“In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free” – Psalms 118:5 (NIV).

According to 1 Thessalonians 5:18, believers are urged to be “thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” But how do you give praise to God when you have hit the bottom? Tough!

When we look at the life of David we see one who had much reason to despair. A lot happened in his life. He went from being a shepherd to God’s anointed king. Yet David would experience the dimensions of joy at killing Goliath (1 Samuel 17:51); to crushing grief from enduring a sleuth of tragedies: the loss of a best friend Jonathan in battle (1 Sam 31:2); the loss of a son (2 Samuel 12:19); the loss of a kingdom to a rebellious son, Absalom (2 Sam 15: 1-20), and much more.

For all these tragedies somehow David never lost his praise to God. When he had hit the bottom, he wrote, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2). Down he looked to God for deliverance: “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God … He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me” (2 Samuel 22:7).

Any of us may hit the bottom, but like David, may we not lose our faith but continue to look to God for deliverance. “In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free” (Psalms 118:5).

Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, when I am low and down, my faith and hope is in you, because you lift me up!