Crystal-clear, Cool Water

Wednesday 3-30-16   Tres Arroyos, Buenos Aires. (On the road heading south.  Advanced about 300 miles this afternoon.)

Scripture reading:  Judges 8    Psalm 42    1 Cor 15

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Ps 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him. NKJV

O.  The song writer wrote a ballad to himself in his depression.  Perhaps this psalm was written by King David.  His soul has slipped down low... and it seems he doesn’t even know why.  I call this “kings depression.”  It comes upon people that have everything they want... and are not focusing on the needs of others and sacrificing to reach out to help them.

A.  David’s psalms teach me that it is okay to talk to myself.  Since my Frances has left for her new home I have too often caught myself talking to myself.  And I find myself talking to my Lord even more.  I very seldom feel depression for which I thank the Lord.  But once in a while it hits me... and usually for no reason that I can discover.  Maybe it is a physical change.  My happy gland took a day off.  The psalmist says, “Lord, I feel rotten, and I don’t even know why.  So I will trust in You to restore my joy... and in the mean time I will praise You anyway.” Psalm 42:5 NUHV  (New Unauthorized Hiatt Version) 

P.  Father in Heaven, I love the way this psalm begins.  It so beautifully expresses my inner feeling today.  “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”  There is a part of me that can only find satisfaction in You.  Like crystal-clear, cool waters of a rippling brook my thirsty soul is quenched... as I wait alone... in Your presence.  Amen.

Ralph

PS.  And please send me to share Your living water with someone who is down.