Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

July 26
Thursday


NIGHT

READ:
Psalm 42
_______________________________

The LORD will command
His lovingkindness in
the daytime, and in the
night His song shall
be with me__a prayer
to the God of my life.
__Psalm 42:8
_______________________________

IN his reveting and unsettling book Night, Elie Wiesel describes his boyhood experiences as one of the countless victims of the Holocaust. Ripped from his home and seperated from everyone in his family except his father (who would die in the death camps), Wiesel suffered a dark night of the soul such as few will experience. It challenged his views and beliefs about God. His innocence and faith became sacrifices on the altar of man's evil and sin's darkness.

David experienced his own dark night of the soul, which many scholars believe motivated his writing of Psalm 42. Harried and hounded, probably as he was pursued by his rebellious son Absalom (2 Sam. 16_18), David echoed the pain and fear that can be felt in the isolation of night. It's the place where darkness grips us and forces us to consider the anguish of our heart and ask hard questions of God. The psalmist lamented God's seeming absence, yet in it all he found a night song (v.8) that gave him peace and confidence for the difficulties ahead.

When we struggle in the night, we can be confident that God is at work in the darkness. We can say with the psalmist, "Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God" (v.11). __Bill Crowder
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~~~~~~~I've found that when life's brush obscures my view~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~With gloomy strokes that seem to mar the scene,~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~God's hand appears and gives to sunless hue~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~And dreary skies a more majestic sheen. __Gustafson~~~~~
____________________________________________________________

When it is dark enough, men see the stars. __Emerson

**************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 countenance...

8 The LORD will command
His lovingkindness 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 enemies
reproach me, while they say
to me all day long, "Where
is your God?

11 Why ae 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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Psalm 42 and 43 form one single prayer for deliverance from the
oppressin of the enemy (42:9; 43:2). Recalling his past pilgrimages
to the temple (42:4), the psalmist is now exiled and prevented from
making them (42:6). He desires to commune with his God yet again
(42:1-2; 43:4). __SKT

[Mackenaw]

Thank you again, Cimi, for posting "Our Daily Bread" for all of here at Christianity Oasis.

While all of the messages touch me in one way or another, some just touch deeper. Woooooohooooo!

Psalm 42:11 -- Awesome. I went and looked in up in the King James version: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Yes, sometimes when things seem to overwhelm me, or maybe my health falls to sickness, my soul can start believing and asking "Where is He?" but He has taught me not to trust in my emotions nor my thoughts, but to believe in Him and His promises. I must then choose to praise Him for Who He is, and believe that I am His.

Psalm 30:5 For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

God bless you, Cimi.
Sister Mack

[dubya]

Amen sisters, thats the peace of our God, just like right after a storm and everything is washed and clean. Thank you sisters for posting God bless -warrior-