Do you find yourself hurting instead of being thankful during the Thanksgiving holiday? Or maybe you are just having a hard time trying to find things to be thankful for. It is difficult when everyone around you is experiencing joy and gratefulness while you are suffering.

David was the master at writing down his thoughts of fear, concern, feeling forgotten, and sorrow. He went to the Lord with issues such as wanting justice, compassion, longing for the nearness and peace of God, and how he longed for answers. We see his honesty in Psalm 13:

“How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever?  How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”

We see a raw relationship as David seeks for answers. He tells his Heavenly Father that he is wrestling with his thoughts and day after day is having sorrow in his heart. Many of us can identify with this. So many times being a spouse, a parent, a child or a friend can bring hurts beyond our imagination. After years of trying all we can to repair the relationship, we can find ourselves begging God to help us and feeling as David did; “How long will You hide Your face from me?” It can get wearisome trying to “put on a face” and attend family functions or parties at friend’s homes when you are battling with these types of emotions.

David also gives us another nugget of encouragement to make it through these times until God provides the answer. It is found at the end of the chapter. Psalm 13:5-6 “But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me.” How important to trust, rejoice and to acknowledge that He is indeed good to us; all the time.