Victim to Victor
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Psalm 43
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Often we feel the need to suppress our feelings and thoughts and pretend to be okay. We go about life with a façade that everything is fine. We sometimes forget that God sees into the depths of our hearts and can see the thoughts and feelings that we even try to hide from ourselves. At times WE are even shocked by our thoughts. The devil gains power as he whispers lies into our hearts and minds, we end up not dealing with those thoughts leaving them suppressed in our subconscious; they, however, do not stay hidden. These thoughts filter into and poison other areas of our lives and start to shape our views, beliefs, self-esteem, values and more.
David uses the psalms to share his raw and real feelings with God. He is very vulnerable in sharing his thoughts and feelings that are often irrational and extreme. David doesn’t stay in that place for very long though, he quickly addresses his feelings and thoughts and highlights the truth to himself of God’s character and promises which are revealed in the Word.
After venting and sharing his heart with God, David will give himself a little pep talk, even questioning his soul and challenging his heart and thoughts to see the truth. He even reminds himself of what he should be doing; for instance instead of staying in this place of being defeated, he should worship and hope in God.
The devil often lies to us and sometimes we allow a small thought to fester and grow because we are not bringing it into the light to expose how it could be irrational, emotional or rooted in fear. In sharing our heart with God and then speaking the Word of God and character of God into that situation we start to work through it. We get to address the lies and speak into our fears and emotions and bring the Kingdom into our way of thinking and move from a place of being a victim into a place of victor.
During times of struggle, irrational and fearful thoughts can sometimes take over. To overcome this we want to learn from David’s example and be honest with God and ourselves about those raw and unfiltered feelings so that we can get to a place of victory in our hearts and minds. 2 Corinthians 10:5 encourages us to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God and to bring it into captivity. This speaks of the fact that thoughts and feelings that supersede the truths of God need to be taken captive and cast away so that we can walk in the peace and joy of God.
JOURNALING QUESTIONS:
- What am I feeling during this season (the raw unedited version)?
- What would God and His word say about those feelings? Would He point out that some of these feelings are birthed out of fear, insecurity, anger, etc? Which scriptures speak truth into these situations?
- Where have you lost sight of what the Word says?
- Praise God for five things in your life.
Father God, I thank You for the promises You gave us in Your Word and I choose to believe You over my feelings, hurt, anger and thoughts. I fix my eyes on You and praise You in this storm, because I know You are good and You are for me. Help me to see the victory You have for me today.
WORSHIP SONG:
Where You Are (Live), by Hillsong Young & Free
by Charne Maritz
