Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre
O God, my God
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.
A creed is an important tool in anyone's life. Over the years, I've had my fair share. When I first realized God's love in my life, my creed was Psalm 27:4 "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." Later, when I began to realize more the importance of sharing this love, my creed became John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."
I stumbled upon Psalm 43:3-5 while I was trying to work through some serious frustration from outside sources in my life. The first words caught my eye, "Send out your light and your truth". I've seen God's guidance in my life again and again over the past few weeks, but there are some things happening in my life since returning from RACE (has it really only been a month since then?) that have seemed hazy and some that have been downright dark. I don't really know how I've managed to stay standing through a lot of it except by God's grace. I live in a difficult environment that's half light and half lies and sometimes it's really difficult to distinguish between the two. I've caught myself starting to slide down the slope of slimy lies quite a few times over the past weeks.
However, the last verse of this passage brings a wonderful exhortation in the midst of all this trouble. "Why are you cast down" and "in turmoil"? Hope in God. There's the cure for all my frustration right there. Because of the order of the verses, it seems to be a bit of a cycle. There's a prayer for guidance; guidance is provided and praise is given; and then the question pops out of nowhere "Why are you cast down?" Seems a little out of place, really. I think this is the point in the psalm-writer's life where sin and Satan attack with lies and deceit, but the writer sees through it within a moment and reminds himself of God's goodness.
So, this is my creed: Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, my salvation and my God.
