Hope from the Book of Psalms

Whenever I find myself in times of turmoil or distress, I love to read through the Book of Psalms from the Bible. It offers a look in to the life of Christians who faced difficult circumstances, who were scared, hurting, or ill, who face life threatening circumstances, and who continued to trust the Lord. They didn't ignore their feelings, but in spite of them, put their hope and their faith in God to heal, sustain, and help them.
As a teenager, I would often lay awake at night, scared and lonely, not sure what would become of my life or if anyone cared about what happened to me. I didn't know how I could face another day, but I did know, when I read Psalm 139, that God knew me and that God cared about me. "You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Psalm 139: 1-3). " If nothing else, when I read these verses, I felt that God cared about my life and He knew what I was going through.
When I got a little older, and went off to college, I still felt lonely, like I didn't really fit in with most of the students except for a few really close friends. But I often remembered psalm 100, Verse 3: "Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." This verse helped me because it reminded me that no matter what, even if I didn't belong anywhere on earth, that I belonged to God.
Soon, I met the love of my life and got married. Together, my husband and I faced many challenges: financial difficulties, times of family crises, job changes, and the most difficult, the extremely premature birth of our son. But through it all, I was reminded that God is with us through our worst times in Psalm 46, verses 1 to 3: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." This verse reminded that no matter how bad things got, no matter how my world was shaken, God is always with me. He is my strength, my help, my refuge.

Life has certainly gotten easier over the last few years, though we still face difficulties like any other family. But whenever I have a trying day, I know that God is still good and God still loves me: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. (Psalm 136: 1-3, NIV). And while I find a lot of joy and happiness these days, I know that trying times will come again. And when they do, I hope that I can remember, from Psalm 62 Verses 1 and 2 (NIV): "Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."