In Psalms, chapter forty-two, verse six, those who thirst for God and yearn for a greater manifestation of His presence may experience delay. Yet the faithful believer will continue thirsting for and seeking God. The Lord promises to bless those who hunger and thirst after righteousness rather than settle for less than His full blessing, as in Matthew five, verse six. Amid God’s silence, we must continue in pursuit to know God and to experience a higher measure of the Holy Spirit, as in Hosea six, verses one through three, Acts two, verses thirty-eight to thirty-nine, and Ephesians four, verses eleven through thirteen. We must not despair but put our hope in God and trust in His steadfast love, as in Psalms forty-two, verses eight through eleven.
The theme under Yearning for God describes a soul wanting to know the Lord. However, going with others to the sanctuary and assembling with the people of God outside is good. But still, it is not the same feeling inside as being down. The verse before the theme, Psalms forty-two, verse five, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”
The difference between believers and the religious is faithfulness. It is the challenge of not falling to giving in or giving up. Everyone who claims to be a part of the family of God will go through adversity, whether physically, financially, emotionally, socially, or even family. Everybody’s life situations are different. However, the faithful ones who persevere are the saints of God.
The response is to be overcomers by using the Word of God to lift us out of that state. Jesus went through temptation in the wilderness, as in Matthew four, verses one through eleven. However, in the next verses, in two to three, the devil came to use the flesh against Him. What did the Son of God do? Jesus responded by using the Word of God against the enemy three times during that encounter.
The theme title “My Soul Cast Down Within Me” is how the devil will attempt to use our flesh against us by bringing thoughts to our mind concerning a situation we are facing, a problem experiencing, and trying to bring anxiety upon us to keep us feeling sad and full of pity. “What am I going to do?” The question the devil wants the people of God to say and be in a state of depression while feeling oppression. Jesus immediately uses the Word of God against the devil for our example, and we should be using it against our circumstances until it lifts us out and the enemy flees. Resist those thoughts until they go.
In James four, verse seven, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The Holy Scriptures will erase the negative, whether unhealthy thoughts or words, heard. There are verses in the Word of God for any situation we face. Believers should ask God to help find and use them when the temptation comes to disrupt our progress.