Do you know it? It comes from Psalm 42, which starts with those beautiful words: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God.” A few downhearted lines later in song comes the chorus: “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

The Psalmist is feeling blue – and finds encouragement in remembering all the wonderful things God has done and continues to do. The Psalm ends with that same chorus of encouragement being repeated.

Unfortunately, many of us spend a lot of our days lamenting. We bemoan and gripe about our lot in life and how difficult things are and how “wonderful” life used to be. We look at life through grime-covered glasses and have a little whine with our stinky cheese.

Garbage in – garbage out.

There are two lessons here. The first is about what we fill ourselves with, and the other is what we allow our lives to produce.

Garbage in. When we spend our days in ceaseless complaining and feeling betrayed and demanding our own way and being irked with someone else’s decisions or actions, we fill ourselves with junk. Garbage in results in depression, anxiety, gossip, hurt feelings, planning revenge, and more. When we allow ourselves to wallow in anger and hostility and distrust, we just sink deeper and deeper into the muck and the mire of the human condition. Evil begets evil; depression begets depression; anger begets anger; hopelessness begets more hopelessness.

Garbage out. The more we fill our lives with junk, the more the junk piles up and begins to take over. Pretty soon, the only thing coming out of our hearts is – well – junk. If all we put in is junk – then that’s all we can expect to produce.

We need to learn to put in the wonder and majesty and splendor of God. We need to put in the love and support of friends. We need to put in the camaraderie of the community. Then – even when the yucky stuff still tries to surface – we need to learn to choose only the majesty and splendor and love and support and camaraderie as our responses to whatever life may serve up. We need to fill up with God’s best – and exude the same.

Jesus said: “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” That’s a much better way to say “garbage in – garbage out.” But Jesus continues to teach us: “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matthew 12:33-35)

When anger threatens you – surround yourself with friends who encourage you. When hurt feelings attack you – sing praises and take a walk with your Heavenly Father. When troubles come against you, don’t get downcast – put your hope in God.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:23-27)

We need to learn to “. . . take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) We need to have pure thoughts – and thus develop a pure heart. In “Just Like Jesus,” Max Lucado says: “Submit your thoughts to the authority of Christ. The more selective you are about the seeds, the more delighted you will be with the crop.”

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. . . put your hope in God! (Romans 12:12, Psalm 42:5)