“My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” (Ps. 42:3)
If you live for very long, you will face disappointment and discouragement. The Psalmist, in Psalm 42, sure was discouraged. He was so down that it says he cried “day and night.” Have you ever been that low? Have you ever been so disappointed with life that you just wept constantly? Well, this Psalmist knew exactly what that felt like.
There were three reasons the Psalmist was discouraged, and it is the same three reason you and I often get discouraged, as well. He was discouraged because:
1. His PLANS Had Not Been FULFILLED.
Evidently, circumstances were preventing him from going into Jerusalem on the annual trip to the Temple for worship as he was used to, because in (v.4) he says, “..I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.”
Something prevented his plans and it discouraged him. When our plans in life get derailed by unforeseen circumstances, it can disappoint us and leave us discouraged.
2. His FEELINGS Had Not Been RELIEVED.
He was so depressed that he had lost all of his appetite. He said, “My tears have been my meat day and night.” He literally went to bed with a tear-soaked pillow and woke up with a tear-soaked pillow! And to make matters worse, his enemy was taunting him, too. He was saying to this Psalmist, “Where is thy God?” In other words, if your God really loved you, where is He at in all of this? So, not only was he struggling with EMOTIONS on the inside, but he was also battling an ENEMY on the outside.
3. His QUESTIONS Had Not Been ANSWERED.
Ten times the psalmist asked God “Why?” and we have no record that God ever gave him an answer. The hardest thing for us to realize is that just because God has all the answers, He’s not obligated to share them with us. This Psalmist was about as low as a person could go. So how did he get help? He stopped looking at his circumstances and started looking at his God!
In (v.4) he said, “When I remember these things…” Up until now, he had been focusing on “things” and circumstances. But in (v.6) he changes and says, “Therefore will I remember thee.” The best way to deal with your disappointment is to get your focus off your circumstances and start focusing on God.
Don’t just look at your circumstances, but look for GOD in your circumstances! He’s there, and He loves and cares for you.