Fall 2018, 40 Days of Prayer, Day 18
Psalm 42:5-6 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Today I start with a quote from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:
“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.’…
Here we continue to see the turmoil within the psalmist and his fight with sorrow. He knows God, he's aware of the Lord's promises that’s why he's preaching to himself, ''how can you be cast down my soul?' Preaching is not just for Sunday, or for the Pastor, but we must all learn to preach to ourselves. We must exhort and remind ourselves of who God is and to remember his promises for us through Jesus Christ. We must continue to feed on the abundance of his house and drink from the river of his delights. That’s why a steady diet of scripture is vital to our delicate souls.
Analyze your situation and compare it to the hope that is laid up or for you. Remember faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Biblical hope is not like the hope of your favorite football team winning the game. It's not hope that desires something good for the future but with no assurance. Biblical hope expects it to happen. If you have no words to preach just preach to yourself these 3 words: Hope in God! The reality of your hope is strengthened through your trust in the faithfulness of God. Sometimes it's not as hard to believe in God. Sometimes it's hard to believe God, to believe what he says about you. He will hold you Fast! When you fear that your faith may fail just sing to yourself; He will hold me fast.
Remember that Christ endured the cross for the joy set before him. What a tremendous spiritual battle our Lord and Savior went through. The blood, sweat, and tears he endured as he prepared to drink from the cup laid before him. How thankful we are that he was able to persevere. His soul may have been greatly troubled, but he knew his Father. He knew his Father’s plans. He believed what the Father said about him and his mission. He knew the joy set before him would come to pass because of the trustworthiness of the Father. Let us remember who God is and hope in him because what he has said about our past, our present and our future. If he is for us, nothing can be against us.
Prayer Focus
God you are my rock, my soul's refuge. My hope is secured by your divine power and almighty strength. When I look at Christ I see my salvation. When you look at Christ you see my security. Please devour my soul with your light and make your wonders known through the darkness.
Sermon by John Wesley “The Important Question”
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Matthew 16:26
The next point we have to consider is what is implied in a man's losing his own soul. But here we draw a deeper scene, and have need of a more steady attention. For it is easy to sum up all that is implied in a man's "gaining the whole world." but it is not easy to understand all that is implied in his "losing his own soul." Indeed none can fully conceive this, until he has passed through time into eternity. The first thing which it undeniably implies is, the losing all the present pleasures of religion; all those which it affords to truly religious men, even in the present life. "If there be any consolation Christ; if any comfort of love," -- in the love of God, and of all mankind; if any "joy in the Holy Spirit;" if there be a peace of God, -- a peace that passes all understanding; if there is any rejoicing in the testimony of a good conscience toward God; all this is totally lost by the man that loses his own soul. But the present life will soon be at an end: We know it passes away like a shadow. The hour is at hand, when the spirit will be summoned to return to God that gave it. In that awful moment, Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, Who stand upon the threshold of the new. And whether he looks backward or forward, how pleasing is the prospect to him that saves his soul! If he looks back, he has "the calm remembrance of the life well spent." If he looks forward, there is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that does not fade away; and he sees the convoy of angels ready to carry him into the presence of Abraham. But how is it in that solemn hour, with the man that loses his soul? Does he look back? What comfort is there in this? He sees nothing but scenes of horror, matter of shame, remorse, and self-condemnation; a foretaste of "the worm that never dies." If he looks forward, what does he see? No joy, no peace! No gleam of hope from any point of heaven! Some years since, one who turned back as a dog to his vomit was struck in his mid-career of sin. A friend visiting him, prayed, "Lord, have mercy upon those who are just now leaving the body in this life, and do not know which will meet them at their entrance into the next world, an angel or a fiend!" The sick man shrieked out with a piercing cry, "A fiend! a fiend!" and died. Just such an end, unless he die to himself, may any man expect who loses his own soul.