Psalm 120:1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

Are you in trouble? Things happen. It is important to remember that there are situations in which only God can help you. At such a time one thing you can do is to take comfort from the Book of Psalms. The Psalms help us to express emotions, thoughts and prayers when our own words fail. Psalm 120 thru Psalm 133 can be particularly helpful in this regard. They are called the Psalms of Ascent and although not all of them were written by King David, some of them do refer to a very tumultuous time in his life. On some level one would think that a king rules and should not be subject to so much drama and trauma in his personal life, yet he seems to have had more than his fair share. I believe, however, that his resilience was the result of a total dependence on God to bring him out of every calamity every time.

How much trouble was King David in? Read about one ugly episode he had to endure in the Book of II Samuel, chapters 15 thru 19. There is mutiny in the King’s house. His son Absalom whom he loved had forced him to abandon his palace and run for his life while admitting that he had no idea where he was going. We read that at one point the King was climbing up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. (II Samuel 15:30). The King! Homeless, heartbroken, humiliated, experiencing a total reversal of fortune!  How can this be happening to him? Yet we know David loved God and understood total surrender. (II Samuel 15:26). The fact is that faith in God does not shield believers from life’s challenges. The difference is that you have the assurance that God is with you and will bring you through if you will submit and depend on him. David not only experienced God’s provision of help along the way but was eventually restored to his throne.

One of the most difficult challenges I have faced was Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. It inundated my home, filling up my basement with a filthy sewage/sea water mix which overflowed into every corner of the upstairs. Everything was ruined, mandating a total gut renovation. It left the neighborhood looking like a war zone. Why, Lord? I could not wrap my mind around it. I had held hands with my son and prayed for God’s protection for my house before we evacuated. Somehow I expected an exemption, but that was not the reality.  But God has been faithful to bring help and restoration. I had been reading the Bible through and in the aftermath of Sandy I was in the book of Amos. After my reading one morning the Holy Spirit spoke to me:

“I am the Lord God. I have said to my people over and over again, fear not, but they do not listen. My love for my people will not allow me to forsake them. They are precious to me and whatever their circumstances may be they must always, always look for my hand of mercy. I am their God and I will not abandon them.”