Psalm 42:1 – As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (NIV)

She never told us why, but Psalm 42 was my mother's favourite psalm. For such a seemingly happy and faithful woman, I found that to be a strange choice. It was written by someone who was searching for a relationship with God, someone who was desperate to find Him.

However, one day not long ago, I heard a sermon on YouTube. The minister said that he had gone through a period in his life when he was really struggling, and when he thought about Psalm 42, it gave him comfort. I think that the same may have happened to my mother.

Some years ago, a cousin told me that my mother had been in love with a cousin. They were young, and they wanted to get married, but my mother was raised in a very strict Christian family, and back then, one hundred years ago, cousins did not marry. So, they broke up, and she quit her job and went home to stay with her parents. She was 26 years old and very distraught.

While staying there, she met a man who had been married and had a seven-year-old daughter, but again, marrying a divorced man was out of the question. Her parents were against it, and she may have had some anguish over it herself, but nevertheless, they were married in 1931.

I'm sure that she had a lot of personal struggles when her life changed so suddenly. She had been living in a big city; now, she was in her husband's house in a semi-rural area with an instant family. Those were also the depression years, and things were tough. She may not have adjusted to her new life quickly. In retrospect, it may have been a very great personal struggle for her.

But she knew her Bible well, and she must have received a lot of comfort from this psalm. She could relate to the writer, and thus, it became her favourite.

Psalm 42:11 – Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. (NIV)

Those words would have given her a new outlook on life, along with contentment and peace.

There may also be some of us who are struggling with a personal situation. There may be times when we, too, wonder what makes us so unhappy. At such times, it is good to remember to put our hope in God.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, "Fear not, I will help you." (NKJV)

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we know that during the difficult times in our lives, You are with us, and we thank You, in Jesus' name. Amen.