Rising Back Up
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance…. 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. Psalm 42:5, 11 (KJV)
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43:5 (KJV)
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” In these verses, we see this asked three times.
The word soul is the same Hebrew word all three times: nephesh, which means soul, self, life, person, heart., the essence of life, the act of breathing. All that is within one. In this application, soul is parallel to saying the whole person. If we look to the Greek word that is translated soul in the New Testament, it is psuche, which refers to the mind, will, and emotions.
We can get cast down in ourselves where problems can take our breath away. Our minds can come under attack where we begin to think negatively. If our will gets weakened, we can make bad decisions. In our emotions, we begin to feel badly about ourselves. Our soul can get cast down and become depressed. We can become bowed down due to heaviness because our soul is distressed and disquieted. To be disquieted is to be disturbed. In the midst of it, we ask, “Why?”
The key to turning it around is to hope in God. Hope is the happy anticipation of good. God is our favorable and confident expectation of a good outcome, the divine guarantee of victory, the sure thing. Hope in the Hebrew is yahal, and it means to wait, to be patient. In the Psalms, it frequently means to wait with hope.
When you’re cast down, hope, wait, and trust in the Lord. Praise God. Set your eyes on Him. You will see that He is your help, health, and happiness. He is the Glory and the Lifter of your head (Psalm 3:3). You will feel better because you spent time with God. He renews your hope, and you’ll see things differently. You’ll look at God instead of at yourself. When you can’t do something, you’ll remember that God can. When you lose your peace, God will minister to you Himself as you draw near to Him. He gives His peace because He is Jehovah Shalom, which refers to peace, wholeness, and wellbeing. You’ll come up and out of the lowlands and you’ll be risen to new heights with God. You’ll praise God, Who restores you to be healthy, happy, and whole again!
