DAILY READINGS: Ezra 6; Daniel 7; Revelation 2:18 to 3:6
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalms 42:5, 11; 43:5
The Psalmist was facing acute adversity and had become discouraged. Three times over he asks himself, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" He finds the answer to his problems in this phrase, "Hope thou in God." There are times in our lives when the burdens of life overwhelm, and cause us to be "cast down." Like the Psalmist, we need to remind ourselves that we have "hope in God." The life of the Christian is not a series of uncontrolled, random happenings. God is working out His plan and in the end all will be seen to have had its proper place and purpose. —W. H. Burnett
We shall read the tender meaning, of the sorrows and alarms,
As we trod the desert leaning, on His everlasting arms. —A. R. Cousin