He was at the bottom on more than one occassion but in this passage he is encouraging himself to continue holding on to God. His soul was sad and he felt as though a sword had pierced his heart but with "hope" he was able to praise God in spite of his sadness. and as he praised the Lord, his contenance was automatically lifted... he repeated his words again in verse 11 and one more time in the next chapter.
i sat down to write in my journal because it makes me feel good to write but i try real hard to only write uplifting things. i've been sitting here looking at a blank screen until i remembered how David was a man just like me. he had times when he was on the mountain and also times when he longed to be up there in the presence of God. this reminds me of one of my favorite passages of scripture. it always reminds me that God is listening.
II Samuel 22:1-10 And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
I miss being in the position of serving God and my sorrow sometimes surrounds me and makes me feel like david. It has been unbearable for me to be away from the ones I love but it was necessary for me to get my feet back on the ground. I've dissappointed a lot of people and most of all I've dissappointed myself. God has picked up my broken pieces and has been working on a master plan of putting me back together. i used to build card castles during idle time at school. at first it seemed impossible but as my patience grew, my ability to build grew. God made me into a patient man a long time ago but during the past couple of years he has taught me more about patience than i have ever known.
