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.
(Psalm 42:5-6a) 

Downcast. 

In turmoil. 

These are not the typical seasons we imagine when we think of the state of a Christian soul. They are the questions the sons of Korah ask, nonetheless, 

Why are you cast down, O my soul? 

Why are you in turmoil within me? 

The psalmist writes something quite shocking to us, especially in our modern context— that believers will experience times when the turmoil of our souls doesn’t match the theology of our minds. We will experience times when our souls are cast down, and we feel that they shouldn’t be; times when our souls remain in turmoil.

What do we do when we feel the tension and the mounting fear that grows? The doubt that gnaws at us? The worries and concerns about the future? 

The experiences of fear and turmoil are familiar to us.  We know what it is to have our hearts broken. We know what it is to have the cancer return. We know what it is to become pregnant only to question every moment if this child will come to full term or if we will lose another. We know what it is to witness hurt and suffering in this world that feels like it will never stop. We know what it is to cry out to God, our Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Psalm 42: 9). 

What do we do when our souls are in a season of being downcast? 

A season of turmoil? 

We seek the Lord in our pain. 

My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”

We see that the psalmist brings his complaint to the Lord. 

He says, “My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you” (Psalm 42: 6). Even though his soul feels far from the Lord, amidst the “breakers” and the “waves” he reminds his soul that “by day the Lord's commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me” (Psalm 42:8). 

The sorrow is not over. His soul is still cast down. His soul is still in turmoil at the end of the psalm. Yet in the midst, right between the two crashing waves of pain within his soul, he makes a “...prayer to the God of my life” (vs. 8). Even though he asks “Why have you forgotten me?” he asks the question to the God who he calls “my rock” (vs. 9). 

Be encouraged, Christian; feeling cast down and experiencing turmoil of the soul does not disqualify you from the ranks of the faithful. The Lord writes these psalms precisely because he knows we will need them. Do not doubt when your soul experiences the turmoil of this life, but cry out to the God who is your rock, and bring your troubles to him. He loves you. He cares for you. He is a rock of refuge for you. And he longs to hear the words of his children, even if they come with faith-filled pains and wonderings. 

Turn to your Father, for he is mighty and kind, and allow his words and his psalms to guide you back to the rock of refuge for your weary soul.  

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