Good morning,
"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." (Ps. 42:11) This is where I have been pausing and meditating on for quite awhile, or at least one of the places. As we grow up in the Word of God, all of us get the understanding that God doesn't want us to worry or fret about our 'tomorrows' or even the outcomes of 'today'. When He says something two or more times in His Word it is to confirm the importance of it and make it another concrete block in building and establishing it in our mind and heart. "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (Phil. 5:7) "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Phil. 4:6) Careful and care means to be anxious, to be troubled with cares; to seek to promote one's interest, troubles that cause distractions. The last part of the definition is what usually happens with cares, they cause us to be distracted from what God is doing, by focusing our attention upon the troubles. That is why the Psalmist was crying out also. Too many troubles were distracting him from focusing in on praising God. Here is the same verse in the Message Bible: "Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God."(Ps. 42:11) Our focus begins to be shifted to the problems, rather than God, which affects our 'health of our countenance'. Health here denotes salvation, deliverance, welfare, prosperity, and our victory. Countenance is our face, our presence, our expressions and our person [our appearance, our composure, and our behavior]. You know the drill; focusing in our problem, creates more anxiety, which adds to how we see our self, which takes away from our deliverance, victory, prosperity, and our welfare. Making our deliverance be far off. But if we tweak it, and put our focus on God, fix our eyes on Him with our praise, we will get the victory, the deliverance, the welfare, and the prosperity that we need. That is how the Psalmist got his deliverance: "When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you, From Jordan depths to Hermon heights, including Mount Mizar." Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."(Ps.42:6-8) So let's follow the example and remember and rehearse how good God has been to us and praise Him for it! Which will affect our countenance, our presence, and our behavior. We will be joyful, peaceful, loving, overall the pleasant people of God that we are called to be.
Love,
Pastor D.
Daughters of Z 