Those Trying Times

"Welcome to solitary confinement,"  are words which undoubtedly once echoed through this room as a prisoner would get shoved through the open door into the small dark room. While none of us have likely been imprisoned in a solitary cell, we may have gone through times where we mentally felt like it. Even King David went through a period like that, and in the process he penned this Psalm:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

(Psalm 13)

There are several things that can be noticed about David's stance in this psalm:

1.) His sorrow coexisted with his joy.

2.) He was considered a "man after God's own heart", yet he still experienced very difficult times and felt distant from God.

3.) He was praying to God, despite feeling distant and abandoned.

4.) He recognized that counseling himself during times of hardship leads to more sorrow- he needs God's counsel.

5.) He trusts, rejoices in, and praises God amidst the hard times.

How can you be more like David as you tackle life's challenges?