The War Zone of Discouragement

[gentle music] After decades of serving as the King of Israel, David was forced to flee Jerusalem in a single day because of Absalom's rebellion.

He left the region entirely, traveling with his trusted advisors until they crossed the Jordan River.

Once there, scripture suggests David looked back across the waters and wrote what we know today as Psalm 42 and Psalm 43.

I need to tell you that these two Psalms go together.

In fact, it may look like there's a chapter division between the two of them.

There really is not.

Originally, this was one Psalm.

I'm sure you know that the Bible is totally inspired, but chapter divisions are man-made.

If you look down at your Bible, you will notice in Psalm 42 and 43 a verse that is repeated three times.

Three times this verse is repeated and joins these Psalms together.

Psalm 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 for the help of His countenance." Psalm 42:11, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God." And Psalm 43:5, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God." The inscription over these two Psalms says they are addressed to the choirmaster, and these Psalms are called a Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

The word maskil in Hebrew means a teaching Psalm.

So Psalms 42 and 43 are teaching Psalms from David to help us learn how to handle our discouragements and our blue moods.

You can sense that David is dealing with this as you read these Psalms.

He feels overwhelmed and hopeless and helpless.

And what I would like to do today, because of what he wrote, is to take these two Psalms written during Absalom's defection and David's temporary loss of his kingdom and find out what we can learn about discouragement.

I told you before, it's the number one thing the enemy uses in my life.

He is good at getting people discouraged.

And because whatever your situation is, like mine, I remember that it's not permanent, it's not pervasive, and it's not personal.

God wants you to have hope, and David's Psalms offer three helpful principles that guide us and support us whenever we're discouraged.

They are built around powerful paradox.

A paradox is, well, two principles that seem to be in opposite directions, and yet they combine to express a truth.