Weekly Devotion: How To Persevere With Hope When You Feel Utterly Alone

By: Jessika Sanders

How do we persevere with hope when we feel utterly alone?

This week we are wrapping up our reading of the psalms with Psalm 142, a Maskil of David. 

The Hebrew word maskil means contemplation. And in the English language we might even go as far to call it instruction. This tells us David probably spent a great deal of time reflecting on his circumstances before writing this psalm. His reflections likely led him to such a place of clarity that he felt he could instruct others in seasons of great distress–us included.

In Psalm 142 David is alone, hiding out in a cave hoping to escape the hit King Saul has placed on his life. You see, after slaying Israel’s tormentor, a towering Philistine named Goliath, David rose to great fame. But this fame shifted the spotlight from King Saul and with that came the king’s power trip and crazy paranoia. For years King Saul schemed and calculated how he could take out his competition. 

We find David quite literally in between a rock and a hard place– a destitute shepherd boy alone in a cave. No one was willing to stand by his side. No one was willing to advocate for him. David knew traps were set out for him, and I imagine as a result he had a difficult time trusting anyone. 

So the question is, how was David able to persevere with hope when he felt so utterly alone?

Simply put, the author of Psalm 23 knew he had everything he needed in God. In his weakness, the courageous giant slayer humbly drew near to God– his source, his refuge, and his safe place. 

Though David could have cried out in thought, feeling, or action, he chose to audibly cry out to God instead. And scripture tells us he didn’t just cry out, David poured his heart out.

“God, I’m crying out to you! I lift up my voice boldly to beg for your mercy. I spill out my heart to you and tell you all my troubles. For when I was desperate, overwhelmed, and about to give up, you were the only one there to help.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭142‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Have you ever been in that place? When the weight of your circumstances is so heavy you’re forced to your knees?  When crying out in the privacy of your mind doesn’t even begin to hit the release valve on the pressure cooker of your heart? When you’re so distraught that pleas for mercy literally spill from your mouth?

Maybe you’re in that place now.

Maybe you’re navigating a high risk pregnancy or pregnancy after loss and fearing the outcome will be the same as before.

Maybe you’re enduring a season of infertility waiting to take yet another pregnancy test and desperately praying this time you’ll see those two pink lines emerge. 

Maybe you’re worn out and weary from life in the hospital with your child where morning rounds seem to throw more curve balls than an MLB pitcher. 

Or maybe you’re bruised and battered with your heart in pieces as you grieve the loss of your precious child.

These desperate rock bottom, cave moment seasons aren’t wasted. God is not only present in them, but He so graciously moves through them. 

In 1 Samuel 22 all the way through 2 Samuel 1 (a four year period) we see God answer David’s cry, deliver him, and exalt him to reign as the King of Judah. And it all stemmed from David audibly pouring out his heart in a dark, desolate cave. This my friend, is the reminder we need to persevere with hope when we feel utterly alone–the truth that God is with us, He hears us, and He is faithfully working all things together for our good and His glory.

God, I thank you for never leaving me or forsaking me. I thank you that absolutely nothing–neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither my fears for today nor my worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell – can separate me from your love. Soften my heart to surrender and prime my mouth to cry out to you audibly. Work in this desperate, rock bottom, cave moment season of my life. In your perfect timing deliver me and restore me. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Dig Deeper into How to Navigate What is Ahead with Real Hope

Reflection Questions:

1. What is the default way you cry out to God–in thought, feeling, action, or voice?

2. Which of these ways have you found to provide the best release for your soul?

Put Your Faith Into Action:

There is something powerful that happens when we humble ourselves and get low before a mighty God. It’s as if surrender is a supernatural key to unlocking the storehouses of God’s goodness and His perfect will for us. 

This week I challenge you to cry out 1 Peter 5:6-7 in action and thought. I challenge you to get low in your posture whether it be kneeling beside your bed or laying prostrate on the floor and  “humble yourself under the mighty power of God, [trusting] at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” I challenge you to audibly cry out to Him and  “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

Further Reading:

• Psalm 57: More of David’s cave moments

Verse to meditate on and memorize:

Psalm 142: 1-3 TPT “God, I’m crying out to you! I lift up my voice boldly to beg for your mercy. I spill out my heart to you and tell you all my troubles. For when I was desperate, overwhelmed, and about to give up, you were the only one there to help.”

Jessika Sanders is a published writer who has been featured in Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Hope When Your Heart is Heavy devotional (2021), Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Jr. magazine (2023), and Tyndale’s So God Made a Mother (2023). She is also the co-author of The Good Book Company's, In His Hands: Prayers for Your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis ( July 2024). Jessika is the Founder and Executive Director of Praying Through ministries.