“Why Are You Downcast, O My Soul?”

Most of us worry constantly. It can depress you and make you lose hope. In the midst of your anxieties, one way to stay afloat without losing hope is to ask yourself the question, “Why are you downcast, O my soul?”

Asking that question will compel you to think. It will make you confront the basis of your confidence, hope, and trust: “Who am I trusting my life with?” If it is God, then there is no reason for your soul to be downcast or for you to be disturbed within.

See, the present crisis in your life is yet another opportunity to trust God with. His arm is still strong to save and he is willing to help you. Do not give up hope. Your trust in God will be rewarded. You will not be put to shame.

Instead of the sighing you are going through now; your mouth will sing forth praises to God. Look forward to that moment. God has a way of making the end better than the beginning, the latter half more glorious than the former one.

The delay has always been in his sovereign control. He will never be late but on time. And when he acts, he will do it swiftly in its time. It will be immeasurably more than what you asked for or imagined.

Therefore say to yourself in the words of the Psalmist, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.”¹

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¹Psalm 42:5, 11; and 43:5 Bible NIV 1984