Psalm 143:8 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness, answer me, and in Your righteousness”. David is pursued by his enemy, his soul is persecuted. He describes himself as being brought low, made to dwell in dark places. His spirit is overwhelmed… And then he remembers God, all He’s done. the works of His hands. David thirsts for his God. He strains… so he asks God to cause him to hear… he surrenders to God as he leans in, trusting God for whatever comes next. David wants God to lead him, to show him the way. We don’t know where David was when his heart etched these words, perhaps the ‘ink’ he used was his own blood. We know his spirit, his life, was crushed to the ground at the hand of his enemy. Was this a physical battle or a spiritual one? David’s soul is persecuted, made to dwell in dark places, his spirit is overwhelmed… his heart is numb. On a spiritual level, we may be all too familiar with David’s suffering. David spends time being vulnerable before God. He ‘names’ his pain, he talks about the way he feels. But David’s suffering isn’t what we focus on, from his inner pain he looks up … he uses it as a ‘pathway’ to God‘s Strength and Courage. David remembers Who God is and what He’s done. He presses in and trusts God to show him the way of righteousness. He didn’t… We don’t stay in the hopelessness of suffering, we raise our hands and look up and remember to press in, to follow Him. Our ways aren’t His ways and His ways aren’t ours. Where are we? Are we stuck in our hopelessness? Or Are we standing in His Strength, following Him in the way that’s right? Lord, deliver me, hide me, teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. My heart, I surrender it to You. I will have faith and trust in You. And I thank You for never letting me go.