Why are you cast down,

            O my soul,

and why are you

   in turmoil within me?

Hope in God;

for I shall again praise Him,

my salvation and my God.

      Psalm 42. 5, 11, 43. 5

(I have always been told that

when a word or phrase is

repeated in Scripture,

   pay attention.

These two psalms

are like songs

    with a repeated chorus.

Why am I struggling,

why do I feel cast down

         and in turmoil?

Sometimes we know,

sometimes we don't.

But the resolution

   is still the same:

       Hope in God.

Our hope is not

in favorable circumstances

or even in what

   we think should happen,

but in God

   in Whom we can

          stake our lives.

"Trust Me in this.")

O LORD,

We may not understand

     the turmoil inside,

where it came from,

or why we feel this way.

But we can know You.

We waste far too much

     time and energy

carrying the awkward burden

  of "what might happen?"

When all along,

    You are with us

    and in this.

We see all things

             differently

  because of You.

Help us to realize

      Your Presence.