In Time of Trouble

"For in You, O LORD, I hope;
You will hear, O Lord my God."

Psalm 38:15

Years ago, I went to visit a terminally ill patient in the hospital. Before I left her room, I asked, "May I have prayer with you?" She looked at me, and said, "It won't do any good." She needed to talk, and I tried to be a good listener. She had anticipatory grief, facing her own death. I knew that she was depressed.  All hope for surviving her illness was gone, but her hope in God was strong.

The psalmist David was in trouble, but he had hope that God would hear him. Notice in the text that the word LORD is also spelled Lord. This indicates the translation of two different Hebrew words for God. The word with all capital letters is God's covenant name. David was in a personal, covenant relationship with God. He was a man of faith and hope in God. He prayed to God, knowing that God had promised through His covenant word to hear him. Listen to his prayer: "Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me" (Psalm 38:21).

In time of trouble, believers have the hope in God's covenant promise never to leave us nor forsake us. God says to all believers, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5). That doesn't mean that God will take all of our troubles away. It does mean that He will be with us through it all. Our circumstances may not change, but God's promise certainly will not change. He will not leave us nor forsake us. He walks with us, even through the valley of the shadow of death. In time of trouble, don't give up hope.

LORD, in my trouble, my hope is in You.