Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset? I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help! You will again be able to praise him, your God, the one who will save you.”

Sometimes sadness and being upset can creep up on us. We go about the daily affairs of life and these twin perturbations of the soul sneak up on us and bring us down emotionally. Finally, when the source of the discomfort dawns on us, we ask the questions of our verse for today. “Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset?” For people of faith, however, the questions we put to ourselves are not straightforward, but rhetorical.

They are rhetorical because the answer is assumed and obvious. There is no reason for prolonged sadness and upset. As people of faith, we have a resource that can remedy these feelings. We have God. God can help us with whatever it may be that has brought sadness and being upset to our hearts. If we wait for God’s help, we will not wait in vain. After all, “God is our protection and source of strength. He is always ready to help us in times of trouble,” (Psalm 46:1). God specializes in helping His people out of the situations of life that trouble our souls.

If we wait on God, then we will place our trust in Him. We will believe that He can help us in our time of need, and He will come through when the time is right. Waiting on God includes trusting that he knows when the time is right. For us, “now” is always the right time. God, however, has His own plans and His own purposes and people of faith are willing to wait on God. They are willing to wait because they believe that God’s timing is perfect.

If we wait on God, then the time will come when we will once again praise Him for what He has done. Since God is the only one who can truly save us, we will give Him the praise and glory.