by Hope is something everyone seeks, but life has a way of striking hard, leaving us at the end of our hope — a lost loved one, circumstances too heavy to bear, a health crisis, or simply aging. We find ourselves stuck, unable to see a way forward, feeling all alone with a total loss of interest in even living. This is a hard place to land, yet a place of reality since the fall of man, a place God knows we will find and has given a way out. We can get beyond our circumstances to find that ray of hope once again.
In Psalm 42, David is at the end of his rope. In 42:1-2, he seeks God but cannot find Him. In 42:3-4, he feels abandoned by God. In 42:5, God is silent, so he pours out his heart and soul. By 42:11, he turns to his only hope, God, giving us the phrase “hope thou in God.” Between these verses, his situation is “disquieted,” tumultuous. This deceived him into believing God was missing from the scene, producing utter hopelessness in the depths of his soul. His emotions were out of control, tears were heavy “day and night,” focusing his attention on distorted facts of his circumstances. David is humiliated finding no answer for the jeering question of his tormentors, “Where is your God” (42:3).
What did David do? He learned to be filled with the hope of God he had to be emptied of his own hope, of all hope. He filled his hope with God and praised him in 42:5. In 42:6, he put God first, remembering hope had always been from God — he remembered the land of Jordan (God’s mighty supply), the Hermonites (God’s mighty power), the hill Mizar (God’s mighty voice).
David defeated his turmoil when he took his eyes and mind off himself and lifted them to the One who came to redeem him from all adversity, suffering, and affliction. He destroyed his turmoil when he refused to allow the tormentor to oppress him and captivate his mind with distorted facts (42:7-8).
As we step into a New Year, we must fill ourselves with David’s word, “hope thou in God.” Then, as David did, praise Him despite our happenings. Understanding this, regardless if our circumstances change, our turmoil can flee and we can once again experience “the night his song shall be with me.”
