J.C. Philpot
“WHY art thou cast down, O my soul? and WHY art thou disquieted (disturbed) in me? Hope thou in God!” Psalm 42:5
There is something singularly tender and touching in the enquiry that David here makes of his own soul. He addresses it as the faithful and tender companion of all his joys and all his sorrows—his treasure and his all. For if our soul be happy, we must needs be happy; if our soul be troubled, we must needs be troubled; if our soul be safe, we must needs be safe; if our soul be cast down, we must needs be cast down too. Not that there is any thought or feeling in man distinct from his soul—I mean not that. But David here addresses his soul, as being that which is the most precious part of man, redeemed at an infinite price by the blood of the Lamb; and the prosperity or adversity of which must ever deeply interest him.
In this touching and affectionate address to his soul, we may notice two things.
I. The QUESTION itself—”WHY are you cast down, O my soul? and WHY are you disquieted in me?”
II. The ENCOURAGEMENT that he addresses to his cast down and disturbed soul—”Hope in God!”
I. The QUESTION itself—”WHY are you cast down, O my soul? and WHY are you disturbed in me?” It is evident from the very form of the question that David here puts, that his soul was “cast down.” If it were not “cast down, and disturbed in him,” the enquiry that he makes as to the cause of its disquietude would be utterly useless.
But we may take these words as applicable not to David only at the time he put the question, but as suitable also to THE WHOLE FAMILY OF GOD who tread in the experience of David.
A. The first question David asks his soul is, “WHY are you cast down, O my soul?” Let us look, then, at some of the things which cause the souls of God’s people to be often “cast down” within them.
But, first, WHAT IS IT to be “cast down?” It is to be depressed; to feel our soul bowed down within us; to be sunk low, in a low spot; to be brought off from presumption, false confidence, levity, profanity, pharisaism, and worldliness; and by the work of the Spirit upon us, to be brought into that low place, out of which nothing but the hand of the Lord evidently stretched out and His arm made bare can deliver us.
Now there are many things that cause the souls of God’s family to be “cast down” from time to time within them. Some prominent ones being THE GUILT OF SIN, TEMPTATIONS AND AFFLICTIONS.
But David puts another question to his soul—not differing much from the first, but still having a slight distinction—”WHY ART THOU DISQUIETED (OR DISTURBED) IN ME?” The expression, “cast down,” refers more especially to present feeling; but the word, “disturbed,” refers more to the anxiety of the soul in looking to the FUTURE.
The causes of trouble in the heart of a child of God are often of this two-fold nature. Not merely does present sorrow and affliction cast down the soul at the time; but it is disturbed at the prospect of the future. This ever will be the tendency of affliction and sorrow. Could we see the rainbow in the cloud, and feel assured the sun would soon shine forth, half the trouble would be taken away. But to see the whole atmosphere enwrapped in misty darkness; to view clouds rising upon all sides of the horizon; not to behold one ray of light piercing through the dark gloom—it is this which makes the soul not merely “cast down” for the present, but “disturbed” for the future.
Thus when under GUILT, there will be disquietude until pardon is sweetly experienced. When under AFFLICTIONS, there will be disquietude and doubts how the afflictions will terminate. When engaged in CONFLICT with the enemies of our soul’s peace, there will be disquietude lest we should be overcome in the battle. When the BODY IS AFFLICTED with pain and disease, disquietude may be felt whether it will end in death. When FAMILY AFFLICTIONS press down the mind, there will be disquietude what the result may be.
In a word, whatever be the source of sorrow that casts down the soul, from the present trouble and present affliction there will be almost necessarily many an anxious glance towards the future, many a watching whether the cloud gives any indication of dispersion, many fears lest the thunder-storm, whose roar we hear in the horizon, and the flashes of which we perceive afar off, will not approach nearer and nearer, and burst wholly upon us.
So that when the soul is cast down, distressed, and burdened, it is not merely so with what is taking place at the present; but suspicions and disquietudes arise as to what will be the outcome, as to what we may EXPECT, and as to what we may fear for the FUTURE.
How gracious and merciful was it of the Lord to cause the soul of David thus to be exercised! How kind and tender it was of Him to cause him, by the pen of inspiration, to record in the sacred Scriptures his painful experience! We have reason to bless God for it. Many of the Lord’s dear family have had to take this enquiry into their lips, and with a burdened heart, cry aloud, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?”
But we will pass on to the ENCOURAGEMENT that David proposes to his own soul. It was, as I hinted, the tender and affectionate partner of all his sorrows; and he desired it to be also the tender and affectionate partner of all his joys. “Hope in God.” He here addresses himself to his own soul, as though he would cheer it onward, as though he would hold forth to it some prospect of relief, as though he would lay the strong arm of consolation beneath it that it might not utterly sink, as though he would encourage it to look for better times, as though he would say, “My soul, cast not away all your confidence—Hope in God!”
Thus, one source of hope in God springs out of THE INVITATIONS THAT THE LORD HAS GIVEN IN HIS WORD TO THE POOR AND NEEDY, to the exercised and distressed, to the burdened and sorrowful. For instance, the Lord says, “Come unto ME, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28.) “Look unto ME, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isa. 45:22.) “Him who comes unto ME, I will never cast out.” (John 6:37.) These invitations, addressed in God’s word to certain characters, are applied from time to time by the blessed Spirit with dew and power to the soul, so as to encourage it to hope in God.
You will observe, that the Psalmist here encourages his soul to hope in GOD. NOT in God’s mercy, NOT in God’s faithfulness, though both these are needed. But, if I may use the expression, he takes his desponding soul beyond the attributes of God to hope in THE PERSON OF GOD HIMSELF. So that, in order that there may be this hope in God, springing out of the suitability and preciousness of the invitation addressed to certain characters, there must be in the heart and conscience a personal knowledge of God—and this springing out of His own manifestations to the soul, and the communication to the heart of that precious faith by which the invitations are received into the affections as set forth in the Scriptures of truth.
Now the effect of the suitability and preciousness of the invitations flowing into the heart and conscience is to raise up a hope in God. It may not be a hope that affords strong consolation; it may not be a hope that entirely overcomes despondency. But yet it shall be a hope that shall raise the soul up from the waves. It is something like a buoy at sea, or the life-boat in a storm; it may often be dashed by the waves that beat upon it, yes, so dashed as to be hidden by the foam. But let there be a subsidence of the troubled waters, let the waves and billows cease, then we see the buoy again; that sure mark of the anchor beneath is not lost, though it may be hidden for a short space from the view. Thus, hope in God springing out of the suitability, sweetness, truth, and preciousness of the invitations, as they flow with power into the conscience, supports the soul under the waves of doubt and despondency, although it may feel the foam often dash over its poor desponding head, and even fear that it may prove a castaway.
But there is a “hope in God” springing out of the PAST TESTIMONIES THAT HE HAS GIVEN TO THE SOUL.
And THIS is what David seems here especially to allude to. He says, “O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.” In the land of Jordan, and the Hermonites, God had appeared conspicuously for David; and the little hill Mizar had been raised up in his heart and conscience by some testimony from God. He looked to that spot, and stood upon it as a foundation for his hope.
Now every intimation of God’s favor that we may have received, every token for good that we may have experienced, every glimpse and glance, every believing view of a precious Christ, every feeling of the power of atoning blood in the conscience, and every manifest shedding abroad of divine love, is a testimony to which the soul may at times look; and if it could always look there, it would not be cast down and disturbed; nor would David need to raise up his soul and encourage it to hope in the Lord from past testimonies—I believe myself that when our testimonies are beclouded, we would look back for comfort to things we have gone through, but darkness rests upon them. It is with us as with Job; when he went forward, he could not behold; and when he went backward, there was darkness still. When the soul is cast down, testimonies are but dimly seen—If I may use so familiar an illustration, it is like passing through a deep cutting in a railway; we cannot see the country on either side, though there it is in all its blooming beauty.
So, as we pass through the deep cuttings in the soul, we cannot see our Mizars, our Ebenezers. They are there; the testimonies remain the same—but just in proportion as we sink, do we sink out of their sight. But David would encourage his soul to hope still in God; he would softly remind it of what it had sweetly experienced. This encouraged his poor troubled heart still to hope in God, looking for better times, and trusting that the Lord would shortly appear.
Now just in proportion to the “hope in God” will be the soul’s relief from being cast down and disturbed within. The reason that we are downcast often in our soul is because we cannot exercise this “hope in God.” The anchor is still within the veil; the ship rides securely; it is not carried down the tide of sin; it is not borne down the stream of an ungodly world; the vessel is at anchor; and though the waves and billows that dash against its sides may hide the cable that holds the anchor, yet there is a secret power which keeps the ship in her place.
THE CHILD OF GOD NEVER ENTIRELY LOSES HIS HOPE; HE NEVER UTTERLY LOSES HIS TRUST IN GOD; HIS FAITH NEVER TOTALLY DESERTS HIM. What else is it that supports his soul from sinking into despair? What keeps him from plunging into the filth and abominations of his lustful heart? What preserves him from altogether giving up the very profession of religion? What keeps him from open blasphemy and infidelity? Is there not a secret power in his soul, invisible to himself, acting in a mysterious way, and holding him up, so that concerning faith he does not make shipwreck?
Perhaps some of you have made a profession many years, and many have been the waves and billows that have passed over your head; and the longer you live, the more will these billows roll. Never expect to be long at ease; and if you are spiritually-minded, you cannot bear the thought of being at ease. I can speak for myself; I would sooner have trials, temptations, troubles, exercises, crosses, and sorrows—feel my soul kept alive by them, and enjoy the presence and favor of God in them, than be at ease in Zion, and settled upon my lees, or have all prosperity, and know no changes nor reverses.
But WHO has raised up your soul amid these waves and billows? Have you not sometimes been tempted to cast away all your confidence? Have you not sometimes been so cut up by guilt as to do you think never could lift up your head before God and His people again? Have you not been so carried away, at times, by some master sin as to fear lest it break out and bring you to open shame? Have you never got weary of religion altogether; and feared a time would shortly come when you would be made manifest as an hypocrite? And have you not waded through many other inward and outward trials which I cannot enumerate? Trials which none but a man’s own soul can know; for each heart knows its own bitterness—each one is best acquainted with his own sorrows, burdens, and perplexities.
We cannot breathe them all into the ears of our best friend. We admit our friend sometimes into the ante-chamber, into the outer court; but who has ever taken his friend into the inner chamber of his heart’s secrets? I never have, and never can. There are depths there that the eye of man never has looked into; NONE BUT THE EYE OF GOD IS PRIVILEGED TO LOOK INTO THE VERY CENTER OF THE HEART. Child of God! is it not so? What then has kept you during all this storm? What has held you up secretly, when you have resolved upon some sin?—when you have contrived it, plotted it, planned it, and in a fit of wild despair at its vile workings in your heart, have felt that you would plunge into the sin today, though you jumped into hell tomorrow. What kept you? Was there not a secret power that held you up in this storm?
When doubts and fears and despondency almost made head in your heart, was there not a secret, “Who can tell?” (Jonah 3:9) A longing looking to the Lord, though you might be, with poor Jonah, in the very belly of hell, with the weeds wrapped round your head? And though you may have almost despaired of ever coming forth into the light and liberty of God’s countenance, what held, what kept you from utter despair? Was there not a secret breathing of your soul God-wards? A mysterious laying underneath of the everlasting arms? A sensible going out of your whole soul and spirit into the bosom of Immanuel?
Or when you have BACKSLIDDEN—(and who dare say that he has never backslidden in heart, lip, or life? What! No adulterous eye, no roving heart, no filthy idol that has carried you away captive, and cut you up with guilt and shame?)—but when in this backsliding state, WHAT kept you from utterly abandoning the place where God’s Word is preached, and turning your back upon the Lord’s people, and the cause of God and truth? What brought you upon your knees, made you confess your sins, and caused tears of sorrow to roll down your cheeks, and the sobs of contrition to heave from your bosom? What held you up in these storms? Was it not the mysterious, the secret workings and operations of God the Spirit in your conscience, enabling your soul to hope in God; still to look to, lean upon, and pour out your heart before the Lord—to rely upon His Word of promise, and to believe that whatever HE might do would be right?
THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE PREDESTINATED TO WALK IN THE PATHS OF TRIBULATION —no “strange thing” has happened unto you; nothing but what is the lot of saints. Have not the family of God trodden these paths before YOU? Did not the Son of God travel this dreary road? Was He not made perfect through sufferings? Did He not pour out His heart to God in strong cries and tears? Then “why art THOU cast down, O my soul?” If these things were to destroy you—if these griefs were to cut you off without hope or help—if these trials were to crush you in the dust without remedy—if these temptations were for your entire destruction—then, my soul, you might be cast down.
But when you have such sweet encouragements, such gracious support, such abundant promises—such a God, whose truth cannot be impeached, whose mercies cannot fail—such a High Priest of covenant faithfulness and super-abounding grace—such a Three-One God to lean upon—”why art thou cast down?” The present is painful; but will not the present pain be made up by future pleasure? The future is dark; but is not the Lord, who has helped hitherto, a present help; and will he not provide for the future? Has He not promised, “As thy days is, so shall thy strength be!” (Duet 33:25) Has it not passed from His faithful lips—”Thy shoes shall be iron and brass?” Do you not know that the mercies of God fail not—that they are FOR EVERMORE? Then, “WHY art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” THIS is your remedy. I know that you are disturbed; and I know what your poor dark, anxious bosom is heaving with. But still “HOPE IN GOD,” for there is no care or restless disquietude for which the Lord is not your remedy.
How tenderly David – or rather, the Spirit of God in David, encourages his poor soul—”Hope in God.” The soul’s expectation shall not be cut off; Jesus still lives and reigns within the veil. “Hope in God.” The time will come when “I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God,” adds the sweet Psalmist of Israel. “And believing I shall yet praise Him; believing that HE is the health of my countenance; believing that HE is my covenant God and Father—I will hope in Him, and not give it up; but still look unto Him, and lean upon His everlasting arms which cannot fail, and His love that endures for evermore.”
Now is not this precisely suitable to the state and case of every child of God here who is cast down and disturbed? Does not the same God live and reign, who lived and reigned when David wrote? Are not His consolations THE SAME? Is not His love THE SAME? Is not His faithfulness THE SAME? O, it will be our mercy if our numerous causes for being cast down, if our numerous sorrows, anxieties, and disquietudes, lead us away from the creature, to “hope in God;” and to believe that we shall yet praise Him, “who is the health of our countenance and our God.”
“I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” [Psalm 40:1-3] Amen!
J.C. Philpot's Blog 