Listen to my prayer, O LORD, and hear my cry for help! When I am in trouble, don’t turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call!

My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire. I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food. I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones. I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins. I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop. All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing.

Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away. My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass.

But you, O LORD, are king forever; all generations will remember you. You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins.

The nations will fear the LORD; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. When the LORD rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. He will hear his abandoned people and listen to their prayer.

Psalm 102:1-17

Are you struggling with difficulties in your own life or the problems of friends and loved ones? Learn to hand them over to the everlasting God. That is how to drive away the blues that come from praying for solutions to so many problems that people have.

Although the outlook may be bleak, the uplook is always bright.

Our Daily Bread – June 25, 2003