Why are you in despair, O my soul?

Psalm 42:5-6a (NASB)

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me.  Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.  O my God, my soul is in despair within me…….

Have you ever been so depressed that you have been unable to stand, you can do nothing but sit or lie down?  Well, the Hebrew word for despair means literally to bow down, to crouch.  To be so down that indeed you cannot stand is what the psalmist here is referring to.  To be so despairing that you must bow down not only has an effect on the physical body but also on your soul, your inner self, your mind, emotion and will. 

When you are so down, do you know why?  The psalmist here is asking “why are you in despair, O my soul?”  He is so despondent, so depressed, so discouraged, yet he cannot pinpoint exactly why he has reached these depths.  He just knows that is where he is.  He has tried to think or to reflect on everything about his life, past and present, that might make him feel better and nothing helps.  There is nothing left in his own life that can lift him up.  The only thing left is hope.  Not just general hope, but hope in God. 

The preposition “in” has significant meaning here.  Just like there is a big difference between believing God or believing in God, there is a big difference here between hope on God or hope in God.  There is an imagery of that hope being within God Himself, not on the periphery around God.

Hope in God conveys a significant intimacy between you and God.  Hope in God conveys a deep faith that only God can help you overcome your despair.  Only God can overcome the trouble that is deep within your soul.  Have you ever been in a state of mind where you saw little reason why you should go on living?   When someone is close to committing suicide because of the significant despair in his life, if he does not have some kind of relationship with God, there is no hope in Him.  There is nothing that deep within that person’s soul can rise up and cause him to stop from committing this ultimate evil act of taking your own life.

The prophet, Elijah, wanted to take his own life (I Kings 19:4).   Why didn’t he?  God was there with him and enabled him to see some reason to keep going.  There was still purpose in his life.  God allowed him to see some light in his life and why he should not give up even though he wanted to give up. 

God will do the same to you, His child, as long as you have hope in Him,.  When you are in the deepest of despair, when you are “bowed down”, talk to Him, read His Psalms, allow Him to enable you see that there is still light in your life because of the hope He gives you.  His presence during your darkest hours will help you.       

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.

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God. — D. DeHaan