"These things I remember as I pour out my soul; how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving, among the festive throng."
Psalm 42:4. NIV
This Psalm was written in exile and the Psalmist is remembering, with longing and tears, the times when he was able to worship God in Jerusalem. Remembering how things were and now are, can be difficult to cope with. Even though, this Psalm was written a long time ago, for some people it can be relevant today when they remember how they used to do a particular thing, maybe in the church or somewhere else, and this has now ceased to be. It can be hard to cope with.
This may have happened to you. Perhaps you were a 'somebody' and now you feel that you are a 'nobody'. Perhaps Adam could relate to this. He was a 'somebody' in the garden and because of his lack of wisdom and sin, he was cast out of the garden and had to learn to be a 'nobody' - in his own eyes. Let me just say, everybody is a somebody in God's eyes! Did you get that - you are a somebody. When we long for the earlier days, we can become hurt and bitter, washed out and on the scrapheap. Don't feel this way. You are special. Things will get better.
Loss is a difficult area to handle. Loss brings many changes, changes that we don't want and never thought would come. Loss happens to other people, not us. However, when it does, it can be so difficult to work through. It forces upon us, things that we would rather not have. It's not always a death that brings loss and change. It may be a marital breakdown, losing a job, an operation that has brought changes to your life or perhaps, moving to a strange area where you miss your family and friends. It all takes time to make sense of it all.
Let's look at verse 5 of Psalm 42:
'Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
My Saviour and my God'
There is always hope where God is concerned. As we place our hope in Him and praise Him, He reaches out to us and helps us through the path that we're walking. 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.' Psalm 23:4 NIV.
Have you considered that this may be a new chapter in your life? Perhaps like a book, one chapter has come to an end and you need to open a new chapter to find what is going to happen. Perhaps this is where you are at.
One thing is for sure, you are not on the scrapheap; you have not been discarded and forgotten; you are a somebody with a bright future and pretty soon, things are going to get better. Now that is someting to consider and praise God for.
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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