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One of the things I love about Scripture is that it never shies away from the reality of the human condition. The Bible does not present people as emotionless or untouched by struggle. Instead, Scripture shows us the full range of human experience which includes joy, laughter, humor, pain, suffering, sorrow, tears, mourning, depression, and hope.

God cares about our emotional state.

There are moments when what we feel begins to shape what we believe. Our emotions can become so heavy that they begin speaking louder than our faith. But when faith is genuine, the righteous learn to fall back on the truth of God’s Word.

Psalm 42:5–6 says:

“Why are you in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise Him
For the help of His presence, my God.
My soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You
From the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.”

Whether this Psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah, or as some scholars have suggested, connected to David, the cry is deeply human. The psalmist is speaking to his own soul. He is wrestling inwardly. He is asking, “Why are you so low? Why are you so restless within me?”

That word despair carries the idea of being brought low. It speaks to a heaviness of soul, a mental and emotional state where one feels cast down, burdened, overwhelmed, and depressed. Every person has experienced moments like this. Moments of feeling low, weary, forgotten, or without value.

And Christians are not exempt from this.

The difference is that we are not left without an outlet. We have God Himself as outlet.

When we find ourselves in a mental and spiritual battle, we must learn to fix our gaze on God again. We must not allow the darkness of the moment to become louder than the truth of His Word.

The psalmist shows us one of the most powerful ways to fight. It says to REMEMBER!

He says, “Therefore I remember You.”

How quickly we forget the goodness of God. How quickly we forget His mercy. How quickly we forget His forgiveness. How quickly we forget His presence in our lives.

And that is exactly what the enemy wants. He wants to make us forget.

He wants us to forget what God has done. He wants us to forget who God says we are. He wants us to forget the blood of Jesus that has covered us. He wants us to forget the testimony of grace we carry.

But Child of God, we must battle every thought that does not align with God’s truth. We do not battle with our feelings alone. We battle with remembrance. We battle with the Word. We battle by declaring the promises of God over our lives.

We take every thought captive and bring it into obedience to Christ. We tear down every argument and every lie that rises against the knowledge of God. We remind our own soul, we testify to others, and we declare even in the face of the enemy that we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

The battle may continue, but you are not defeated.

You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus!

So, keep pressing. Keep remembering. Keep hoping in God.

You will yet praise Him again!

In His Mighty Name,

Pastor Lu