“Change Your Outlook”

Psalm 43:2-3: For You are the God of my strength; why do You cast me off?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?  Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!  Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle.

II. Second Outlook Change:  Stop Looking at the Past and Start Looking at the Future!

A.  The Problem: Dwelling on the Past leads to Depression (Psalm 42:6)

1. The past must not be an anchor to hold us back, but rather a rudder to guide us.

2.    Example of the right use of the past: Moses urged Israel to remember their bondage in Egypt to keep them from forsaking God.

B.   The Solution: “Hope in God” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5)

1. The meaning of hope—The Christian’s hope is a guarantee that the future is secure.  Our hope is not in ourselves, or in our circumstances, but rather in the living Christ.

2.    Sources of Hope from the Psalmist (43:1-4)

a. God will one day defeat the enemy and give victory (43:1)—God is the judge of all the earth and He will do what is right (Genesis 18:25)

               b. God’s presence and protection bring hope (43:2)—we need   not mourn when God is with us to be our strength /  Hope delivers us from despair and enables us to tackle even the most menial job.  Elmer Bendiner was a B-17 bomber pilot flying over Germany in the latter days of World War II.  His plane was hit several times by shells, and even being hit in the fuel tank.  The bomber did not explode.  He landed, and they removed the shells..  The shells were dismantled, and to the amazement of everyone, all were empty--no explosives.  Inside of one shell was a note written in Czech.  Translated, it read,  This is all we can do for you now.  A member of the Czech underground working in a German munitions factory, had omitted the explosives in the shells on his assembly line.  That worker had the hope that his efforts would make a difference in the outcome of the war, and they did.

               c. God’s direction in our lives (43:3)—when we are  discouraged or depressed we make wrong decisions in our lives because we did not wait on the Lord to lead

              d. God as our joy brings hope (43:4)—find our joy in Him, in His Word, and He brings hope in the worst circumstances

                 

Our only help for the present and hope for the future is God. As Christians, we have a “living hope” (I Peter 1:3), a blessed hope (Titus 2:13), and a reasonable hope (I Peter 3:15).

 

More on Psalm 42 & 43 tomorrow . . .