One of the great themes of the Bible are the men and women that found the resolve to place their hope in God when all hope was lost in their circumstances. In 1 Samuel, we find the story of a shepherd named David that has been called and anointed to rise to the most powerful position in the world during this time period – the King of Israel. But his time had not yet come and the current king, Saul, was paranoid, afraid and breathing murderous threats against David. So this king-to-be is forced to run into the wilderness, sleeping in caves and constantly live in survival mode as he tries to escape the assassination attempts of King Saul.
It’s in this context that David writes these words:
**Psalm 141:4 – I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will come help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.
Sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it? Sounds a lot like you and me. When we feel that everything around us is crashing, it is easy to believe that no one is there for us. But even in this moment of despair, watch how David finds hope:
**Psalm 141:5-6 – Then I pray to you, O LORD. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.”
Hope filled despair. That’s what kept rolling through my head this morning when I read this. The key to David’s perspective shift was to take his eyes off of his circumstances (which are always changing and extremely volatile) and onto the unchanging reality of God.
“Then I pray to you, O LORD.” That’s the key. We find hope in the midst of despair when we allow God into the conversation. If you are walking through a season of despair – you feel all hope is lost – take your eyes off of the circumstances, fix them on God and declare with every ounce of faith you have, “You are my place of refuge. You are allI really want in life.”
As you pray, remember this: God is listening and fully capable to respond. He is our hope in the midst of despair.
