Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Psalm 43
Eternal Praise

Eternal Praise

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Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. 

Psalm 43:5  

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ 

Revelation 7:9-10 

What would the future praise the psalmist anticipated look like? John answers that question for us. He describes the scene in heaven where Christ sits upon the throne. Gathered around Him are all the redeemed of all ages, ‘a great multitude which no one could number.’ They are, ‘of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues.’ Their occupation and preoccupation is offering praise ‘to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.’ Regardless of whatever might occur in the life of the psalmist who found himself downcast, this was his final destination. It is good for us to realize that our final destination as believers in Christ is to gather around the throne of God to praise Him and the Lamb in the eternal kingdom. Our experience may bring many occasions when we are downcast. We look to Christ as the solution for our bouts of depression. Having saved us by free and sovereign grace, He has secured for us a future in which we shall see Him in Person and praise Him without end. Today is not the end or even close to it. Christ and eternity awaits. 

High King of Heaven, 
we rejoice that You sit upon Your throne. 
We praise You that we can look forward to the day 
when we can praise you Face-to-face for all eternity. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Hope In God

Hope In God

By |

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. 

Psalm 43:5

What is the solution for us when we are downcast? The psalmist has asked himself the question, ‘Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?’ The earlier portions of the psalm indicate the source of his distress. An ungodly nation, deceitful, unjust men, and the oppression of the enemy were the cause of his being downcast. The natural-minded person would have a natural solution for him. They might say ‘be more thankful; choose joy; follow the commands of God more closely; be more faithful.’ These solutions all turn downcast souls back to themselves. By contrast, the author knows where the solution is. He says, ‘hope in God.’ Self-help is not the way for us to come out of being downcast. We are not our own saviors. Christ is our Savior. All our hope is in God and God’s hope for us is through Christ. When Elijah was downcast, Christ came to him. When Peter sank in the waves, Christ lifted him. Christ is the hope of His downcast people. If you are downcast today, for whatever reason, look to Christ. He has always been, is now, and shall ever be the Hope of His people. Hope in God. 

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You are the help of the downcast. 
We praise You that when we are at our lowest, 
You lift us up. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Why Are You Cast Down?

Why Are You Cast Down?

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Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. 

Psalm 43:5 

In the course of life we may often find ourselves cast down. Because it does occur to many of us as a practical reality, we have reason to ask ourselves, ‘Why are you cast down, O my soul?’ In the case of the psalmist it was ‘an ungodly nation’ and ‘deceitful, unjust’ men. They were oppressive to this man and by logical inference, his people. Thus, he was cast down with good reason. Having said that, there are others in the Scripture who were cast down with good reason. Moses was cast down because of the contrariness of the children of Israel in the wilderness. David was cast down because of the murderous campaign of Saul against him. Elijah was cast down because of his physical tiredness as well as mental and spiritual exhaustion. These are a few instances of many. We want to recognize that to be cast down of soul is a common human experience from which followers of Christ are not exempt. Faith in Christ does not mean we will not experience hours of darkness. If we do experience them we are not less than truly spiritual. Many who have trusted in Christ have been cast down. We are not alone.   

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we praise You that You have partaken in our humanity, 
and that you understand us. 
In our darkest hours, we hope in You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Eternal Praise

Eternal Praise

By |

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. 

Psalm 43:5  

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ 

Revelation 7:9-10 

What would the future praise the psalmist anticipated look like? John answers that question for us. He describes the scene in heaven where Christ sits upon the throne. Gathered around Him are all the redeemed of all ages, ‘a great multitude which no one could number.’ They are, ‘of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues.’ Their occupation and preoccupation is offering praise ‘to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.’ Regardless of whatever might occur in the life of the psalmist who found himself downcast, this was his final destination. It is good for us to realize that our final destination as believers in Christ is to gather around the throne of God to praise Him and the Lamb in the eternal kingdom. Our experience may bring many occasions when we are downcast. We look to Christ as the solution for our bouts of depression. Having saved us by free and sovereign grace, He has secured for us a future in which we shall see Him in Person and praise Him without end. Today is not the end or even close to it. Christ and eternity awaits. 

High King of Heaven, 
we rejoice that You sit upon Your throne. 
We praise You that we can look forward to the day 
when we can praise you Face-to-face for all eternity. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Hope In God

Hope In God

By |

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. 

Psalm 43:5

What is the solution for us when we are downcast? The psalmist has asked himself the question, ‘Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?’ The earlier portions of the psalm indicate the source of his distress. An ungodly nation, deceitful, unjust men, and the oppression of the enemy were the cause of his being downcast. The natural-minded person would have a natural solution for him. They might say ‘be more thankful; choose joy; follow the commands of God more closely; be more faithful.’ These solutions all turn downcast souls back to themselves. By contrast, the author knows where the solution is. He says, ‘hope in God.’ Self-help is not the way for us to come out of being downcast. We are not our own saviors. Christ is our Savior. All our hope is in God and God’s hope for us is through Christ. When Elijah was downcast, Christ came to him. When Peter sank in the waves, Christ lifted him. Christ is the hope of His downcast people. If you are downcast today, for whatever reason, look to Christ. He has always been, is now, and shall ever be the Hope of His people. Hope in God. 

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You are the help of the downcast. 
We praise You that when we are at our lowest, 
You lift us up. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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