We do not know the date or place George Müller preached this sermon, but if you have found yourself giving way to discouragement and hopelessness, may our brother’s exhortation to continually hope in God refresh your heart!
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5, NIV)
Life often leaves us weary—through hardships, temptations, losses, or illness. Yet in the midst of our weariness, God promises to speak to us and refresh our spirits if we turn to Him in faith.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast?” the psalmist says to himself. And so may we say to ourselves, “Are there any grounds to be downcast?” There are two reasons, but only two. First, if we are unconverted, we have reason to be downcast. Second, if we are converted yet are living in sin, then we are rightly downcast. But except for these two things, there are no grounds to be downcast, because we can bring everything to God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. And in all our needs, difficulties and trials, we can put our faith in the sovereignty and love of God; and in His timing will help come in answer to prayer and faith.
Oh, hundreds, even thousands of times that I have found it to be so these past seventy years! When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come, for God has His own resources, and these resources may be counted by hundreds and the thousands.
He is not confined to one method or a few. He can help us in countless ways and at any moment! We only need to bring our needs before Him, pouring out all our hearts in childlike faith, saying to Him, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have You listen to me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my worthy Lord Jesus— in whom I trust in salvation alone—Your perfect Servant and my Savior, answer me and give me the grace to wait on You until you respond. And I believe You will in your own time and way. Thus, unfailingly, I have found that (with the exception of where I am still waiting on God), my prayers have been answered. And I cannot tell you what an effect this has had on my life, and how it has made me a happy man—and in my greatly advanced age, it makes me a very happy man.
“For I will yet praise him.” More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. I have found it to be this way hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, “Put your hope in God.”
“My Savior and my God.” This is the aspect we must remember: this God—the Almighty God—is our God! Therefore, we must wait in Him longer and longer and longer, exercising patience yet more and more and more. For in God’s own time, our waiting will be proven that it was not in vain.
The psalmist simply tells God that his soul is downcast. In the same way, we can come to God our Father and to the Lord Jesus, asking Him to speak a timely word to us in our weariness. This is His own precious promise in Isaiah 50:4 (NIV):
The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
And when we are weary and tried—due to difficulty, temptation, loss, carrying our crosses, or through illness—we can turn to the Lord Jesus in these circumstances and remind Him of His precious promise, saying: “My precious Lord Jesus, I am weary! Will you speak to me a timely word?” And He will bring comfort, refreshing our spirits, strengthening our inner man by His Holy Spirit.
Oh, if you’ve never tried Him in this way, give it a try—you’ll discover how ready He is to do it! You will find that you can trust Him, the everlasting One. When we approach Jesus in our weariness, He will comfort and strengthen us from within by His Spirit. If you have not yet experienced this, take the step to bring your heart to Him, and you will discover how faithful and ready He is to help. Lord, as we face seasons of discouragement, may we lift our eyes to you, that instead of succumbing to discouragement, we would cast our burdens on You and know Your endless comfort and abiding strength. Amen.
.png){kind=small}
George Müller
