Hope For The Hurting Soul
“Hope For The Hurting Soul”
Before we get into today’s message, I want to update you on the land we talked about buying in the Dominican Republic. It’s in a very poor place called Duquesa, where people are living on a literal landfill. We’ve built several strong relationships doing a sports ministry there and we’re seeing people come to faith in Christ. So last week I mentioned buying a piece of land for $10,000 to build a chapel there, and I’m happy to tell you we received $10,000 in commitments within 24 hrs, so let’s praise God for that!...I talked to JC who leads the ministry there, and he’s filled with joy. We’re currently discussing plans to send a team there in 2027 to help build the chapel, and by this time next year, there will be a chapel displaying the hope of Christ in Duquesa. Thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality, and for helping us continue to Reach People and Reach The World,with the life-transforming message of Jesus.
Now as for today, we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms, and it’s about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. The specific Psalm we’re studying today is about the hurting soul. It’s about how to turn things around when your soul is hurting. It’s something that happens to all of us. Both skeptics and believers have moments when life is heavy, when our souls are heavy, and we have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. We don’t like that feeling, don’t want that feeling, don’t want to wake up thinking it’s gonna be a bad day. Instead we’d rather wake up thinking the Forrest Frank song, “I'm 'bout to have a good day.” But the reality is sometimes a good day turns into a bad day or bad days, and we start spiraling and don’t know how to stop. We don’t know how to turn things around. Well today’s psalm teaches us how to turn things around. It teaches us what to do when our soul is hurting. So let’s turn to Psalm 42 and get into it. You’ll find Psalms in the middle of the bible, and we’ll be in Psalm 42 and 43. The title of the message is Hope For The Hurting Soul, and the big idea of the message is: When your soul is hurting, keep pressing into God instead of pulling away from God...When your soul is hurting, keep pressing into God instead of pulling away from God...
Here’s your context. Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook that contains 150 songs and prayers. The Hebrew word for Psalms means to praise or songs of praise, which is why our series theme is about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. It’s because each Psalm is written by Old Testament biblical leaders expressing real, raw, honest emotions we can all relate with. Psalms 42 and 43 are written by Levitical worship leaders called The Sons of Korah, and it’s treated as one psalm because they end with the same refrain: “Why, my soul, are you so dejected?” That’s the question being addressed in these psalms, and as we study we’ll learn about: The Condition, The Cause, and The Cure. It’s 1st the condition of the hurting soul, 2nd the cause for the hurting soul, and 3rd some steps we can take to help cure the hurting soul. Let’s check it out.
Psalm 42:1-5, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, ‘Where is your God?’ 4 I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts. 5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” What the psalmist is talking about isThe Condition. He’s talking about the condition of the hurting soul, which he says is dejected and in turmoil. The Hebrew word for dejected can also be translated as downcast. It means to be in such turmoil, in such despair, that you’re ready to collapse and quit. I know we often view vs. 1 as a cute verse to put on blankets and coffee cups. But it isn’t meant to be a picture of a cute deer drinking water from a stream. It’s meant to be a picture of a deer thirsting for water because it’s dying of dehydration. The psalmist is saying that’s what the condition of the hurting soul is like. You’re desperately thirsting for God, but can’t find God anywhere. The psalmist is thirsting to feel God’s presence in his life again, but he’s feeling nothing. In vs. 4 he remembers a time when he was joyfully worshiping God, and his soul thirsts for that joy again. But God feels absent, even silent, and he’s feeling spiritually dehydrated. The condition of his hurting soul is dejected and in turmoil. But what about your soul? What’s the condition of your soul?...Is your soul happy or hurting?...Is your soul hydrated or dehydrated?...What’s the honest condition of your soul?...
If you’re in a season where your soul is happy and hydrated, then praise God for that. But if you’re in a season where your soul is hurting and dehydrated, the psalmist is teaching you’re not alone in that feeling. In fact the bible is full of people with hurting souls. The prophet Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He wrote in Jeremiah 20, “Why did I come out of the womb to see only struggle and sorrow?” In 1st Kings 19 Elijah had a great victory, but then went to the desert and prayed for God to take his life. Moses and Jonah also prayed for God to take their lives! They all knew they shouldn’t take their own lives, so they prayed for God to take their lives. We also know some of the greatest Christian leaders in church history struggled with spiritual depression, such as John Wesley, Martin Luther, and Charles Spurgeon. The early monks called it acedia, the noonday demon, the dark night of the soul. When C.S. Lewis lost his wife to cancer, he wrote honestly about his hurting soul. Lewis wrote, “Where is God? Go to him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, the sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence...Why is he so present a commander in our time of prosperity, yet so very absent a help in our time of trouble?” We know Lewis didn’t stay in that spiritually depressed state forever, but in that moment he was being honest about his hurting soul like the psalmist. We have a long list of Christian Hall of Famers who struggled with spiritual depression, drought, and dehydration, which means you’re not alone. The psalmist is teaching us the condition of the hurting soul, but he’s also saying you’re not alone.
Vs. 6, “I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me. 8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day; his song will be with me in the night—a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God, my rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?’ 10 My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is your God?’ 11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” In vs. 6 the psalmist says he’s deeply depressed, but then he mentions some of the reasons he’s deeply depressed. He mentions some of The Causes. He mentions the condition, but now he’s mentioning the causes for the hurting soul. He mentions two primary causes for his hurting soul, and the 1st cause is continual hardship. In vs. 7 when he says deep calls to deep, he’s talking about continual hardship. It’s the image of breakers, massive waves crashing over him one after another, and they’re driving him deeper and deeper down to the bottom of the ocean floor. He’s getting hit with blow after blow, struggle after struggle, and he can’t seem to catch his breath or his footing. So his soul is hurting, because of continual hardship.
The 2nd cause is spiritual disconnect. He’s feeling spiritually disconnected from God and God’s people. In vs. 9 he says it feels like God has forgotten him. It feels like God has abandoned him. It’s this combination of facing continual hardships with unanswered prayers, that can cause even the strongest believers to struggle. What makes it even harder is enemies keep taunting him saying, “Where is God?” This can be both physical enemies and spiritual enemies, like demonic voices whispering lies in his ears. The demonic enemies will often target you in your darkest moments, whispering lies in your ears. They’ll whisper where is God, trying to convince you that God abandoned you. It’s because if they can convince you that God abandoned you, they don’t have to do anything else—because you’ll do the rest yourself. You’ll start withdrawing, isolating, and drifting. This is why you shouldn’t just attend church; you need to be connected to a church. You need to be connected to other believers who can help speak truth when all you’re hearing is lies. The psalmist is struggling because he feels spiritually disconnected from God and the support of God’s people. Vs. 6 implies he’s moved or been exiled, so he’s having to worship God in a distant place away from the support of his faith community. His soul is hurting because he’s facing both continual hardship and spiritual disconnect. But the point isn’t to align with his causes; it’s to identify your causes. It’s to ask your soul the same question he’s asking: “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil?” You can easily identify the condition of your hurting soul, but have you identified the causes?...Have you taken time to identify the causes, to ask your soul why it’s so dejected and in such turmoil?...More importantly, have you taken time to pray and talk to God about those causes?...The psalmist isn’t just teaching you to identify the condition of your hurting soul; he’s also teaching you to identify and pray about the causes.
Psalm 43:1-5, “Vindicate me, God, and champion my cause against an unfaithful nation; rescue me from the deceitful and unjust person. 2 For you are the God of my refuge. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression? 3 Send your light and your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place. 4 Then I will come to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise you with the lyre. 5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” Notice the constant dialogue he’s having with his soul, but also that he keeps praying and talking to God about his soul. It’s a little glimpse into The Cure. He identifies the condition and the causes for his hurting soul, but he’s also doing something about it. Instead of just complaining, just sinking deeper and deeper into spiritual depression, drought, and dehydration, he does 3 things. Don’t view these 3 things as immediate cures; view them as gradual steps you can start taking to help cure your hurting soul. The first one is...
Step 1 = Keep being honest about your hurting soul. – Keep being honest about your hurting soul, instead of hiding your hurting soul. The psalmist doesn’t hide it or fake it until he makes it. He’s honest about his hurting soul, just like so many other biblical leaders were honest about their hurting souls like I mentioned before. Even Jesus was honest about his hurting soul. When he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, he knew the tremendous amount of suffering he was about to face on the cross, and it grieved his soul. He said in Matthew 26:38, “My soul is very grieved and sorrowful, even to death.” If Jesus was honest about his hurting soul, what makes you think you can’t be?...What makes you think your soul will get better by stuffing your struggles down, and hiding it or faking it until you make it?...The 1ststep for some of you is to have an honest prayer with the Lord, admitting the real condition of your soul, like Jesus and the psalmist.
Step 2 = Keep preaching the truth to your soul. – Keep preaching the truth of God’s word to your soul, especially against the lies of the enemy. The psalmist doesn’t just talk honestly about his hurting soul; he also preaches the truth back to his hurting soul. He refuses to let his feelings and hardships have the last word in his life. So he keeps preaching the same message. He keeps telling his soul, “Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” He doesn’t tell his soul to hope in the removal of his hardship, because there will always be more hardships. He doesn’t tell his soul to hope in anything else except God. City Awakening sometimes you have to preach the same truth to your soul, until your soul finally rests in that truth...Sometimes you have to preach the same truth to your soul, until your soul finally rests in that truth...The psalmist keeps preaching the truth to his soul about the great hope he has in God. He keeps reminding his soul that his struggles aren’t greater than his God. Are you doing the same? Are you preaching to your soul that your struggles aren’t greater than your God?...Are you letting God’s promises preach louder than your hardships, instead of letting your hardships preach louder than God’s promises?...What are some truths you need to start preaching back to your soul?...The 2nd step is to keep preaching truth to your soul. It’s to keep putting your hope in God.
Step 3 = Keep praying, even when your soul doesn’t feel like it. – Keep praying and pressing into the Lord, even when your soul doesn’t feel like it. The psalmist keeps talking honestly about his struggles, about the condition and the causes for his hurting soul. But he also keeps praying, keeps talking to the Lord, keeps pressing into the Lord. In vs. 5 he even says, “I will still praise the Lord.” That’s what faith looks like in the valley. It’s choosing to still praise the Lord in the valley. It’s choosing to keep praying and praising the Lord until your heart finally catches up. One of our greatest temptations when we’re struggling is to stop praying and pressing into the Lord. The very God we need becomes the God we avoid. But the psalmist is teaching us to keep praying and pressing into the Lord, even when our souls don’t feel like it. It isn’t to ignore our hurting soul; it’s to keep praying and bringing our hurting soul back to God. It’s to keep pressing into God, not away from God. Which direction is your soul moving?...Is your soul moving toward God or away from God?...Is your soul pressing into God or pulling away from God?...The cure for the hurting soul is to keep taking steps in the right direction towards God. It’s to keep being honest, keep preaching the truth to your soul, and keep praying even when your soul doesn’t feel like it.
The big idea of the message is when your soul is hurting, keep pressing into God instead of pulling away from God...When your soul is hurting, keep pressing into God instead of pulling away from God...Both skeptics and believers have moments when life is heavy, when our souls are heavy, and some of you might be feeling like that today. Psalm 42 and 43 teaches us steps we can take to help cure our hurting souls. But the greatest step we can take, is to place our hurting souls in the hands of Jesus. He’s the only one who lived, died, and rose again, proving he’s the only one who has the power to bring our dead souls back to life again. So put your hope in him.
Your soul won’t always feel well in this life, but it can always be made well with Christ. Your good days will still be shaken in this life, but you can also find hope in knowing your bad days will also be shaken with Christ. All your bad days will be shaken by the power of Christ’s resurrection. Until that day comes, keep being honest, keep preaching truth to your soul, keep praying and pressing into Jesus...Let’s take a few minutes right now, to pray and press into Jesus...