What to do when life knocks you down (Part 1)

David is a man who regularly faced difficult situations. There were plenty of days and even seasons in his life where I'm sure he felt like life had just knocked him out. Here’s a list of just a few of them.

• David was a shepherd and had to fight off a bear and a lion when they attacked his sheep.
• Saul, the king during David’s time, was regularly trying to kill him. Multiple times while David was trying to help him, Saul threw a spear at him trying to kill him.
• Even after running away from King Saul, he hunted him down and tried to kill him.
• After becoming King, David was consistently fighting wars.
• One of David’s own sons, Absalom tried to overthrow David’s kingdom and tried to kill him.

David had some VERY difficult days and faced some very hard situations. Psalm 42 is believed to be written by king David. It’s believed David wrote this Psalm while his son Absalom was attempting to kill him and overthrow his kingdom. I can just imagine how David must have felt when he found out his own son was betraying him and coming with a group of people to kill him. I'm sure he felt like life had just knocked him out. His own son wanted to kill him. I’m sure David was questioning everything.  I’m sure he questioned his failures as a father. The list of regrets, questions and frustrations of David are endless. Let’s read this Psalm with this in mind.

Psalm 42:3-5a (NLT) Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?

David says, “I cry all the time, people don’t understand why I’m so upset, they’re talking bad about me. I used to be the one leading the way. I used to be the one leading worship. But now I’m sad, angry and crying. I can’t get a hold of my emotions.” He’s confused and even frustrated with why he feels this way. Every person who’s stressed out or even depressed has felt this way. I’m sad and depressed and I just can’t seem to shake it.

But David does make it through this situation and this Psalm outlines 5 things he did and kept doing to get back up, after life had knocked him down.

#1 MAKE SURE YOUR HOPE IS IN GOD AND NOTHING ELSE

Psalm 42:5b (NLT) I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior

Too often we place our hope in the situation getting better or in another person fixing our problem. We tell ourselves things will be better in a few months. If we can just hold on until then, we’ll be ok. While it may be true that your situation can turn around in a few months, it might not. What do you do then? David says, I will put my hope in God. Don’t put your hope in the situation changing, put your hope in God. Don't put your hope in a friend fixing everything, put your hope in God. There’s two things I consistently remind myself when I go through tough things. They are the bedrock of my faith in God. They are:

God is good and God’s plan for my life is better than my plan for my life.

No matter what tough situations come my way, my hope stays in God. I know he’s a good father and as a good father I know His ways are better than mine. I believe that months or even years down the road we can look back at our tough situations and see that God was with us and working every situation around for our good and for benefit of others.

#2 REMEMBER GODS PAST FAITHFULNESS

Psalm 42:6 (NLT) My God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.

He says, “I’m deeply discouraged, BUT, I will remember you.” When difficulties hit your marriage, your finances or your career it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to look at how bad things are and lose hope. Don’t stay in discouragement. Don’t allow yourself to dwell on how bad things are, instead REMEMBER! Remember the goodness of God in your past. I’m sure David ran through all his previous difficult situations and how God had brought him through each one. I can imagine David reliving his fight with the lion and with the bear. God was with him and he won! I’m sure David remembered Saul hunting him down and trying to kill him. But David lived, he became King and he made it through.

When you REMEMBER God’s faithfulness in the PAST, it gives you HOPE for the FUTURE.

Don't lose hope, don't lose faith. God is GOOD and His plan for your life is better than your plan for your life! I'll cover the next 3 things David does when life knocks you down next week, so be sure to check back!