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30th June 2025
MondayReflection
************************
Bryce Morgan
"He has been lead pastor of
Way of Grace Church since 2005"
"Why are You Cast Down,
O My Soul?"
"Some of you... talk to yourselves, don't you? "
In most cases, when no one else is around, you talk (out loud) to yourself, right?
Yep. You know who you are.
Maybe you give yourself a pep talk:
"C'mon. You know you can do this."
Turn there if you would. Psalm 42.
As you can see from the information provided just before verse 1, this is not a psalm by David.
It's by a group of men known as the Sons of Korah.
These verses begin with the same question ...
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.
So 3000 years ago, this songwriter was ... talking to himself.
Or more specifically, he is speaking to his soul.
What is he saying to his soul?
Let me first answer a question you might be asking: "What is the soul?"
Today, we use that word in many ways.
Well, the "soul" is both your inner life force and the inner you.
Thus, the Hebrew word used here is often translated "life".
Look back with me to Psalm 42.
Let me read, this time beginning in verse 1 ...
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul [everything that I am] thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
That is, at the Tent of Meeting or at the Temple, where the God of Israel dwelt among his people in a special way.
My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?"
My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you [God] from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
These geographical references tell us the songwriter is far from home, in the extreme north of the country, near the headwaters of the Jordan River.
In short, he's drowning in difficult circumstances.
"Where is your God?"
That is, if the songwriter's god was real, why hasn't he shown up and delivered the psalmist ...
And it's this reality that drives him back to that inner conversation.
So hopefully that gives you a fuller understanding of what's driving him to speak to his soul; why he's so thirsty for God and the salvation... and the restoration... that only God can provide.
Let me share three ideas that I hope will help us.
First, in addressing his soul he is addressing the reality and root of his problem.
The issue is not ultimately his geographical position far from home.
The real issue is the absence of hope within his soul.
Second, by addressing his soul he is practicing healthy objectivity.
The writer here has already made it clear that he feels like he's drowning under the painful circumstances that God is allowing in his life.
But if you can step away and ask, "What encouragement or advice would I give to someone else if they were going through this same trial?", sometimes that movement toward objectivity helps us gain perspective.
Third, by addressing his soul he is addressing that part of us in which God does his greatest work.
With verses 1 and 2 in mind, if the psalmist were literally panting, literally thirsty, then water would satisfy that craving.
But if your soul is hungry, then God is our only true nourishment.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article, and Bible references, is avaiable on request
Scroll down for the continuation of this discussion.
Bryce Morgan
Originally from California.
A graduate of Horizon High School and Arizona State University, Bryce went on to complete a two-year pastoral apprenticeship
and a two-year pastoral internship at Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley before becoming Pastor of Young Adults from 2002 to 2005.
He has been lead pastor of Way of Grace since its beginnings in 2005.
As Way of Grace Church,
it is our desire as a church family to walk according to this new way made possible by Jesus and by the grace of God.
We hope you will join us on this journey!
More
We live in a world that feels that starvation of the soul.
So many are hungry for something real, something deeper, something true and secure, something soul-satisfying.
But sadly, so many are looking to meet that need with something (or someone) other than God.
But our souls were made for God; and God is for the soul.
You see, when God feeds the soul with things like hope, hope only he can give, everything changes ... even if our circumstances do not.
We see more clearly, we walk more firmly, we endure more boldly ...
we rest more securely.
Our deepest needs are in the soul, and so it's there that God does his greatest work
In one way or another, all of us struggle in regard to our souls.
And in one way or another, all of us reassure ourselves, don't we?
But (please hear me) reassurances rooted in human wisdom or human strength or our temporary, earthly resources or success, such reassurances cannot help our souls, especially in the end, when the God before whom each of us must give an account, when he says, "your soul is required of you".
No personal merit or earthly solution can help us on that day.
You see, on that day, and on every day we struggle until then, there is only one hope for your soul: to hope in God; to hope in Him as your salvation and your God.
But when you keep reading past the Psalms, you eventually discover the One to whom every psalm ultimately points.
He is the One who purchased that rest through his own turmoil, praying hours before his painful death,
"My soul is very sorrowful, even to death..." (Matthew 26:38).
But through that agonizing death... and through his glorious resurrection, God reassures us that,
"We have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul..." (Hebrews 6:19).
Brothers and sisters, friends, Jesus Christ is our hope in God.
Only He can shepherd for today and save for eternity everything you are; that is, your soul.
So please... talk to yourself; out loud if that helps.
In light of Jesus Christ, speak to your soul this morning.
Brothers and sisters, friends, in faith, pant for Him.
Thirst for Him and the living water he offers each of us freely.
Please receive or go back to that rest for your souls today.
Of course, we also know that Christ is coming back, isn't he?
That means each day you can rejoice... as you tell your soul (using the psalmist's words),
"...for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
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