Psalm 43

Psalm 43
New Living Translation (NLT)

  1 Declare me innocent, O God! Defend me against these ungodly people. Rescue me from these unjust liars. 2 For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?
  3 Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. 4 There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!
  5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

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  Have you ever eaten an entire pizza?  I'm not talking about those personal ones, either.  I mean, have you ever eaten an entire pizza that was intended to be shared among several people?
  I have, and this will surprise you--I didn't feel that great about it afterwards.

  When I read verse 5, I come away with the impression that the Psalmist's heart is sad because he has started to put his hope elsewhere, and those things disappointed.  Whether it was in other people, in worldly goods or some other place, the Psalmist's hopes were dashed when people or situations let him down.

  But the Psalmist knows that God never disappoints, and so he re-orients his hope to God.  I, too, need to reorient my hope, to place all of it in God, because God alone will never disappoint.  I will be discouraged if I expect something or someone else to take God's place, but God will always be faithful, and so my hope will rest in him and him alone.

May you be confidant in God's strength today