Today is my cousin's birthday. Today is one of the last days of April. Today is a day in the middle of the transition between Spring and Summer, cold and hot, new growth and life.
And for some people, today is hard. For some people, today might just be a really, really rough day. Maybe even a lot more than just some people.
Maybe you're trying to get through school or finish that writing project or get that degree. Maybe you're changing baby diapers and folding laundry and washing dishes and you just wish someone would say thank you for once.
Maybe you are just tired and life is exhausting and you don't have anyone to turn to for relief from the constant downpour that is the troubles of this world.
I think David got that. I think he understood what having a bad day was like. He could relate to just wanting to cry - I mean, Psalm 42 says, "My tears have been my food day and night."
David had some days that were hard.
"I say to God, my rock" David said again in Psalm 42, "'Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?'
"As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long,
"'Where is your God?'"
He had enemies surrounding him, taunting him and asking where is your God? Where is the King Who is supposed to be protecting you? Where is the good God that rules the universe and loves you - where is He?
Don't we find ourselves asking these questions when our today is hard? Do we shake our fists at the sky and ask, "Where are you, God? Where is your goodness?"
Do we sometimes ask, "Why have you forgotten me? Why am I mourning - where are you?!"
I have. I have cried tears and asked how a good God could still be near when the troubles are surrounding me. I have shouted in anger, wondering why a God who is here could ever be here in the chaos and the sadness and the grief and the mourning.
David most certainly did - he had people actively seeking him out to kill him, and that most definitely is not something we deal with on a regular basis.
And yet in that, he rejoiced. He praised God. In his tears and stumbling and misery, he hoped in his Savior.
Yes, in Psalm 42 David says, "My tears have been my fodder day and night while they say to me all the day long, 'Where is your God?'"
But he doesn't stop there. He continues."These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise..."
In his tears, he praised. In his distress, he was filled with joy because God... is still God. That deserves shouts of gladness. That deserves glory and honor and praise. We do not praise Him because of our circumstances or our todays or our feelings - no we praise Him for Who He is!
We praise Him because He is God.
David even questions himself. "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."
Today is hard. Hope in God. You don't know if you can keep going. Hope in God. Life is exhausting and wearing you down and it's sometimes terrible. Hope in God.
In everything we face, hope in Him.
When the world asks where He is, when your trials and troubles scream in your face, "Where is your God?!" you hope in Him. You praise Him. You remember that He is still God and nothing, ever can change that. Ever!
Even when it looks like He isn't here, even when it looks like the world is winning and the goodness will never defeat the dark - when the disbelief if crippling and you aren't sure you can answer the question "Where is your God?" - He is still there. Your salvation, your God, He is still there.
He is still here, and you can rejoice in that. You can praise Him for that.
The song Psalm 42 (Loudest Praise) by Shane and Shane sums up this Psalm so beautifully. It says, "Streams of trouble never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise."
When life is rough and you feel like David, with enemies all around and life threatening to battle through your door, remember that He is with you.
"In the night, your song is with me, day by day, you hold me fast. Oh my soul, hope in Jesus, you shall praise your God at last."
Not many people would look at Psalm 42 and think songs of loudest praise. It's a Psalm about hardship and doubt, wondering where God is as your enemies threaten you from all sides. In my Bible, the title for it is Why Are You Cast Down, Oh My Soul?
When we're going through rough times, doubting or questioning or just plain old being cast down, do we immediately think to praise? Do our minds instantly go to worshiping our God?
If I'm honest, no. But I, like David, want to change that. I want to turn my thoughts to Christ alone. I want to put my hope in Him.
When today is hard and life is heavy, I want to turn my cast-down soul to songs of praise. When you're slogging through exams or working a tough job or just plain trying to get through life when it is not easy, let's hope in Him and praise Him again.
"My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you" (Psalm 42).
Remember Him, praise Him, even when today is hard.