sion is really an attitude of guilt. It can come as a normal let down af ter a victory. The Psalmist perhaps had recalled his past experiences in the presence of the Lord. And that nostalgia, trying to bring back the good old days (which probably never really were) causes a mental depression and unhappiness. Now, in verse five, we come to the crux of the spirit of discourage ment. He interrogates himself by saying, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disqui eted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of hj£ countenance." One psychiatrist has said that the feeling of loneli ness, self-contempt, emptiness and depression can leave us with a feeling of being like a completely deflated balloon. Though the sun shines, the whole world is still grey. This affects some to be crabby, oth ers to be sullen. Generally the cause of discour agement, which is a lingering de bilitating disease, no matter how long it may last, is due to some loss which we have experienced. It may be the loss of a loved one. It may be the loss of a job. It may be the loss of a friend. It may be the loss of a child, or a grandchild. It may be the loss of an opportunity. We need to recognize that discour agement is directly traceable to a person's view of himself. He feels that nothing is ever going to go right again. The point is that intro spection will not really help. And if you allow the mood, it will soon become a brood. Here the Psalmist is cast down. Always the feelings of depression leave us down. Have you ever heard anyone to say, "I feel 'up' in the dumps." No, it is always "down."
Cod. Simply telling someone to be happy will only arouse his resis tance and make him mad, both at you as well as at himself. We, as God's children, are not supposed to be pessimistic. We have the greatest hope and outlook in all the world. Ours can be a true note of optimism and joy. "A pessimist is one who feels bad when he feels good, for fear he will feel worse when he feels better!" Verse four of the 42nd Psalm gives us the further testimony by this man of God as he openly testi fies, "When I remember these things, 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 the multitude that kept holy day." Here the Psalmist is re counting for us the fact that at one time he had enjoyed rejoicing in the blessings of the Lord. He had experienced them not only indi vidually, but corporately, with the entire body of believers. Whenever the doors of worship were opened, he was there. So he recalls all of these things and his heart breaks all the more. For some reason the joy of his salvation had somehow been taken from him. Painful reflections will always awaken memories of past joys. They can often increase the misery. This is why we are not to ruminate or turn over in our minds all of our past experiences. Take all these things to the Lord and leave them there. It is interesting to see how the Psalmist's longing to be away from the oppression of man always leads him to sigh more intensely for com munion with God. I wonder if we do too? In a certain sense depres
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