OUR DAILY BREAD : HOPE IN GOD

[cimi]

October 26
Friday


HOPE IN GOD

READ:
psalm 42
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Why are you cast down,
O my soul?...Hope in
God, for I shall yet
praise Him for the help
of His countenance.
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Looking at the western shores of Sri Lanka, I found it hard to imagine that a tsunami had struck just a few months earlier. The sea was calm and beautiful, couples were walking in the bright sunshine, and people were going about their business__all giving the scene an ordinary feeling I wasn't prepared for. The impact of the disaster was still there, but it had gone underground into the hearts and minds of the survivors. The trauma itself would not be easily forgotten.

It was catastrophic grief that prompted the psalmist to cry out in anguish: "My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, 'Where is your God?' " (Ps. 42:3). The struggle of his heart had likewise been turned inward. While the rest of the world went on with business as usual, he carried in his heart the need for deep and complete healing.

Only as we submit our brokeness to the good and great Shepherd of our hearts can we find the peace that allows us to respond to life: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance" (v.5).

Hope in God--it's the only solution for the deep traumas of the heart. __ Bill Crowder
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Christian's hope is in the Lord,~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~We rest secure in His sure Word;~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~And though we're tempted to despair,~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~We do not doubt that God is there. __D. De Haan~~~~~~
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No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ psalm 42***************

1 As the deer pants for the
water brooks, so pants my
soul for you, O God. 2 My
soul thirsts for God, for the
living God, When shall I
come and appear before
God? 3 My tears have been
my food day and night,
while they continually say
to me, "Where is your
God?"

4 When I remember these
things, I pour out my soul
within me. For I used to go
with the multitude: I went
with them to the house of
God, with the voice of joy
and praise, with a multitude
that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 Why are you cast down,
O my soul? And why are
you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet
praise Him for the help of
His coutenance.

6 O my God, my soul is
cast down within me....

8 The LORD will command
His livingkindness in the
daytime, and in the night
His song shall be with me__
a prayer to the God of my
life.

9 I will say to God my
Rock, "Why have You
forgotten me? Why do I go
mourning because of the
oppression of the enemy?"

10 As with a breaking of my
bones, my enenmies reproach
me, while they say to me all
day long, "Where is your
God?"

11 Why are you cast down,
O my soul? And why are
you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall yet
praise Him, the help of my
countenance and my God.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This psalm is one of the 12 psalms (Psalm 42-49, 84,85,87, and 88)
dedicated to the sons of Korah, a Levitical choir commissioned as
temple singers (2 Chron. 20:19)They were also temple gatekeepers
(1 Chron. 9:19). __ SKT