:
“1 Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.”

Next, the psalmist seeks vindication against his enemies. And we discover the enemy is an unfaithful nation.

Secondly, rescue, he seeks to be rescued from deceitful people.

The psalmist desires vindication and rescue from a situation of exile and lostness. He is in a time of wandering and longs for times of refreshing to come. He knows this can only come from God. He can't make things right, he can't return to Jerusalem, but he knows God can orchestrate events to bring him home, if only he'll trust and wait on Him. 

Next, verse 2 “You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”

God is my stronghold, my safe place. That’s what the scripture says. But then why do I see something contradicting that in front of me?

Sometimes we have to cite God’s word back to him, and say, "Lord your word says this, so please rise up and protect me."

There are periods of time where we could describe it as going about mourning, oppressed. Difficulty is biblical. Victory is also biblical. We can call out the victory, and ask God for it, citing his word back to Him.

Verses 3 and 4 are really the key here:
"3 Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.”

This is his desire. This is everything he wants. He’s in exile, living in the mountains and valleys. But he plays out before God what it would be like to be healed, restored, and set right.

He plays it out in his mind, he says Lord send me your light and your faithful care. Light as we’ve talked about, implies a light to our path, to guide us. Like a flashlight at night.

Faithful care implies God leading us down the path personally, that he just lit. That’s what Jesus does for us every day. This light and path he envisions, would lead him toward the presence of God. The altar where man met with God.

It would bring 2 things into his life: Joy and delight.

Then sitting there before the altar, with God, he would play a song on his lyre, joyous, praising, loving, resting in His God’s presence.

He envisions all this to bring hope into his heart. I believe he also envisions this as a prayer request. This can be very powerful in prayer.

Sometimes when I pray for an unsaved loved one, I visualize them in church worshiping God. I want to see it and make it my prayer visually. If I’m praying for someone to be healed I visualize them healed and healthy and strong. This is believing it is already done, which Jesus tells us to do.

Lastly, verse 5: "Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God."

He’s just had this splendid vision of seeing himself coming before God in the temple, but he’s still in the wilderness. Yet He believes it will happen soon. It has become hope, because he is confident, soon he will be right where he longs to be, at the altar, in the temple, in Jerusalem. He can’t see it, yet by all these things he did in this psalm, he has found a place of faithful confident hope. He trusts it will happen.

So one last time he speaks to his own soul, calling out hope. Third time today, we will pray the same.

What situation are you facing? What health struggle? What recent loss? What mental health struggle? What post traumatic stress? Think about it right now, that thing.

Now, despite everything, I want you to pray with me, believing and commanding your soul to hope in God.

Prayer: “My soul, I command you in the love of Jesus Christ, to hope in God again.”

Healing Prayer: Father, we come before you with bitterness from times when we’ve lost hope. But we come to you today confessing this bitterness and depression and discouragement. We repent of these things, we will not live in discouragement or bitterness. Lord Jesus heal our heart bitterness and discouragement we give it to you, into your hands Lord Jesus, replace the hurt Lord, with hope, faithful hope, for we will yet praise you, our Savior and God, in Jesus name we choose hope, Amen.

So at last, like the deer panting for streams of water, our souls hope again. We drink deep of the living water of God, and we are refreshed. Hope takes over again, where there had been only sorrow. Hope reigns in us again. Amen.